As a way of introduction, I would start by wishing you all a happy new year and good tidings this year. Although not being a core technical writer. I do want to venture into documenting and helping others through difficult tasks by highlighting some of mine. This will be the first of many I would write over the course of 2021 and beyond.
The project I would be talking about today is one that deals with the transfer of money across borders via cryptocurrency: To shed more light on it, you send money, it converts it and sends it to a receiving cryptocurrency account in the country of your choice, it's converted to the local currency and then resolved in the recipient bank account.
Prototype
Before venturing into my thoughts and analysis do have a look at these:
Current Implementation: RapidPay Website
Proposed Implementation: RapidPay Prototype
First Thoughts
My first thought on this, when approached by the contractors, was oh quite simple, given that there is an existing platform they ride with, and the API's already existed. But as I've come to understand over the years, nothing is ever as it seems.
Second Thoughts: More Structured Thinking
Taking another stab at it, I first thought about the flow from the entry into the website until you get value and secondly, I thought about the emotion or feeling you get while you move through the platform.
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On the flow aspect I thought about a form that initializes the whole transfer process from the moment you land the website, with enough guides and adequate breakdowns to give you a sense of what's going on and more information about the business and value propositions. Then I thought about separating the value flow from the information flow – more on this later such that once you have started the process you are not distracted until you complete the process. Finally, I thought of having some tracker to give you a sense of where you're at on your transfer process.
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On the emotional aspect of the website, the use of gradient was adopted on the first and second iteration of the home page rather than plain white which seemed to be the general theme for other platforms that perform similar services. The choice of a gradient and one that would be animated – more on this in the implementation phase is to give the user a sort of warmth and relaxed and welcoming feeling when they first land of the website. The form section of the landing page would also be animated to bounce slowly such that the users' attention can still be drawn to the main focal point of the platform despite the general overlay. Finally, the use of icons in many parts of the website is to appeal to one's sense of wonder and creativity and allow users infer in one glance what a section is about without having to read the text.
Deep dive into the screens
I would talk about most of the screens designed and the thinking behind them and compare them to the previously implemented solution where applicable.
Home Screen
Old Home Landing Screen
The old screen has a static image on the background, a single form that handles the entire process; the drawback of which doesn't give you an idea of how far of or close you are along in the process. If an error hits, it stalls the whole process and doesn't give much room to go back to specific points. Also, the support link is simply a call icon which doesn't give insight to what it does.
New Home Landing Screen
Iteration 1
The first iteration of the new home landing screen shows an animated gradient background that serves as a form of warm feeling to the user on entry into the website and the form element that initializes the transfer process. It features all the conversion rates in real-time as well as fees, in a bid to uphold transparency in the process. Finally, there is a dedicated contact support button that informs the user on where to get help.
Iteration 2
The second iteration of the new home landing screen shows the animated gradient background, but simply over the form element and my intention here was to take the warmth gradients bring to the core selling point or value point of the screen while still giving a sense of seriousness that white backgrounds bring.
Iteration 3
The third iteration of the new home landing screen is intended to give off a serious vibe and that is depicted with the choice of a completely white background. The ribbon-like illustration is simply for demarcation between the landing section and the rest sections of the home screen, while the mango-like illustration was placed there with the intention of being a friendly aesthetic complement to the seriousness white brings.
Old Customer Reviews Screen
The old customer review screen consists of a world mapped background and tiny icons at different spots on the map with no clear way of noticing the comments or information about the commenters. This approaches drawback consists of the fact that comments are not intuitive and leaves the user bemused at first sight as comments are conveyed by hovering on the tiny icons which becomes a further issue on mobile screens that do not provide hovering functionalities.
New Customer Reviews Screen
The new customer review screen, however, is more descriptive as it includes a continuous slider of the actual review comment as well as the star rating and minor biodata of the commenter, the reason for this is to give a sense that this product is actually interacted with by real faced individuals.
Call To Action Screen
This is a new addition on the new home flow that lacks on the previous home screen, and this screen is important because it prompts the user to perform an action after seeing all the information following it, rather than hope the user scrolls to the top to act.
Transfer Flow Screen
This set of screens lack on the old version as the entire flow occurred all on the same form item. This flow enables the user to have a sense of where they are along the process and return to specific points on the flow.
The flow begins at different steps depending on where you enter through if you begin at the landing page of the website, you will move to the second step on the transfer flow because an amount already exists. However, if you enter through the call to action, you would have to start at the first screen.
These screens are not exhaustive of the entire process but highlight the overall look and feel of the flow.
Conclusion
To recap, this part discussed the various screens and sections of the new flow, why it was created that way and how it differs from the previous design. This is to give insights into the thought and ideas that went into the look, feel and flow of the platform.
The next part would discuss the actual frontend implementation of this design. Some of the challenges faced how especially challenging UI components were implemented, and such matters as reusability in frontend codebases.
Thank you for reading!
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