Product Design
Payment Request
New digital payment solution for small businesses following initial COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.
Product Design
Payment Request
New digital payment solution for small businesses following initial COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.
About
QuickBooks is a front-office tool that helps businesses manage and operate financially. It has always been known that QuickBooks helps businesses track their expenses and income to aid in quarterly taxes. As it becomes more reliable, small business owners start to seek more capabilities from it to help in the back-office as well, such as project management and accepting payments
Role
Lead Product Designer
Responsibilities
Product strategy, user research, interaction design, web & mobile native design.
Team
Stefan Melendez, Product Management
Mansi Soni, Lead Visual Designer
Susan Flynn-Lopez, Content Strategist
Problem Statement
As a small-business owner, I wear multiple hats throughout the day.
I’m not just a SMB, I’m also the assistant, janitor, and oftentimes, the bookkeeper.
It's crucial that my operating tools can help alleviate secondary responsibilities to give me the time and focus I need on my primary tasks.
Discovery
Discovery
COVID-19: An unpredictable and timely challenge
April 2020 as we all know, impacted every corner of the world. Specifically the small business space, entrepreneurs were met with an extremely heavy obstacle of navigating nationwide closures.
7.4 million
net new active PayPal accounts added in April 2020
7.4 million
net new active PayPal accounts added in April 2020
7.4 million
net new active PayPal accounts added in April 2020
Square & Venmo
investing in remote payment features (Online Checkout, pay via QR Code)
Square & Venmo
investing in remote payment features (Online Checkout, pay via QR Code)
Square & Venmo
investing in remote payment features (Online Checkout, pay via QR Code)
32pt increase
in keyed-in payments on QuickBooks even though there’s a decline in invoice payments
32pt increase
in keyed-in payments on QuickBooks even though there’s a decline in invoice payments
32pt increase
in keyed-in payments on QuickBooks even though there’s a decline in invoice payments
QuickBooks invoice: empty state
Initial State: Where we started
Invoices are the most crucial record keeping artifact to protect the integrity and liability of a business transaction. Historically, invoices detailed customer information, payment requirements, a breakdown of goods/services, taxes, and more.
Meeting Customers Where They're At: Our Philosophy
Small businesses and their customers are always evolving. The way entrepreneurs get paid is different than it was 10 years ago, so their tools and platforms need to support that.
User Research
Qualitative interviews
What is most valuable to small business owners when they need to get paid?
- 8 current QuickBook customers
- Type: invoicers and non-invoicers
- Methodology: Interview and concept testing
Qualitative interviews
What is most valuable to small business owners when they need to get paid?
- 8 current QuickBook customers
- Type: invoicers and non-invoicers
- Methodology: Interview and concept testing
Qualitative interviews
What is most valuable to small business owners when they need to get paid?
- 8 current QuickBook customers
- Type: invoicers and non-invoicers
- Methodology: Interview and concept testing
Quantitative product experiment
How might we position a new payment tool in QuickBooks today?
- ~4,000 QuickBook customers who invoice or accept payments virtually
- Methodology: Fake door test in product
Quantitative product experiment
How might we position a new payment tool in QuickBooks today?
- ~4,000 QuickBook customers who invoice or accept payments virtually
- Methodology: Fake door test in product
Quantitative product experiment
How might we position a new payment tool in QuickBooks today?
- ~4,000 QuickBook customers who invoice or accept payments virtually
- Methodology: Fake door test in product
Competitive Analysis
What are best practices and industry standards?
- Payment processors: Square, PayPal, Venmo
- Accounting tools: Wave, Honeybook, Freshbooks
Competitive Analysis
What are best practices and industry standards?
- Payment processors: Square, PayPal, Venmo
- Accounting tools: Wave, Honeybook, Freshbooks
Competitive Analysis
What are best practices and industry standards?
- Payment processors: Square, PayPal, Venmo
- Accounting tools: Wave, Honeybook, Freshbooks
🧩 Key Learning 🧩
Traditional invoices are a burden and take too long to create, send, and receive payment.
Hypothesis
Explorations
Introducing Payment Request
💸 Get paid faster, in the simplest way possible.
Design Principles
💎 Transparent
Getting paid is a sensitive and sometimes awkward experience for SMBs. It should never feel like reading fine print or easter-egg hunting. Rather, our experience should speak for itself and drive confidence.
⚡️ Efficient
The road to getting paid should be simple, straightforward, and the accounting should be auto-magical.
🎈 Ephemeral
The experience manifests from various triggers throughout the product briefly. It should always seamlessly return the customer back to their previous location.
Deliverables
Sales overview access point in shortcuts
New landing page for the feature
Details of a payment request
Requirements
- Request payment for a flat amount. Perfect when tax and other fees are included or are not required.
- Collect the most minimal amount of information from the buyer.
- Meet customers where they’re at, virtually. While also providing a convenient and safe way to pay.
What end customers (buyers) see
Payment request email
Payment portal
Merchant’s requests page will take on a new state
Adaptive Table Design
Desktop 1440px
Tablet portrait 768px
Mobile web XXS 320px
Outcomes
🤑
$1m in requests
within only 17 days of launch to 20% of US customers.
🤑
$1m in requests
within only 17 days of launch to 20% of US customers.
Requests get paid 17 days sooner
Invoice average days to paid is 21 days compared to payment requests is 4 days.
~70% of payers that open the request email visit the pay portal
Compared to 48% of opened invoice emails visit the pay portal.
~70% of payers that open the request email visit the pay portal
Compared to 48% of opened invoice emails visit the pay portal.
Reflections
This project stretched my user research muscle to the max. What is not represented in this case study is the heavy amount of iterative testing that was done to refine the product direction and positioning. I'm most grateful for the endless resources and support to conduct studies at Intuit.