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CONTENTS

Introduction

Overview

Results & Metrics

Highlights

Context

Challenges

Research / Methods

Designs

Improvements

Takeaways

As seen in

As seen in

As seen in

Project Overview

Atoa Pay is a consumer-focused payment app designed to complement the Atoa Business ecosystem by providing an easy, interactive way for UK customers to conduct transactions at Atoa-supported businesses. It streamlines peer-to-peer payments and enables unique features like bill-splitting at POS and rewards for in-app activity, aiming to attract a younger, more tech-savvy user base. The app also offers a completely web-based payment option, making it accessible even without installation.

As the design lead, I led the strategy for the app’s visual and interactive elements, enhancing consumer appeal and streamlining the UX for everyday payments. The focus was on creating a fast, engaging, and trustworthy experience that could compete in the UK’s crowded payments landscape.

Atoa Pay is a consumer-focused payment app designed to complement the Atoa Business ecosystem by providing an easy, interactive way for UK customers to conduct transactions at Atoa-supported businesses. It streamlines peer-to-peer payments and enables unique features like bill-splitting at POS and rewards for in-app activity, aiming to attract a younger, more tech-savvy user base. The app also offers a completely web-based payment option, making it accessible even without installation.

As the design lead, I led the strategy for the app’s visual and interactive elements, enhancing consumer appeal and streamlining the UX for everyday payments. The focus was on creating a fast, engaging, and trustworthy experience that could compete in the UK’s crowded payments landscape.

Role

Role

Lead Designer — Feature Scoping, Research, Interaction Design, Visual Design, Prototyping

Lead Designer — Feature Scoping, Research, Interaction Design, Visual Design, Prototyping

Timeline and Status

Timeline and Status

2 years, Live since August 2022

Domain

Domain

Fintech

Fintech

Location

Location

United Kingdom

United Kingdom

Team

Team

Bhavani Katkam (UX Design)

Bhavani Katkam (UX Design)

Deep Chatterjee (UX Design)

Deep Chatterjee (UX Design)

Piyush Pareek (Graphic Design)

Piyush Pareek (Graphic Design)

Navdeep (Project Manager)

Navdeep (Project Manager)

Natalie Davies (Copywriting)

Natalie Davies (Copywriting)

Results and Metrics

Results and Metrics

User Base Growth

100,000+

Customers have paid with Atoa

3,000+

Businesses onboarded since launch

Enabled Funding

$7 million

Raised in seed funding

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)

Highlights

Highlights

Context

Context

Building the Atoa Eco-system

In recent years, the UK’s open banking framework allowed third-party providers to enable account-to-account payments, providing a foundation for services like Atoa Pay to bypass traditional payment systems. Atoa Pay was introduced to engage consumers directly within the Atoa ecosystem, helping users pay Atoa-supported businesses with ease while adding social elements to peer payments, such as GIFs, rewards, and incentives.

My role began at the inception of the consumer app. Although Atoa Pay initially lacked clear UX direction, I collaborated closely with the business team to develop a fun, polished, and seamless experience that would appeal to a younger audience. This involved bridging functionality across Atoa’s consumer and business apps, enhancing engagement, and incorporating planned features like a map of nearby businesses and POS-integrated bill-splitting flows.

In recent years, the UK’s open banking framework allowed third-party providers to enable account-to-account payments, providing a foundation for services like Atoa Pay to bypass traditional payment systems. Atoa Pay was introduced to engage consumers directly within the Atoa ecosystem, helping users pay Atoa-supported businesses with ease while adding social elements to peer payments, such as GIFs, rewards, and incentives.

My role began at the inception of the consumer app. Although Atoa Pay initially lacked clear UX direction, I collaborated closely with the business team to develop a fun, polished, and seamless experience that would appeal to a younger audience. This involved bridging functionality across Atoa’s consumer and business apps, enhancing engagement, and incorporating planned features like a map of nearby businesses and POS-integrated bill-splitting flows.

Challenges

Challenges

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Atoa set out to bring a new way of digital payments to the UK market, leveraging the potential of open banking to offer a low-cost, instant payment solution. However, UK users were unfamiliar with QR payments, posing several challenges in educating users, building trust, and creating a comprehensive platform that could compete with traditional card payment systems.

The UK market was still adjusting to digital and QR-based payments, with consumers unfamiliar with open banking as a tool for seamless transactions. Atoa Pay aimed to bring digital payments to a wider audience by leveraging open banking technology for direct, instant transfers. The app’s purpose was to increase the Atoa ecosystem’s appeal by providing customers with a straightforward way to pay at Atoa-supported businesses, while competing with established options like Revolut. Additionally, Atoa Pay sought to address security and trust issues, helping users feel comfortable with a new payment platform in a market accustomed to traditional card and cash payments.

Atoa set out to bring a new way of digital payments to the UK market, leveraging the potential of open banking to offer a low-cost, instant payment solution. However, UK users were unfamiliar with QR payments, posing several challenges in educating users, building trust, and creating a comprehensive platform that could compete with traditional card payment systems.

