About CleverPe
CleverPe is a fintech company providing India with a smart way to pay. From products to
services, bills to payments, CleverPe simplifies payment methods for consumers through
innovative solutions such as Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) and No-Cost EMIs. As a new-age
tech buddy for every Indian, CleverPe offers instant, cardless, and hassle-free affordability
options.
Problem Statement
CleverPe's merchant dashboard faced several key challenges that impacted user experience
and business performance:
Merchant KYC Process:
Many merchants faced significant challenges in completing their KYC forms due to low technological literacy, resulting in high abandonment rates. The existing process was marred by a lack of clarity and guidance, coupled with poorly designed icons that made it difficult for merchants to comprehend the necessary steps.
Order Creation:
Merchants frequently encountered errors and delays during order creation, largely attributed to a poorly designed user interface that offered insufficient guidance. This not only hindered their efficiency but also had a direct negative impact on their business operations.
Pre-Approval Check:
The pre-approval check, a critical tool for merchants to assess customer eligibility for loans, suffered from irregularities and inefficiencies. Merchants expressed confusion about the current state of the loan approval process, which led to mismanagement and frustration.
Mobile Responsiveness:
Despite research indicating that most merchants accessed the dashboard via mobile devices, the previous system lacked mobile-friendly design. This oversight compromised usability and accessibility for the target audience.
Visibility of Communications and Offers:
Merchants were unable to view important communications and various promotional offers rolled out by CleverPe. The earlier design did not provide dedicated space for advertisements or announcements, leaving merchants unaware of valuable opportunities.
Error Reporting:
The previous system failed to specify error reasons, leaving merchants in the dark about what went wrong during critical processes. This lack of transparency contributed to confusion and inefficiencies in their operations. By addressing these challenges, the redesigned Merchant Dashboard aimed to create a more intuitive, efficient, and user-friendly experience for CleverPe's merchant partners.
Process Improvements
In our initial assessment of the existing system, we identified significant challenges with the loan pre-approval and order creation processes. The pre-approval process previously required only the customer’s name and mobile number to generate an instant credit limit via an API. However, once the loan was approved, merchants had to re-enter the same information for order creation, which was both redundant and time-consuming.
To address this issue, I designed a streamlined process where, if the loan is approved, the first step of order creation is automatically skipped. This eliminates unnecessary repetition, significantly reduces processing time, and enhances the overall user experience. By simplifying these interactions, CleverPe empowers merchants to serve their customers more efficiently, ultimately leading to increased sales and customer satisfaction.
Streamlined KYC Process: I redesigned the KYC process to provide clear guidance and appropriate icons, making it easier for merchants to complete their forms.
Enhanced Order Creation Flow: By integrating an automatic step-skipping feature for order creation, the new design eliminates redundancy, allowing merchants to bypass re-entering information if the loan is approved.
Refined Pre-Approval Check: I optimized the pre-approval process to ensure clarity in loan eligibility assessments, reducing confusion among merchants.
Mobile-First Design: Prioritizing a mobile-friendly interface ensured accessibility for merchants who predominantly use mobile devices for transactions.
Improved Communication Visibility: I incorporated dedicated spaces for advertisements and important communications, keeping merchants informed about offers and updates from CleverPe.
Error Reporting Implementation: The new system provides specific error messages, allowing merchants to understand issues promptly and make necessary corrections.Business Goals
The primary objectives of this project were to:
Simplify the KYC process for merchants, making it intuitive and easy to complete, even for those with limited tech knowledge.
Improve order creation by designing a seamless, error-free flow.
Enhance the pre-approval check process, ensuring transparency and ease of use for merchants.
Optimize the dashboard for mobile, making it fully responsive to meet the needs of merchants who predominantly use mobile devices.
Streamline the KYC process to reduce abandonment rates.
Simplify the order creation flow to minimize errors and delays.
Improve the pre-approval check process for clarity and efficiency.
Ensure mobile responsiveness for better accessibility.
Enhance visibility of communications and offers to keep merchants informed.
Implement error reporting to provide transparency and guidance.
My Role
As the lead UX/UI designer, my responsibilities included:
Conducting user research to uncover merchant pain points and behavioral patterns.
Designing an intuitive user interface that simplifies KYC, order creation, and loan pre-approval processes.
Creating responsive mobile-friendly designs to improve accessibility.
Leading usability testing and iterating designs based on feedback.
Initial Research
Potential Target Audience
For this project, the target audience was clearly defined as:
Merchants of Large Electronic Retail Chains: These are high-volume retailers offering a wide range of consumer electronics, where speed and efficiency in processing customer transactions are crucial. They require a seamless, reliable digital tool to manage financing options such as EMIs and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) for their customers.
Tech-Challenged Merchants: Despite being part of large retail chains, many merchants lack deep technological expertise. They need a user-friendly interface that simplifies complex tasks, such as customer KYC, order creation, and loan pre-approvals, ensuring minimal errors and quick processing times.
CleverPe acts as a financing enabler for these merchants, providing instant credit options to their customers, so the UX needed to streamline these processes without overwhelming the users.
Design Process
Research Questions
1. To uncover pain points and gather meaningful insights from our target audience, we focused on the following key questions:
2. What are the main challenges electronics retailers face when creating orders in the existing system?
3. What specific features or functionalities do they expect from a merchant dashboard tailored to their needs?
4. How can we simplify the order process to minimize errors and enhance user satisfaction?
Interviews
conducted interviews with a diverse group of electronics retailers to gather qualitative data on their experiences with the existing system. This included small to medium-sized businesses operating within the electronics retail space.
Qualitative User Research Data
During our interviews, we identified several common issues faced by electronics retailers:
Complex Navigation: Many merchants expressed confusion due to a complicated navigation structure, making it hard to find essential features related to order creation and customer financing options.
Unclear Visual Hierarchy: Retailers struggled with a lack of visual clarity, which complicated their ability to prioritize tasks and understand where to focus their attention when processing orders.
Time-Consuming Order Creation: The existing order creation process was cumbersome and inefficient, leading to frustration and delays in serving customers.
Interview Insights
From our interviews, several valuable insights emerged:
Desire for Simplicity: Electronics retailers expressed a strong preference for a straightforward, one-click solution for creating and managing orders, which would help streamline their sales processes.
Need for Clear Instructions: They emphasized the importance of having clear instructions and prompts during the order process to prevent mistakes, especially in a fast-paced retail environment.
Importance of Error Recovery: Retailers highlighted that error recovery options are crucial, as they often find it challenging to correct mistakes after submission, potentially leading to customer dissatisfaction.
Secondary Research
We reviewed usability reports, case studies, and existing merchant order systems specific to electronics retail to identify best practices and key UX/UI trends.
Secondary Research Insights
Our findings revealed:
Predictive Order Fields: Systems that incorporate predictive fields for order entry lead to higher user satisfaction, as they significantly reduce the time and effort required from electronics retailers.
Simplified Workflows: Dashboard designs focusing on minimizing cognitive load—by streamlining processes and eliminating unnecessary steps—resulted in improved task efficiency and a better overall user experience in electronics retail.