Simpl Repayments Redesign
Driving Financial Health: Engineering a Zero-Friction Repayment Experience for Loyal Customers
Overview & Impact.
Team
Product Designer: Smriti
Product Manager: Sumit Chaudhary
Mentor: Raviteja Bandila
Duration
03 Months (August 2022 - October 2023)
Tools
Figma, Collaboration, Creativity and a whole lot of planning.
Design and Strategy
Our Design and Strategy focused on creating an invisible, proactive repayment experience that leverages behavioral science and intuitive UX patterns to maximize authorization rates at the source. The core strategy was to shift from a reactive, cost-intensive recovery model to a predictive, user-centric success model, ensuring the necessary funds are secured smoothly, thus directly improving the Repayment Success Rate while dramatically lowering operational overhead.
Impact
Redesigned repayments experience of Simpl, which improved repayments success rate by 5% and decreased repayment cost to 37bps 50L/mo at 100% rollout. The revamp project marked a significant milestone for me as it was my first major assignment. Working in the fintech industry introduced me to new terminologies, which were quite difficult for me to get the hang of it in the first go. But my teammates, including developers and the product manager, were incredibly kind, helpful, and patient with me throughout the process.
Discover.
Understanding business context
The problem is driven by two critical business metrics: Repayment Cost and Repayment Success Rate. The existing repayment flow is inefficient, failing to steer customers toward lowest-cost, highest-success payment channel for the business.
Primary Business Goal
To Improve the repayment success rate and decrease the repayment cost through redesigning repayment experience.
Initial User Problem Statement
The operational inefficiency translates directly into a high-friction user problem
“"The existing repayment experience is unreliable and confusing. By prioritizing inefficient or failing payment methods, the flow causes repeated transaction failures, high cognitive load, and leads to excessive user frustration and an unacceptable drop-off rate."
Target Audience
Existing Simpl customers, particularly those who make repeat payments and those who currently use expensive or low-success payment methods (Card/Net Banking/UPI Collect).
Understanding KPIs
Significantly Increase the ratio of UPI Intent Payments to UPI Collect Payments.
Achieve an Overall Success Rate increase in UPI transactions.
Decrease Repayment Cost by reducing the percentage of Card/NB transactions.
Reduce Drop Offs from the Repayment Page (as measured by the Clevertap "Close" event).
Define.
User Interview Insights
We interviewed 5 users on google meet who had attempted repayment at least two times in one month time span. The goal was to understand the reason behind their drop off or aftermath of repayment failure.
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Forced Failure and Frustration
Impact: User feel frustrated due to failures and in cases where they miss repayment deadlines, they feel forced to pay late fee.
"The app consistently pushed me towards an unreliable payment option by placing it first, even when it was experiencing downtime.”
“I experienced frustrating, repeated payment failures, wasting my time and eroding my trust in the app’s reliability."
Decision Paralysis from Dual CTAs
Impact: User feel confused due to dual CTAs present.
"When I reached the final step, the presence of two equally prominent buttons confused me.”
“I didn't know which button was the right path for a successful payment, leading to unnecessary hesitation."
Being Treated Like a Stranger
Impact: User feels the repayment experience is slow and inefficient.
"As a loyal, repeat customer, I expected a personalized, one-click experience. Instead, the generic page forced me to re-select options and methods, which felt slow and inefficient—the app didn't remember me."
High Cognitive Load & Uncertainty
Impact: User drop-offs to go back and recheck payment amount.
"I don't know exactly what I owe, and when it’s due, the second I land on the page. I have to hunt critical numbers and information.
This creates a doubt about making the correct payment."
User Persona
The prompt Player
Bio 📋
Age: 32 years
Location: Urban Metro
Business: IT professional
Priya is an avid Simpl user who values the one-tap payment experience on platforms like Zomato and Blinkit for its time-saving convenience in her busy life. Simpl also provides a helpful buffer when her salary is credited late.
Frustrations 🤺
As a loyal user, she is frustrated by three high-stakes issues:
The lack of clear amount/due date causes uncertainty and drop-off.
The app repeatedly suggests failing methods (UPI Collect), leading to wasted time and multiple failures.
The compounding risk of missing the due date and incurring late fees due to these repeated technical hassles.
