Cowry Mobile App Redesign | UX Case Study
Role: UX Researcher, UX Designer, UI Designer
Duration: 2 Weeks
Tools Used: Figma, Figjam
About Cowry
Cowry is the payment card for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Buses in Lagos State. The Lagos State Government in conjunction with Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), on 1st February 2021, introduced a reloadable prepaid card — the Lagos BRT Cowry Card which commuters will now use to pay for their bus fares whenever they ride on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Buses in Lagos State. This new reloadable prepaid card system is to replace the long-time cash system.
Why Cowry?
The cowry mobile app has many bad reviews due to the Ux problems encountered by users. Many complaints from users which concludes payment failure, dead ends, trouble navigating through the apps etc.
In order to satisfy user’s need and build trust, there is need to redesign the app to ensure the app serves its purpose. I visited the Google playstore to gather more complaints from users in order to carry out proper research to solve the user’s pain points.
Problem Statement
I want to solve the problems most commuters faced when using the Cowry mobile app. I intend to make payment easy for commuters, this is also to significantly increase usage.
My Goals
- Improve usability and make the app more user-friendly
- Create and validate design solutions
- Improve the design and user experience
- Increase accessibility
- Discover an easier way to reach goals
- Improve users’ trust for Cowry
- Discover more about transportation generally and
- Communicate my design process.
Learnings
Redesign of Cowry mobile app with the core objective of improving process efficiency and provide solutions to users complaints. By simplifying the payment steps, providing options for users to swap cash from card to mobile.
The first step I took was visiting the section of the app on Google playstore to gather user’s complaint. Then I sorted the gathered information and identified the problems. It also helped me in understanding the user perspective of what exactly they wanted.
• The users are at the center of the design.
• A better user experience of the product translates to meeting business goals.
- The journey to a final product is filled with iterations.
My Design Process
User Experience Design to me is about problem-solving that is why I always want to get the users perspective to know their needs, motivations and pain points. Then create solutions to solve the problems and cater to the identified need.
Problem Discovery
A user-friendly app is meant to be learnable with the smallest effort invested, unfortunately, the Cowry app is not serving its purpose, especially when making payment, viewing boarding history and so on. While I was using the app, I experienced some issues without understanding why and many other users also highlighted similar challenges as well. In addition, I tried to get more feedbacks from users by conducting a one-on-one interview based on their overall feel of the app and based on their task. This gave me a set of pain points I was able to gather the following results:
- Payment process is long
- Card balance does not synchronize with mobile wallet
- Poor customer service
- No option to swap or transfer fund from card balance to mobile wallet
- Invalid qr code issues
- No map and bus location history
Some customer reviews on Google playstore
Validated User Personas
These personas are made based on user research. User personas support user-centered design throughout the lifecycle of the project by making characteristics of key user segments more salient. Based on the interviews I carried out, I was able to draw out two different kinds of users on my mobile app and they are listed below.
The Solution
After discovering the user’s pain points and wants through research, I started creating the best solutions for the problems. It was necessary to change the layout of app starting from the homepage. This laid the solid foundation of the design process and helped me to create the user flow.
User Flow
Sketches
After completing the user flow design, I made sketches of the app interface on plain paper, creating a first-hand view of the ideas I had in mind for what the UI may look like when it is completed. It also helps to establish a structure to the application and reduces the amount of design iteration I would have to do when it comes to the implementation of the wireframes into the design.
Wireframes
I created a low-fidelity wireframe to represent the skeleton of the design. This helps me to focus on key functions, elements, and actions before starting the high fidelity design.
Hi-fi Prototype
Splash Screen
Splash screen is a loading screen with the logo of the brand. As the first screen the user sees, it is best to get the design right in other to create good impression at first glance. I decided to make the design simple and less busy.
Enhanced Dashboard
I used cards to indicate the different account options, the wallet and card account of the user. I also re-arranged the quick action features in order to make the page less busy and user friendly. User can scroll horizontal to switch between cards.
Improved customer service experience
I increased the general user experience of the app, customers can get in touch quickly with the customer representative of Cowry by using the Live Chat feature.
Improved User Interaction
The new redesign has smooth interactions, users can navigate the app easily and complete task without stress. The new design is more usable and user friendly, compared to the current app which have many dead ends and inactive features.
Swap, Transfer and Wallet Top — up
From the research findings, the current Cowry app does not provide features for users to swap funds between the Mobile wallet and the balance on the physical card. Also, users can not transfer fund to another cowry user. Here, I solved the problem with users at the core center in my design process.
Prototype
External link: View Prototype on Figma
Usability Testing
To confirm if my redesign concept actually solves the user’s pain points, I invited one regularly and loyal Cowry customer to test the prototype and compare to the current Cowry mobile app, I observed the user by taking note of her reaction, mood, and time taking to complete tasks and objectives. I received positive feedback and general observation on the design.
Conclusion
From the user research to final testing, it has been an unforgettable, challenging moment for me. Having the user at the core center of my design thinking process, it can be concluded that users can easily navigate and complete their tasks with the new redesigned interfaces.
While working on this project, I learnt new ways solving problems and understanding user’s pain points and how to solve them. In the future, I would like to also work on the web version as well because it needs great online experience.
I would also appreciate your honest reviews, questions, and feedbacks about this case study.
Thank you for reading.
Feel free to connect with me for further discussions.
Contact Info:
Email: abiodunadefila3@gmail.com
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