PAYME FROM HSBC: MOBILE PAYMENTS APP REDESIGN
PayMe is the first peer-to-peer (P2P) “social payments” app in Hong Kong – and after reaching 1 million users within the first 15 months, we needed to redesign the MVP product for scalability to meet its growing audience and their needs.
TARGET & CHALLENGES
Despite its explosive hyper growth, PayMe as a “social payments app” was not very well perceived by the local market due to its lack of scalability, decline in daily engagement, and negative perception due to privacy concerns.
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Lack of Scalability
There was no solid design system or process in place – workflows, files and product features were not future-proof or scalable.
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Decline in Daily Active Users
Despite its initial uptick in popularity, users were not actively engaged for a returning experience.
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Negative Perception
25% of all negative App Store reviews were related to the publicly visible transactions.
PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED
In research, we identified 3 key themes and insights into the local user mindset: cultural nuances, money is a taboo subject, and the current experience is not intuitive.
Cultural Nuances: Through customer interviews, focus groups, and an NPS survey, the team learned that the app didn’t feel like it was “Made for Hong Kong, by Hong Kong.”
Money is Taboo: Money is seen as a strictly private matter, which is why social payments app may work in the West (à la Venmo, Revolut), but not in Hong Kong.
Unintuitive Experience: The experience is clunky, not the most appealing, and not very user friendly. Many questioned why they should use PayMe over their current banks.
INSIGHTS
We took a deeper look under the hood to understand our audience, so that we could completely redesign the PayMe experience, and build a product that actually resonates with the Hong Kong market - cultural nuances and all.
We Asked Ourselves:
“How might we redesign the PayMe app as a modern experience and add value to our users’ day-to-day lives?”
Into the Data!
90% of Requests used emojis 🍕 to replace a text message.
Emojis & PayMe now represent moments of quality time and memories together 🍕🍣🍻🎳 – and not just a purely transactional request.
Our HK Persona
The typical PayMe user ranges from 18-70+ years old
Thus, we need to create an experience that is simple and intuitive for all technology levels.
PROBLEMS SOLVED
We defined and applied our design principles - simple, delightful and focused - to create an experience that was so intuitive, the everyday Hong Konger could use it.
Singular Focus
We applied the “one task a time” design principle to all our flows.
By asking the user to focus on one task at a time, we reduce the amount of overwhelm, confusion and friction.
Modular Design
With scalability and future features in mind, we adopted a modular design approach and restructured the entire IA to accommodate.
Actions at Their Fingertips
HKers are always on the go, we needed to create an experience that caters to that
We created a single drawer for their top actions: Show QR Code, Transfer, Request Money, and Scan to Pay.
IMPACT
As of 2024, PayMe has over 3 million users (out of a HK population of 7.3mill), and makes up over 70% of the P2P transfers in Hong Kong.
The product offering has also seen success in its expansion into paying merchants, from family-owned businesses to large franchises, like McDonald’s and 7-Eleven.
Continued Growth: It took PayMe 15 months to reach its 1st million users, but only an additional 8 months to reach 2 million users (since its launch in 2017)
Customer Satisfaction: As of 2024, PayMe has 4.6/5 stars on the Apple App Store (250k+ reviews)
Awards: PayMe won the Gold Award in the Emerging Solutions and FinTech Security category (2017), and the Grand Award, the top prize in the FinTech category (2018) at ICT Awards in Hong Kong.
Final Thoughts
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Responsibilities
As Design Lead, I wore many hats:
People Management: Managed both UX and UI teams
End-to-End: Contributed to research, wireframes, execution and delivery
Project & Stakeholder Management
Deliverables: Design Language & Principles, Design System, Wireframes and Final UI Design for Developer Hand-Off
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Lessons Learned
Clearly identify project scope in the beginning to avoid scope creep
Identify and acknowledge any technical (or other) constraints early on
Involve stakeholders from the beginning – and often – in order to streamline communication and collaboration
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What I’d Do Differently
Better collaboration and more radical transparency across different departments
As always with any project, more time with users to interview and usability test – to validate and uncover more insights, needs, and potential opportunities