Lydia

A leading mobile financial service with a thriving community of free users, seeking to subtly highlight usage limits & encourage premium subscriptions.

MY ROLE

UX/UI Designer

TOOLS

Figma, Notion

TEAM

3 Designers

DATE

2022

SCOPE

2 weeks

Overview

CONTEXT

Case Study

In collaboration with Felix Lepoutre, Lydia's lead designer, our team explored real challenges faced by the product teams. (The Design Crew school)

Company Background

The french company recently expanded beyond peer to peer payment by developing new features and initiated their transition as a super app for financial services. Users can now get accounts, payment cards, loan, insurance, money pots, gift cards...


They want to challenge the traditional retail banking model and drive cashless revolution in Europe with an instant, secure and frictionless mobile first customer focused solution.


They raised over 160 millions in funding from major existing shareholders such as Tencent and Accel to accompany their expansion across Europe.

CHALLENGE

How can Lydia introduce new

usage limits and boost suscription to premium plans ?

WHY ?

Next step is profitability

Each transaction incurs a fee, with millions of transactions per month.


An increase of their Monthly Recurring Revenue would contribute to the company’s bottom line.


Lydia launched two premium plans (Lydia Blue & Lydia Black) that offer higher soft & hard limits over the free plan but didn’t raised awareness about free limits.


New limits were introduced to users in January 2021 in regards to monthly transaction volume and payment ceiling but lack in app tracking.

SOLUTIONS

Educate users about usage limits & raise
awareness of premium plans

Payment flow

We created an informative

notification during the payment flow


Entry points

We multiplied strategically placed entry points to the limits pages

Limits & Premium

We structured & clarified info

about limits & premium plans options


Banking expertise

We implemented elements of reassurance regarding their banking expertise

Discover

AUDIT &
BENCHMARKS

User engagement strategies

Conducting competitive research across various industries enabled us to prepare effectively for user interviews. By analyzing Paylib, SFR, Free, Deezer, Lyft Pink, Tullab, and Cbank, we gained insights into user engagement strategies across industries.

Gauges & Usage

From the telephony sector, we drew inspiration from consumption visualization through bar charts and gauges. These visualizations clearly show usage patterns.

Profile Summary

This consumption data is often accessible on user profiles, offering personalized insights and a detailed understanding of individual usage.

Premium Features

From the telephony sector, we drew inspiration from consumption visualization through bar charts and gauges. These visualizations clearly show usage patterns.

USERS
INTERVIEWS

UX Goals & Context

We conducted 5 user interviews to determine pain points and users perception of Lydia. Participants were aged from 18 to 36 years old : 3 regulars users, 1 Lydia addict and 1 occasional user.

1

GAIN UNDERSTANDING OF USERS’ OPINION ON FREEMIUM LIMITS

Discover what made them willing to upgrade to a paid plan the last time they switched from freemium.

2

IDENTIFY USERS’ BANKING RELATIONSHIP

Determine needs, habits and gather their thoughts about digital-only banks and

traditional banks

3

FIND OUT ABOUT LYDIA USAGE

Understand users’s global experience of the app : habits, expectations, pain points

Check awareness of existing limits and premium plans.

Learning #1

Lydia is widely recognised for its fastness, practicality and

fluidity

Users appreciate its efficiency and stay less than one minute

5/5

participants

Learning #2

Reference for peer-to-peer payments, but their credibility is questioned in the banking sector

Users need trust in its banking expertise

reliability

5/5

participants

I refused to paid those 2 euros fees. It’s always been free so I decided to wait until the following month to transfer that money

Morgan, 29 yo

Regular User

Learning #4

Strong unwillingness to suscribe to premium offers.


Users adapt well to limited features to avoid extra costs.

4/5

participants

Learning #3

Notable unawareness & misunderstanding of new usage limits and premium offers.

Users don't understand the impact of limits

on their regular use

4/5

participants

Define

PERSONAS

Arya

01

29 yo

Toulouse

Married

Nurse

Energetic and proactive, Arya excels in multitasking and engaging with social media. Always up for a drink with friends, she knows the best spots in the city.

Behavior

Arya and her husband just secured a loan with their traditional bank Société générale for their first property purchase


She discovered Lydia through her friends and enjoys the convenience and easiness of the app

Motivations

Always on the lookout for new trends, she likes innovative apps that make her life easier by saving time


She pays everything with her credit card and never carries change, she regularly makes small transfers to her friends

Loyalty to bank

Social life

Technology

Florian

02

34 yo

Paris

Single

Developer

Florian works remotely while travelling. As a globetrotter he spends half

the year abroad. His best friends often join him during his work remote trips.

Behavior

Florian uses Triccount regularly to organise group expenses


He was an early adopter of Lydia’app : he likes the possibility to manage his budget in real time on his phone

Motivations

Florian has multiple bank accounts : Boursorama, Société Générale, Hello Bank... He would like to manage all his bank accounts in one place.


He is looking for an optimal aternative to pay and withdraw money worldwide without exchange fees.

Loyalty to bank

Social life

Technology

HOW MIGHT WE ?

1

Reassure users about Lydia’s reliability and its financial services expertise ?

2

Grab users’ attention to encourage them to further explore the app ?

3

Introduce freemium limits & highlight premium plans benefits ?

Develop

IDEATION

EXERCICES

Creative Brainstorming

We decided to kick start our ideation session with a mindmap to visually represent the idea of usage limits transparency followed by a crazy 8s to generate ideas on how to prioritise and highlight information.

