A Case of the Snowball Effect: How Small Changes Led to Major Conceptual Shifts

It all began as an ambitious 'all-in-one' app, combining both messaging and digital wallet payment functions—essentially a homegrown 'WeChat' tailored for the Kazakhstani market. What started as a simple vision soon evolved, sparking a series of small yet significant changes that ultimately led to a complete conceptual transformation.

I want to walk through the key steps I took in reconceptualizing the app, a process that ultimately led to the development of a fully separate app—the revamped version of the wallet.

Team insights

Analysis of Existing App Development Challenges

My first step was to gather insights from the team by having open conversations about the issues they were encountering. Through these discussions, we identified that the app’s design was not only difficult to maintain but also challenging for mobile developers to implement effectively.

Business insights

Next, I engaged with the product owner to gain a clearer understanding of their vision and expectations for the app. We explored the potential user base and the key features that should be prioritized. During this conversation, I learned about the plan to create a standalone wallet app by extracting the wallet functions from the existing app.

Redefine the UX approach

At the time, the company didn't have the resources for extensive user research, so I decided to leverage informal feedback. I asked my team members to show the existing screen designs to their friends and family, conduct quick tests, and gather their input. Additionally, I reached out to colleagues from other teams within the company—those not directly involved in our project—to get their perspectives on the design.

After gathering all the feedback and testing results, it became clear how I should approach the redesign of the app. The insights I collected provided a clear direction for shaping the new user experience.

To sum up

• Separate the Wallet from the Messenger Ecosystem while maintaining visual consistency within the overall brand family (umbrella brand).

• User feedback on the existing design was underwhelming, with internal research highlighting significant issues.

• Need for a more efficient and feasible design: The previous design was cumbersome for mobile developers, leading to delays and challenges in implementation.

My role

I inherited the previous app design from the former designer, which was already in the process of implementation and layout. My goal was to develop a new design approach for the app that would not only meet the team's capabilities and the product owner’s deadlines but also address the needs of the end-users who would ultimately be using the app.

Identifying Major Issues

To start, I conducted a thorough analysis of both local competitors and international counterparts.

This involved opening new accounts with various local banks and downloading their apps to analyze key user flows and features in real-time.

Source: Kaspi Bank is the leading player in the market, followed by Halyk Bank

Additionally, I reached out to friends living abroad, asking them to share screenshots of wallet apps they were using. This provided valuable insight into international design trends and helped me understand user expectations in different markets. For example, I requested screenshots from my friend of the N26 app to explore its approach.

By leveraging established human cognitive models, we can create an intuitive user experience that allows users to focus on their primary tasks without the need to learn new patterns or systems.

Why did I choose this approach? Because I recognized that disrupting existing patterns would be too costly, and the company wasn't in a position to pioneer this segment.

By applying familiar human cognitive models to the new app design, I ensured a smoother transition for users, making it easier for them to migrate to the new app without feeling lost or overwhelmed.

Users are bringing their expectations formed around a familiar product to another similar one.

Given that our team was a small startup of 25 employees, with a developer-to-designer ratio of 1:10, we couldn’t afford to overcomplicate the layout process for every design element, even though I would have liked to. Additionally, as a young startup, the company didn’t require overly sophisticated design elements.

Fixed Communication Processes with Developers

I firmly believe that a great product can’t be created without strong relationships within the team.

For this reason, it was crucial for me to understand what the development team needed from the designer and how they envisioned our communication.

I wanted our collaboration to be both synergetic and productive. To achieve that, we engaged in hours-long discussions to solve various challenges and find compromises. During these conversations, we always had to keep the project deadlines in mind when making decisions.

At a certain point, the backend team joined the discussions as well. Since some features had already been implemented on their end, they had to adjust them as we moved forward in the development process to better align with user needs.

For instance, the backend team had set up a 6-digit passcode, but I pointed out that this could lead to user frustration, as longer passcodes are more likely to be forgotten. This could result in dissatisfaction or even users abandoning the app. I was pleased that the team understood my concern, and this experience helped me grow both my leadership and communication skills.

On the left side is with 6-digits, and new with 4-digits PIN code

With the help of the Dev Team, I identified the following key Issues:

Difficulty in Implementing the Backdrop History

To address this challenge, I developed a completely new approach for displaying transaction history. The goal was to streamline the implementation process, making it easier to support both the design and the app code. I also kept in mind that developing customized elements with filtering and pagination could be time-consuming and costly, so I aimed for a solution that balanced functionality with efficiency.

Probable UX issue

Confusing Navigation

A survey revealed that users were having trouble identifying the tab-switching functionality. Since we were redesigning the app, it was essential to refresh not only the tabs but also other key navigation elements to improve clarity and usability.

The more design options you have, the longer it takes to make a decision. To simplify the process for users, it's essential to break complex tasks down into smaller, more manageable ones, reducing the number of choices they need to make.

Atomic Design Approach

To streamline and accelerate the design development process, I worked closely with the mobile developers to create a design system based on the native components of iOS and Android. By utilizing the native interface elements of both operating systems, we aimed to foster trust with users, leveraging their familiarity with these elements to enhance recognizability and encourage faster user engagement.

One of the examples of I structured the List Components

Once the design system was in place, we were able to implement prototypes quickly, which ultimately saved us a significant amount of time for refining, improving, and optimizing the user flow. With this foundation established, I was able to shift my focus more toward the aesthetic aspects of the design, as well as the operational and financial functions of the wallet.

Organizing digital identification flow

Conclusion

In this project, I developed the design for the new wallet app within a short timeframe, aligning with the overarching brand concept while considering the needs and capacities of the team, product owners, and users.

Given the specific context of the local market and the company’s limited resources, I learned to adapt and adjust the status quo to achieve the desired outcomes. This process not only helped me refine my research and analytical skills but also taught me how to be resourceful in challenging situations.

Most importantly, I gained comprehensive, end-to-end product development experience, learning the ins and outs of the FinTech industry while working closely with the dev team, backend team, and product owners and stakeholders.