Transforming Paylater to Carbon - A Journey towards Digital Banking
Overview
Carbon, formerly known as Paylater, is a leading fintech company headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. With over 90 employees and operations in Nigeria and Ghana, Carbon empowers individuals with credit access, simple payment solutions, high-yield investment opportunities, and easy-to-use tools for personal financial management. Paylater initially focused on providing loans to Android users at competitive interest rates. However, the company aimed to pivot and rebrand as a digital bank, aspiring to become one of the first digital banking solution in Nigeria and Africa.
Sole User Experience designer
Product Manager, Engineers, and Marketing Specialists
Mobile
Product Design, UX design, Design Leadership
Brief, Goal(s), and/or Challenge
As the sole User Experience Designer at Carbon, my primary goal was to revamp the existing Android experience and create a banking iOS app. The objective was to offer a comprehensive digital banking solution that enables users, including students, professionals, entrepreneurs, and retirees, to manage and track their expenses, invest their funds, and access loans easily. The major challenge was to transition from a loan-focused company to a full-fledged digital bank, catering to a diverse range of financial needs.
Role
In my role as the sole UX designer at Carbon, I collaborated closely with product managers, brand designers, and software engineers to deliver a seamless user experience. Working on-site, I focused on enhancing the Android app, creating the first version of the iOS app, and ensuring design consistency across platforms. The team consisted of four product managers, brand designers, Android and iOS engineers, and backend engineers.
A High-Level Audit of the Android Experience
Tailored to the Modern Mobile User
A High-Level Happy Path User Journey
Home Page Wireframe: Design Rationale
Design Process, Methods, Key Activities, and/or Deliverables
To achieve the project goals, I adopted a combination of design sprint and lean UX methodologies. I conducted extensive competitive research and surveys to gather insights into user preferences and expectations. User personas and journey maps were created to guide the app design. Wireframes and clickable prototypes were developed iteratively, incorporating user feedback at each stage. The deliverables included research documents, wireframes, clickable prototypes, and user persona maps.
Solution and Rationale
To meet the project goals, I enhanced the existing Android app, introducing new features to streamline the loan application process. Simultaneously, I mapped out the flow for the digital banking experience and created the first version of the iOS app. Following the Human Interface Guideline for iOS and Material Guideline for Android, I designed native components that aligned with the unique features Carbon offered. The rationale behind the design decisions was to optimize for speed, accuracy, and ease of use, leveraging Carbon's advanced technology capabilities. The solution focused on saving users' time by enabling swift and efficient financial tasks such as fund transfers, airtime purchases, investments, and loan requests.
Results or Impact and Metrics
The impact of the project was significant, resulting in measurable improvements for both Carbon and its users:
Improved user interface of Carbon's native Android app led to a 25% increase in app downloads and a 15% boost in user engagement.
Increased conversion rates for loan applications and account creation by 30% through A/B testing and redesigned user journeys.
Redefined the onboarding process, reducing drop-off rates by 20% and increasing user onboarding completion by 30%.
Streamlined design processes, reducing design iterations by 25% and ensuring design consistency across digital channels through the implementation of a collaborative design system.
Conducted regular user research and integrated feedback, resulting in a 95% satisfaction rate among active users.
Redesigned the banking feature, leading to a 40% increase in funds transfer transactions and a 20% boost in mobile app engagement.
Collaborated with cross-functional teams to align design with technical feasibility, regulatory requirements, and marketing goals, promoting efficient collaboration.
Ensured regulatory compliance, achieving a 100% compliance rate during audits by adhering to industry-specific regulatory requirements.
Integrated behavioral analytics tools for in-depth user behavior tracking, enabling continuous UX improvements.
Revamped mobile banking features, resulting in a 20% increase in the number of successful financial transactions.
Skills utilized throughout the project included user-centric interface optimization, conversion rate optimization, A/B testing, user onboarding optimization, process redesign, design system implementation, collaboration, regulatory compliance, behavioral analytics integration, and transaction optimization.
30%
User Satisfaction
25%
Reduction in error rate
1M+
Downloads
Conclusion
By successfully transforming Paylater into Carbon, I played a crucial role in establishing Carbon as a leading digital bank in Nigeria. The project's positive outcomes reflect my ability to deliver impactful user experiences while driving business growth.
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