Project Overview
User Base Growth
3,000+
Businesses onboarded since launch
100,000+
Customers have paid with Atoa
Increased Self-Signups
20%
Increase in self-signup rate achieved by optimizing the onboarding flow
Revenue Increase Through Tipping
5-10%
Revenue increase for businesses due to the tipping feature
Trust Pilot Rating
4.8/5
Trust-pilot rating from 68 reviews
Monthly Payment Volume Growth
40.4% MoM Growth
Monthly payment volume increased from £1,300 to £4,490,000 (June 2022 - May 2024)
Monthly Transaction Growth
30.8% MoM Growth
Transactions increased from 33 to 20,696 per month (June 2022 - May 2024)
Enabled Funding
$7 million
Raised in seed funding
How it works
Flexible payment options
Made for enterprises and small businesses-alike
A market ripe for new technology
PROBLEM STATEMENT
CHALLENGES AND GOALS
Educating Users on QR Payments
UK consumers and businesses were accustomed to card payments. Educating users became a top priority to ensure smooth adoption, with Atoa implementing instructional QR stands to guide customers through the payment process and promote trust.
Need for Trust and Security
To gain trust, Atoa needed to convey security and reliability, especially for small business owners new to digital payments via open banking.
Adapting to Cultural Norms
Tipping is a cultural norm in Western countries, especially in service industries. To ensure smooth adoption, Atoa integrated optional tipping into its QR payment solution, addressing concerns about potential revenue loss. Our team, based in India, carefully considered such cultural nuances to ensure a seamless user experience.
Catering to Diverse Business Needs
Beyond low-cost transactions, larger businesses desired analytics and business management tools that were being offered by card companies like Visa and Mastercard.
Building a Merchant and Consumer Base
Like many dual-sided platforms, Atoa faced the challenge of attracting both merchants and consumers simultaneously. We created targeted campaigns to drive user acquisition, ensuring that both customer and merchant bases grew in tandem.
Limitations to primary research
Secondary Research: Competitive Analysis
Feature Prioritization with Impact Matrix
User Flows & Information Architecture
Designs
Two platforms
We initially launched a mobile app tailored for small business owners to simplify payment acceptance without the need for extensive equipment. As our user base expanded to include larger businesses, we developed a comprehensive dashboard version of the app, offering advanced features and functionalities to cater to enterprise needs.
Dashboard
Mobile App
Catering to Diverse Business Needs
To meet the evolving needs of larger businesses, we expanded our offering beyond low-cost transactions. We developed advanced analytics and business management tools to rival those offered by traditional payment giants like Visa and Mastercard.
Adding Staff
Access and permissions for staff members to manage payments.
Boost Google ratings for business
Improve Google rating with automated positive review collection and negative feedback filtering.
Integrations
Integrate with POS systems and other apps (like Epos Now, PointOne) for providing a easier onboarding experience for businesses.
Bulk Payments
Accept similar payments from multiple customers
Need for Trust and Security
To gain trust, Atoa needed to convey security and reliability, especially for small business owners new to digital payments via open banking.
ID Verification
Atoa strictly adheres to UK regulations, providing a secure, fraud-free platform for businesses and customers. The rigorous verification process built trust among business owners as well.
Enhancing safety through clear communication
By providing clear and concise instructions, warnings, and feedback, we can significantly enhance safety and reduce the risk of errors and accidents. Here’s how we improved our communication on the payment screen.
Educating Users on QR Payments
UK consumers and businesses were accustomed to card payments. Educating users became a top priority to ensure smooth adoption, with Atoa implementing instructional QR stands to guide customers through the payment process and promote trust.
Instructional QR Stands
Atoa strictly complies with UK regulations to ensure a safe, fraud-free platform for businesses and customers.
Media Collaterals
We developed a range of in-store materials for distribution among business owners and launched multiple social media posts and marketing campaigns to educate both customers and businesses on our new payment method, highlighting the benefits of using Atoa for seamless transactions.
Adapting to Cultural Norms
Tipping is a cultural norm in Western countries, especially in service industries. To ensure smooth adoption, Atoa integrated optional tipping into its QR payment solution, addressing concerns about potential revenue loss. Our product team, based in India, carefully considered such cultural nuances to ensure a seamless user experience.
Prompt for Tips
Helping UK businesses collect more tips by prompting customers during payment. Additionally a dashboard to track tips collected and set preferences for collecting tips.
Design System
Our design approach focused on minimalism to ensure usability, while branding used bold, recognizable colors like reds and pinks to establish Atoa as a distinctive fintech solution as opposed to the usual blues and greens. We built a Material-based design system, customizing components for consistency and adding responsive designs to support various devices. Micro-interactions were included to improve the experience subtly. We used color variables to make designing for both light and dark more faster, easier and consistent.
Solving Document Upload Errors
Despite utilizing advanced image capture technology, we encountered challenges with users uploading clear documents. To mitigate this, we implemented user-friendly instructions to guide users through the process.
Empty States and Error Pages
We learned the importance of designing for empty states and have since revised the entire product to provide a more seamless and informative experience.
Onboarding Drop-offs
The lengthy onboarding process was simplified based on merchant requests, which improved completion rates and reduced drop of rates by 20%
Optimizing User Experience with Data-Driven Insights
Microsoft Clarity
We analyzed user sessions to identify pain points in key flows. By utilizing heatmaps and AI-powered insights, we were able to refine the user experience and improve overall product usability.
*Image not documented. This is a generic image from the Mixpanel website.*
Mix Panel
Leveraging Mixpanel, we analyzed user behavior to identify drop-off points and completion rates within the mobile app. By pinpointing specific issues and bottlenecks, we were able to optimize user flows and enhance the overall mobile experience.
*Image not documented. This is a generic image from the Mixpanel website.*
Adaptability in a Startup Environment
Working on Atoa Business emphasized the importance of flexibility and quick pivots to adapt to rapidly changing requirements in a startup setting.
Value of Rapid Feedback Loops
Quick feedback from sales teams and in-app insights helped us iterate effectively and make data-driven improvements.
Culturally Adaptive Design
Designing for a UK audience required an understanding of cultural nuances, reinforcing the need to tailor experiences for different markets.
Conversion-Driven Design
Optimizing for conversion was crucial in acquiring and retaining users, helping drive self-signup rates and overall adoption.
Scalability for Diverse Audiences
Designing for scalability taught me how to address the unique needs of a wide audience, from small businesses to larger clients.
Prioritizing Meaningful Features
Balancing simplicity with functionality highlighted the art of prioritizing features that would provide the most value to users.