We discovered an opportunity to help users digitally collect spare change in coins and save money through credit card round-ups. We believed that creating a digital product (we named our product Keep) that could help them collect spare coins digitally would make it hassle free to save and reuse coins.
First we had to know who were our core users. This helped us understand who would be our core users.
This helped us understand how they make purchases and how they handle their spare change.
Our initial hypothesis:
- After completing their purchase, people often place their coins in their pant pockets for safekeeping.
- After completing their purchase, people commonly leave their coins on the table or at another location.
This helped us understand at which part of the flow our product would come in use.
Findings:
- The product should be seamless. It should not disrupt the original customer and cashier interaction flow.
- The product should have minimal interaction between customer and cashier.
Findings:
- The product should be seamless. It should not disrupt the original customer and cashier interaction flow.
- The product should have minimal interaction between customer and cashier.
We then looked at 3 direct global competitors to developed and execute a comprehensive market competitor analysis.
The market competitor analysis provided strategic insights into the features, functions, flows for Keep.
With the valuable insights and data we obtained from our thorough research, we gained the confidence to proceed with creating wireframes. The research findings provided us with the necessary information and understanding to effectively visualize and structure the design of the product.
Developing a wireframe flow for the Point of Sale (POS) system provided us with a clear understanding of the interactions that would occur between the cashier and the POS system.
Upon analyzing the wireframes, we identified a significant pain point or challenge in developing the product. It became evident that the technical infrastructure required for its implementation would surpass our capacity and resources.
The challenge: Users need to interact with the POS system for the transfer, requiring updates across all convenience stores in Hong Kong. What's the next step?
To assess the necessity of the coin collecting feature and explore potential alternative needs, we conducted user research using surveys to collect relevant data.
Goals:
- If people still use cash to buy items at convenience storesHow they manage spare change in physical coins
- If they would prefer spare change in physical coins or digitally
- How would they use their spare change if they received it digitally
- Incentives to collect digital spare change
Key findings:
- There is a decreasing percentage in the number of people using physical currency
- High probability of misplacing spare physical change
- Majority of the respondents stated that they would prefer transferring spare digital change to their Octopus card
We shifted our focus from the original concept of enabling users to collect spare change for future use during purchases. Instead, we opted for our streamlined approach of collecting round-ups through credit card transactions. These rounded-up amounts would be transferred to users' Octopus cards or allocated towards investments in ETFs.
By utilizing the wireframes, we successfully constructed a comprehensive interaction flow that encompasses the entire product journey, starting from the initial stage and concluding at the final stage.