Goal 🎯
Speed and Reliability.
She wants to clear her bill in under 30 seconds and confirm the payment worked on the first try.
Motivation ✨
Financial growth and stability.
Achieving timely repayments to avoid late fees.
Steadily increase her Simpl limit over time.
User Journey Mapping
Entry
Review
Selection
Confirmation
Exit
Lack of Clarity
High cognitive load
Failure of selection
Decision paralysis
Abandonment
Neutral
Confused
Anxious
Stuck
Frustated
UX Audit
Inconsistent UI
Elements like payment method tiles, loaders, and disabled states show visual variations across different parts of the existing app, leading to technical debt and user confusion about various interactions.
Lack of Trust
The app marks one method as 'recommended,' but there’s no quick explanation or rationale for why it's the best option.
Difficulty in A/B Testing
The current rigid, monolithic page structure makes it difficult and time-consuming for engineering to isolate and test single variables across different customer cohorts.
Competitive Benchmarking
Recommendation
Earnings/ Offerings
Bill Details
Trust Markers
Affirm
PayPal
Paytm
PhonePe
Amazon
Design and Deliver.
MoSCoW Prioritisation
In order to streamline the journey from page load to payment completion by reducing the number of choices presented initially, while still providing necessary fallback options, I used MoSCoW prioritization to prioritize features.
Must Haves
Must ensure the Amount and Due Date are primary, compliance requirements are met and higher success rate - payment options presented first to user.
Should Haves
Easy configurable design, consistent UI, Visual Heirarchy reinforcing a trust in users mind.
Could Haves
Any additional features like enhanced transaction history, Outage API to be prioritized if need be.
Redesign Information Architecture
We conducted a closed card sorting session with a cohort of active Simpl users in Bengaluru Urban. The participants were asked to organize the various payment options, details, and actions into logical groups. These were the four major groups that came up in the card sorting session.
Paymnt Summary
Outstanding Amount, Due Date
Recommended
Saved and Higher repayment success rate options
UPIs
Saved UPI IDs, UPI apps, Add new ID
Other Options
Saved Cards, New Card, Net Banking
Final Design
Pay to Simpl
Account linked to XXXXXX5170
Paying
Due by 07 Jul
₹ 2000.00
View Transactions
Amount being paid
Assurance of paying to the right account
Secondary CTA for user who wishes to see transactions
Payment Card with Navigation Header
Recommended
Secure Payments
Amazon Pay
Google Pay
PhonePe
Paytm
Show payment option which has success rate > 70%
Recommended Payment Options Card
Last used payment option
by user( either UPI or Card)
Trust Marker
UPI Intent app in user’s device
Saved UPI Intent app (either last used intent option or intent option respective to collect id)
Pay via UPI
UPI ID
UPI Apps
Google Pay
PhonePe
View all UPI apps
Pay via UPI
UPI ID
a******@okhdfcbank
Enter your UPI ID
Enter your lorem ipsum here
UPI Apps
Other Payment Options
Card Payment
HDFC MasterCard XXXX 5544
DELETE
Add new card
Note: Prepaid cards such as food cards, meal cards, wallet cards are not accepted.
Enter your card number
Valid through MM/YY
CVV
Name on card
Secure your card with Visa
Know More
Net Banking
Other Payment Options
Card Payment
Net Banking
Please select your bank
You will be redirected to your bank’s login page
HDFC
SBI
ICICI
View all banks
Other Payment Options Card
UPI ID Payment Option
Net Banking Payment Option
UPI App Payment Option
Card Payment Option
We launched a V0 version of new architecture to 10% users, which helped us test the new designs as well we saw significant improvement in success rate as well as decrease in repayment cost. Below are the screen recordings of actual working product.
Design System
Post, launch of V0, we identified that many use cases as well as visual inconsistencies can be handled well if we incorporate a design system. I developed a dedicated design system specifically for the Repayments experience. This strategic move guaranteed visual consistency and a unified user flow across all channels (web, mobile, and in-app). Crucially, by establishing these reusable components and clear guidelines, we drastically reduced future design debt and created a foundation that empowers future designers to iterate rapidly and maintain brand fidelity. You can check it here.
See Design System
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