Stop paying high APR on credit cards. Transfer debt off and always pay a low APR with Pillar Balance Transfer Flow Case Study Google UX Design Professional Certificate Prompt Project Duration September - November 2022

Project Overview Create a responsive design for Pillar that allows users to continue using their high APR credit cards, while transferring accumulated debt to a guaranteed fixed 3% APR line of credit.

The service helps users manage multiple cards, stay on top of balances in one place and monitor each cards current APR.

Users get rewarded for making payments on time. Pillar creates a less stressful debt payoff experience by using visual representations of debt called chunks. Responsibilites User Research
Wireframing
Graphic Design
Mock ups Low Fidelity Prototype
High Fidelity Prototype
Testing
User Research Role in Project Research
(UX) User Experience
(UI) User Interface
Product Design Tools Adobe XD
Adobe AI
Adobe PS Miro
Figma

The Problem The Goal
Every store has a credit card, and every store has a reason for you to want that credit card. Too many credit cards can be a hassle, and cost more than they benefit trapping people into more debt. Keeping track of multiple bills and paying high APR's is preventing individuals from getting out of debt or using their credit to their benefit. To create a less stressful experience that benefits the users and gives them control over their accumulated debt while still maintaining the freedom to use credit cards for the purposes they were needed for originally. To aid people in using credit better, and paying it off efficiently.

Interviews & Surveys The target audience for the interviews and surveys:

Users that have more than one credit card.

Users between the age of 18-60 with debt.

Individuals with math phobia or anxiety.

Users with moderate to good credit. In the interviews and surveys it was important to collect data related to how many credit cards individuals have, and what is the most stressful part of paying off debt. How does accumulating debt feel for the users, and what would make the process easier to release some of the stress from the process. I wanted to know how many users are aware of what APR they pay for each of their credit cards, and how they would prefer to visualize their accumulated debt over use of numbers to provide a feeling of satisfaction rather than an anxiety driven response.

Personas Matt Molad Goals Background User Story 38 : Maryland : IT Tech Support Pain Points Wants to continue to build points on his credit cards, but pay off his debt with a lower APR. Lives on the east coast with his family, and relatives live on the west coast. Uses credit cards to build gas points and miles to fly to visit family. “As an IT Technician, I want to lower my interest rates so that I can feel as if I have more control over my debt but still have the freedom to use my credit.” He feels credit card companies are misleading and like to lock you into a high interest rate. Wishes there was more transparency

Doesn't feel as if there is anything he can do about his debt, and that it is out of his control.

Not sure if he is paying for the benefits he wants with his high interest rates.

Victim of identity theft and concerned about providing access to his bank account or debt card without security protocols in place. Personas Jess Freidman Pain Points User Story Background Goals 22 : Massachusetts's : Cashier / Student "As a student, I want to see everything I need to pay off in one place so I can start to get control over having too many bills to keep track of." Loves to shop and works as a cashier when not in school. She lives just off campus with roommates and has multiple cards for venues she frequents and feels a little over her head. See all her credit cards and what she owes in one location to help her manage and payoff what she owes. Has a difficult time remembering all her cards and what is due for each of them.

Feels like her payments are only covering the interest owed rather than paying down her debt.

Didn’t understand what APR was and how it worked until it went from 0% to nearly 30%

Regrets opening so many cards, but doesn’t want to hurt her credit more by cancelling them.

Stressed out by all the numbers. Personas Robert Kenel Goals Background User Story Pain Points 62 : New York : Retired Police Officer Robert wants to keep an eye on his debt at all times. Shipping everything he needs to his house can add up quickly, and he doesn't want it to get out of control. A retired police officer lives in a rural area in the mountains that does not have a shopping center. The drive to the store is 45 minutes away so he shops online for everything he has to buy. At this point in his life he does not want to accumulate excessive debt. “As a retired police officer, I want to pay down my debt as quickly as possible so that it doesn't accumulate at this point in my life.” Has a difficult time remembering all her cards and what is due for each of them.

Feels like her payments are only covering the interest owed rather than paying down her debt.

Didn’t understand what APR was and how it worked until it went from 0% to nearly 30%

Regrets opening so many cards, but doesn’t want to hurt her credit more by cancelling them.

Stressed out by all the numbers.

Competitive Analysis After collecting data in an excel document I sorted based on the primary points of the audit that best fit the user needs from the interviews and personas.

Information Architecture Establishing a structure for the information architecture by site mapping each page and its hierarchy within the product.

The design is based around the concept that the user can browse for information without logging in but once logged in the structure follows the matrix architecture that allows them to follow their own path between pages within the dashboard.

Storyboard To understand why a user would want to use a service like Pillar, I storyboarded a theme discovered through interviews and persona research. A customer is asked if they would like to open a store credit card because she could save money. "I know I have a card for gas, the pets, the house, and I do shop here often but...." Thinking about keeping track of more bills at the end of the month causes her to hesitate. "Im probably paying a ton in APR" She remembers the ad she saw, "Pillar will list all my cards and their APR's in one place, allowing me to have control over my debt. It also keeps my APR's low, and transfer off debt so I can keep using my card? She thinks to herself, "That would really make it easier to keep track of. Then I could work on building up store points by using the credit card without the stress!"

Sketches to Wireframe Wireframe digital sketches from the companies looked at in competitive audit. Drawing out features that would work for Pillar based on user needs.

Following the information architecture established, the digital sketches were turned into a low fidelity prototype ready for a usability study.

User Testing In the usability study it was important to collect data related to if the concept of the products purpose is clear to the user, and if there is anything missing a user would expect to see. Are there any user concerns or ideas from the user experience to make the product better. If users would be able to easily navigate and move within the design and would this create a less stressful experience.

The target audience for the usability study:

Users that have more than one credit card.

Users between the age of 18-60 with debt.

Individuals with math phobia or anxiety.

Users with moderate to good credit 60% of users during testing did not want to read about what the service does and how to use it and were left confused.

80% of users liked the option to monitor debt visually.

20% of users were confused about how the point system would work within the design. Insights from Research Solution to Pain Points Adding tool tips to pages with information that may be confusing to first time users will clarify features without having to look for the information.

Establishing a Design System To maintain consistency throughout both the design and responsive versions for desktop, tablet and mobile devices components were organized into a design system for the product. Input fields and forms in both inactive and active states.

Color Styles and HEX values for export.

Character styles, hierarchy and pairings.

Call to action buttons in both inactive and active states.

Icons for desktop, tablet and mobile versions.

Repetitive graphics or components.

Page elements; header, footers and backgrounds.

What did I learn? What's Next? User testing showed that even when keeping text to a minimum, participants in studies did not want to read it, and this left users confused. The challenge with this project was how to inform a user how to use the product visually without having to look around. I learned that users want that visual information presented to them and that looking for it discourages the desire to explore the service further. For the time allocated for this project my primary focus has been the UX and how the user experience shapes the design, but there are some features in the product with more time I believe would benefit from more attention to the UI. Such as the manage chunks and manage credit cards areas where the information is listed through the page. This area of the product may benefit from design cards or a carousel over a list. Changing the structure of this area may allow for these two features to be combined for the users as well, but would require more users testing to confirm these changes with our users. Appreciate your time taken to view my case study. Thank you.