CHALLENGES AND GOALS

Boost Consumer Engagement and Adoption

Foster consumer interest in the app by incorporating features that encourage active participation and repeat use, ultimately integrating Atoa Pay more deeply into everyday spending habits.

Establish Seamless Integration with Atoa Business Ecosystem

Facilitate smooth interaction between consumer and business sides of Atoa by aligning features to enhance convenience for Atoa Business customers and improve engagement with the Atoa ecosystem.

Increase Consumer Awareness of QR Payments

Educate users on QR payments and digital transactions through intuitive flows and in-app guidance, considering the market’s inexperience with this payment method.

Promote Trust and Security:

Ensure consumers felt safe using Atoa Pay for financial transactions by focusing on secure flows and reassuring messaging, especially given cultural unfamiliarity with QR payments.

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. Our product team, based in India, carefully considered such cultural nuances to ensure a seamless user experience.

Research / Methods

Research / Methods

Limitations to primary research

Given the startup setting, extensive primary research was not feasible due to limited time and resources. Instead, the founders leveraged their deep industry knowledge to guide the product’s development. While dedicated research is often critical, we adapted by conducting basic qualitative research through targeted surveys and questionnaires to capture user feedback.

Given the startup setting, extensive primary research was not feasible due to limited time and resources. Instead, the founders leveraged their deep industry knowledge to guide the product’s development. While dedicated research is often critical, we adapted by conducting basic qualitative research through targeted surveys and questionnaires to capture user feedback.

Secondary Research: Competitive Analysis

We examined global QR payment leaders like Google Pay, Venmo, Paytm etc. integrating insights from these platforms to align Atoa with the UK’s needs.

We examined global QR payment leaders like Google Pay, Venmo, Paytm etc. integrating insights from these platforms to align Atoa with the UK’s needs.

User Flows & Information Architecture

We focused on building a solid foundation for the user experience by developing detailed user flows and information architecture prior to wire-framing. This approach enabled us to align all stakeholders early on and incorporate their feedback through an iterative process.

We focused on building a solid foundation for the user experience by developing detailed user flows and information architecture prior to wire-framing. This approach enabled us to align all stakeholders early on and incorporate their feedback through an iterative process.

Designs

Boost Consumer Engagement and Adoption

Foster consumer interest in the app by incorporating features that encourage active participation and repeat use, ultimately integrating Atoa Pay more deeply into everyday spending habits.

Making payments fun

Adding notes and GIFs during payment allowed users to express themselves uniquely, boosting engagement.

Rewards Programs

We ran multiple reward campaigns and challenges to boost user engagement. These challenges encouraged users to explore product features and increase payment activity.

Rewards Programs

We ran multiple reward campaigns and challenges to boost user engagement. These challenges encouraged users to explore product features and increase payment activity.

Rewards Programs

We ran multiple reward campaigns and challenges to boost user engagement. These challenges encouraged users to explore product features and increase payment activity.

Simplified Group Payments

To increase platform usage and position Atoa as a versatile bill-splitting tool, we introduced a feature that allows users to create splits, request money, and track group expenses.

Establish Seamless Integration with Atoa Business Ecosystem

Facilitate smooth interaction between consumer and business sides of Atoa by aligning features to enhance convenience for Atoa Business customers and improve engagement with the Atoa ecosystem.

Offers Nearby - Upcoming unreleased feature

We launched a map interface to help users discover nearby stores that accept Atoa. Users can easily find stores offering discounts and rewards, while businesses can attract new customers through our app.

Survey Post-Payment

Improving Google rating for businesses enrolled on Atoa with automated positive review collection and negative feedback filtering.

Integrated Checkout Flows
1. E-commerce

We helped e-commerce clients integrate Atoa as a payment method in their checkout flow

2. Reimagining the Group Dining Experience

By integrating with restaurant POS systems, we enabled users to scan and pay for their portion of the bill using Atoa, even without the app.

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 in-store payment solution, Our product team, based in India, has to carefully consider such cultural nuances.

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.

Using coach marks for new features and first time users

Coach marks were instrumental in introducing unfamiliar interfaces to the UK market. They were also helpful during periods of frequent UI changes, especially in the early stages of product launch.

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.

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.

Improvements

Improvements

User feedback was continuously collected through in-app feedback tools and insights from the sales team as well a closed group of beta users. This allowed us to make iterative improvements.

User feedback was continuously collected through in-app feedback tools and insights from the sales team as well a closed group of beta users. This allowed us to make iterative improvements.

Onboarding Drop-offs

The lengthy onboarding process was simplified based on merchant requests, which improved completion rates and reduced drop of rates by 20%

Informative UX-Copywriting

We identified user anxiety during payment failures and processing delays. To address this, we implemented clear messaging to reassure users that their funds are safe and will be processed or refunded promptly. Additionally, we refined our overall copywriting to provide more informative and reassuring messaging throughout the user journey.

Optimizing User Experience with Data-Driven Insights

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.*

Takeaways

Takeaways

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.