MINDMAP

Identify key areas to
focus on for raising awareness

Encourage exploration

Consumption

Understandable

Visibility

Entry points

User habits

CRAZY 8S

Freemium Limits &
Key Features Highlighted

Usage tracking vizualisation

Notification duriing payment

USER FLOW

Payment Flow

We analyzed the existing user flow data to identify key interaction points and determine optimal locations for implementing new entry points. Given that peer-to-peer payment is the core feature of Lydia Business, it was crucial to leverage it to our advantage to raise awareness and ensure the visibility of usage limits.


By strategically placing these entry points, we aimed to improve user engagement and ensure that payment limits were clearly communicated throughout the user journey.

Original profile screen

Deliver

MID FIDELITY WIREFRAMES

INITIAL SOLUTION - V1

Consumption summary

One of our priorities was to determine multiple entry points to limits pages.


To that end we included a clickable consumption summary on the profile page

Profile & usage overview

Original limits screen

Enhanced limits pages with visual cues

Dot navigation

We consolidated related information onto a single screen with dot navigation, aiming to make the consumption overview easily comprehensible at a glance.

Circular Gauges

We added circular gauges to the limit pages to minimize cognitive load.


Orange for exceeded limits and blue for limits not yet reached, allowing users to easily understand their status at a glance

CTA manage my plan

We replaced the discrete clickable "Suscribe" linl to premium plans with a prominent "Manage My Plan" CTA button

Redesigned profile screen

Redesigned screen

Original screen

Pop up during
payment flow

Users are so familiar with the peer to peer payment flow that they tend to complete their transaction without seeking further information.


We therefore decided to built on this popular feature by implementing an informative pop up about freemium limits during the transaction confirmation flow.

Scenario A : Limits warning

Scenario A : Limits reached


USABILITY

TESTING

Objectives

1

Check the relevance of new entry points

2

Find ouf if premium limits are understood

3

Analyse user’s viewpoint on pop up

USABILITY

TESTING

Test Process

We conducted five 30 min usability tests with 3 regulars users and 2 occasional users. Participants aged 22 to 35 years old, had been asked to perform this test considering 2 different scenarios.

Task 1 : Getting close to the limits

After having lunch, they had to refund their friend 20€ via Lydia

Task 2 : Freemium limits are exceeded

As they are planning a trip to Canada with friends , they had to send 700€ via Lydia to refund their friends for flight tickets

FEEDBACK ANALYSIS

No one checked their profile, but when guided, they show interest

Profile page irrelevant as an entry point; guided users found the recap summary useful

5/5

participants

Finding #1

Users missed swipe-to-close but valued usage limits info

Pop up perceived as confusing. Users wondered if payment was confirmed

4/5

participants

Finding #2

Most misunderstood freemium limits and misinterpreted gauges

3/5

participants

Finding #3

Lack of clarity in limits pages. Users questioned the usage limits' meaning

Users intrigued by offers but overwhelmed by detailed descriptions.

Premium plans benefits not sufficiently highlighted

2/5

participants

Finding #4

Iterate

FINAL SOLUTION - V2

Dual options payment
flow : Confirm or Discover

Primary & Secondary CTA Buttons


Transitioned from a pop-up to a mandatory flow with primary and secondary call-to-action buttons. This ensures that users are guided through the transaction confirmation process without confusion.

UX writing alteration


Replaced “Learn more” with a straightforward “Why” to explain applicable fees. This direct approach aims to reduce confusion and potentially optimise user engagement with limit pages.

Limits pages renamed to "My Usage"

Circular Gauges

My usage

Dot navigation

Lydia Logo “Free”

Dot navigation

UI optimisation

To reduce confusion, we renamed limit pages to "My Usage." This change helps users understand that limits refer to their usage and may encourage them to monitor their transactions.

A "Free Plan" Lydia logo was added to the top right corner of the usage page, emphasizing the user's current free plan and raising awareness of the available paid plans.

UI design was enhanced by improving contrast, adding extra details to the circular gauges, and optimizing UX writing

Homepage
Summary

To grab users’ attention, we decided the homepage should display content that helps users monitor their monthly usage.


We created a prominent, clickable section summarizing the user's monthly transactions. Users will be redirected to the limit pages when they scroll through this section

Highlighting
Key Benefits

To reduce user fatigue and encourage conversion, we highlighted the major benefits of premium plans.


Each premium plan introduction showcases four key features, replacing endless bulleted lists with a user-friendly dropdown menu.

Final Prototype

Scenario A :
Getting close to the limits

Reflection

WHAT DID WE ACHIEVE

Enhanced payment flow with dual CTA

Multiplied entry points to the limit pages

Educated Users About Freemium Limits

Raised Awareness About Premium Benefits

IMPLEMENTED ELEMENTS OF REASSURANCE

Structured and Clarified Information

KEY METRICS TO MONITOR

User engagement

Are the new entry points effectively guiding users to payment limit information and encouraging interaction with the limit pages?

Conversion Rate

What is the conversion rate of users upgrading to premium plans? The target conversion rate should ideally be between 5% to 10%.

Support ticket rate

Are we seeing a significant drop in support tickets related to freemium limits ?

Conversion Rate

What is the conversion rate of users upgrading to premium plans? The target conversion rate should ideally be between 5% to 10%.

THANKS FOR VISITING

I would love to help bring your ideas to life

Feel free to reach out !

Melody Dos Santos Borges

Let's shape impactful designs together & create valuable experiences for your users.

2024 Melody Dos Santos Borges. All Rights Reserved.