Overview
OpinionShield is a mobile application for consumers to rate and review local businesses through their purchases. Users link their financial account, debit or credit card, to their profile which will then populate the app with a list of merchants and the transactions from their account activity. A merchant score is given to a business based ratings and reviews they received. Merchants can get access to the analytics of their reviews and customers through a paid membership, this service also allows merchants to manage their reviews and interact with customers.
Roles
Roles: Product Designer and UX Lead
UI Update
This client has been with the agency for a few years. When I started working on the account I was tasked with assisting the existing team to update the UI of the mobile app and prepare it for beta testing. We explored a few options with the client and they decided on a UI that felt more modern and friendly, but with a more traditional blue color scheme that was identifiable with financial institutions.
OpinionShield Beta Test
Prior to the release, we guided the client through a round beta test to ensure the product was fit for the market. As UX Lead, I spearheaded a longitudinal study, where testers use the application in their everyday life for two weeks and journal about it.
Given that this application's success will be measured largely by how effectively it integrates into the fabric of its users’ lives, it was appropriate to learn about more than just the usability or emotional response to certain flows, but whether or not users would choose to adopt it long term, and why.
Personas created during Research & Discovery.
Test Methodology
• 12 participants: 3 from each of 4 user personas
• Young Professional (M or F)
• Working Single Mom (F)
• Stay at home/part-time WFH Mom (F)
• Almost Retired (M or F)
• Rewards
• $150 compensation: $50 upon onboarding, $50 halfway check-in, $50 upon exit interview
• Conduct an internal pilot study to test our study design and related materials
• Execute study
• Onboarding session
• Once-daily journal entry via Google Form or Typeform
• Daily reminders (as needed) from the D&T facilitator to the participant via email or SMS.
• Post-study exit interview
Summary of Results
The OpinionShield mobile application was met with a mostly warm response by users, with a clear understanding of overall app purpose and usability. Users generally trusted the application and were already accustomed to linking their financial accounts based on other app experiences. Some user trust was eroded when app bugs were encountered. For features that were unclear to users, recommendations were presented and made before the market release.
overwhelming the user.
App Refinement
Sign-in Screen
During user testing, we noticed that users became unsure when creating an account when confronted with the sign-in/create account screen. We redesigned this screen to make create an account button more prominent.
Mobile redesign
Connect Account Screen
The original search in the connect account screen would return many bank/credit variations for the user to scroll through. Most users got frustrated and wanted to drop off. To simplify this process, we surfaced the top 10 most popular bank and credit card companies to the user but also allowed the user to search if needed.
Transition and Loading Screens
While users generally found the app easy to use, the lack of messaging and transitions during wait prolonged times and connecting accounts caused uncertainty and confusion. We added two instances to communicate to the user that the app is working while waiting to alleviate the unknown.
Nearby Landing Screen
The original landing screen for this tab was a map surfacing nearby business with their OpinionShield rating. First-time users did not understand the map or what to do with it since they had expectations to start rating transactions. To help clarify this feature, we created a curated search screen to give context to the nearby section.
Tooltips
When users rate their transactions they need to verify the location of the business they visited. Looking for businesses with multiple locations crowded the search tool during testing. As a result, a tooltip was added instructing the user to enter a location or refine a merchant name if they didn't get any results.
