Product Design: Introducing PayShap
Introduce PayShap to business clients through a business banking platform.
​Client One of the big four banks in South Africa
Role Senior Product Designer
Year 2024
Background
A major bank in South Africa aimed to introduce PayShap, a new payment platform, to its business clients across all segments. The goal was to simplify transactions by enabling clients to register a PayShap ID, allowing them to quickly send and receive payments to meet their business needs.
What is PayShap?
PayShap is a new digital payment solution that was just launched countrywide. It gives users an easy, fast way to pay and get paid. It allows you to receive immediate payments straight into your bank account, from anyone, regardless of the bank they use.
Challenge
The biggest challenge was dealing with the unknown. Introducing a new payment method to business clients was not an easy ask. PayShap had just been launched for retail clients and whilst the bank was optimistic about client uptake - it was still early days. Business clients are quite different from retail clients so we had to contend with not only new payment platform - but with the question if this is something Business clients need?​
The process - step 1
Empathy
Discovery
The first step was to get acquainted with the technical team’s vision and and technical constraints. We also had to have discussions with the business segments that needed to introduce PayShap - what was their mandate and most importantly who were their clients. We had many workshops that involved all stake holders so our team could get a fuller picture.
Planning & roll out
Based on the initial discussions it was agreed that the roll out of PayShap would be handled in phases. Our team would tackle the the first phase - Registration of a PayShap business ID that would allow users to make and receive payments easily.
Workshop findings
The process - step 2
Experience
Flow chart
Wireframes
Once we had a structure in place, we moved onto wireframes where we explored how each screen would be laid out. This allowed us to quickly sketch out different user flows without having to spend too much time thinking about visual design of those screens.
The wireframes were also used by the developers to start mapping and building the different components required for the release of PayShap.
Personas
The process - step 3
Design & delivery
UI Design
Branding is dictated by the agreement the bank has with Payshap. In the agreement the bank has stated that it would follow Payshap’s branding protocols which are:
Using Shap Name instead of ShapID for business clients
Payshap branding should be at the beginning and/or the end the flow*
Use of icon is prescriptive
Use of the name payshap is prescriptive
The branding guidelines were constraining at first as we didn't have as much leeway for change. I decided to keep it simple streamlined the design. The minimalist approach would be easier on the user's eye and allow us to highlight what's important - without any faff.
PayShap Branding Guidelines
Final designs
After weeks over workshopping, ideating, and workshopping some more - we were able to make the process of registering for a PayShap Name as easy and intuitive as possible. Using the bank's existing components on Figma - the process of creating the design became a game of plug n' play.
We adhered to the bank's existing branding guidelines and incorporated PayShap's own guideline's as well. To make sure the two world's meshed well we kept the design as fuss free as possible. 'Simpler is better' was the motto of the day
Last words
The release of PayShap to Fintech business clients came with its own unique challenges - these challenges required thorough panel beating of the design process to address user challenges effectively.
After 5 months PayShap 1.0 was released for public use, we are now awaiting post release feedback from the thousands of clients that have been exposed to the product.
By staying user-focused and iterative in our approach, we are confident we delivered a product that truly meets user needs and exceeds expectations.
Designing a product from inception to release for the Fintech company, across 3 squads allowed for great collaboration and evolved the way I think about design. As this is a live project - there were parts that needed to be redacted.
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Please contact me if you need more in depth overview of this project and all the amazing pieces it took to make it happen!