Enhancing Digital Access: Orange Money’s Self-Subscription UX/UI Overhaul
UX/UI Design, Product Design, Mobile App Design, Prototyping, User Research and Interaction Design
The problem
In Africa, the secure and convenient sign-up process for Orange Money was hampered by limited physical store access and the risk associated with carrying legal documents.
The solution
A digital onboarding system within the Orange Money app was developed to allow secure, device-based sign-ups, enhancing user accessibility and promoting the adoption of digital finance.
In depth case study below
Background
With the rapid expansion of mobile technology in Africa, there was a critical need to transform financial services to be more accessible and secure, addressing both urban and rural users.
Goals
Enhance the convenience and accessibility of financial services
Reduce onboarding time by 30%
Increase user registrations by 25% within the first year
Strengthen security measures to protect user data
Painpoints
Users expressed frustration over the lengthy processes at physical stores and the inconvenience of carrying multiple documents. The fear of document loss or theft was particularly significant.
Research
Our team conducted comprehensive evaluations of existing Orange banking products, with Orange Money France as a primary benchmark. While it highlighted some strengths, significant challenges arose, particularly with the slow SDK during ID document capture, leading to user abandonment in tests. In contrast, Orange Flex in Poland and other platforms using the Onfido SDK, like Revolt, provided swift and seamless experiences, setting a new standard for our project. We also examined leading fintech platforms like Monzo and N26 for additional insights.
To better understand user needs, we hosted online workshops across Africa, focusing on streamlining the self-subscription process. Feedback led to several enhancements: clear signposting, distinguishing between Orange and non-Orange customers, free sign-up, feature previews, contextual hints, improved ID verification, and backup manual input options for SDK failures. Additionally, we revamped the process for creating and modifying secret codes to boost security and give users more control.
(Personas taken from OMF team onboarding review.)
Ideation
After thoroughly defining the problems and analyzing each pain point, we moved into the solution phase with a structured 'task analysis' that helped us identify clear goals and user types. We delineated two distinct user flows: "light user" and "upgrade."
From this foundation, we began crafting low-fidelity wireframes along with preliminary visuals to explore these user flows and address general usability issues. I then presented these prototypes to key stakeholders and team members across the respective countries, facilitating a collaborative feedback process to refine our approach.
(Proposed user journeys.)
(Low fidelity wireframes.)
Exploration
The next step involved creating low-fidelity visuals and prototypes to streamline the design and test for unnecessary elements, improving overall usability. I shared these initial drafts with colleagues around the office and with our teams in Paris to gather diverse feedback and ensure the designs met a wide range of user needs.
(high fidelity wireframes.)
Refinement and Feedback
I streamlined the initial prototypes, focusing on a polished, end-to-end user experience. These refined designs were then reviewed by both my team and key stakeholders. Following internal feedback, we extended the testing to include users and employees in Africa, aiming to ensure the solutions met localised needs effectively.
High fidelity designs
Building on the feedback gathered, I tailored the design to be optimized for specific operating systems, ensuring both applications were as harmonized as possible using a systematic approach. We chose a vibrant color palette and incorporated illustrations to minimize text, aiming to streamline user interaction. Our objective with Orange Money was to make it the primary tool for money transfers in Africa, transforming it into an all-encompassing financial solution.
(Orange Money Self subscription high-fidelity prototype).
Conclusion
While the Orange Money self-subscription onboarding process presents a promising solution to address accessibility and convenience challenges in Africa, persistent issues like sluggish backend performance and connectivity hiccups hinder its effectiveness. Consequently, users are abandoning the process midway. Furthermore, there exists a notable lack of awareness among users regarding Orange's service offerings and apprehensions regarding data privacy. Enhancements to the backend APK and improved communication strategies are imperative to ensure a smooth and satisfactory user experience.
Despite these challenges, the platform has shown significant progress: Monthly new user sign-ups have increased from 15,000 to 28,500, and the sign-up success rate has reached an impressive 75%. Moreover, the average onboarding time has been reduced to 12 minutes, with a target to further reduce it by 50% through automation. These statistics highlight the potential of Orange Money's self-subscription platform.
By prioritizing technical upgrades and addressing user concerns, Orange can fully unleash the potential of its self-subscription platform, empowering users to confidently and effortlessly access digital financial services. This dual focus on improving backend performance and enhancing user awareness will ensure continued growth and user satisfaction.