Spenmo . Utilized agile design thinking to resolve huge ambiguity

Background & my role

As the UX Lead at Spenmo, a fintech startup automating expenditure processes, I focused on creating a customer-centric culture and developing a UX strategy for Southeast Asia. My role involved promoting user-first design principles, conducting user research, and working with product managers to address customer challenges.

Spenmo helps financial managers and decision-makers automate the spending management process to prevent unauthorised spending, reduce the risk of errors, and remain paperless.

Background of the project

Consistent requests from clients for a mobile Bill Payment Approval feature, which was popular on Spenmo's web dashboard.

The clients' unclear reasons for wanting the Approval feature on the mobile app led me to question the team, "Why do clients prefer the Approval feature on the App when it could be more efficiently managed on the Web?"

Meanwhile, we faced pressure from the business to quickly launch this feature, especially since one of our competitors had just introduced an approval feature on their mobile platform.

High level journey of approval

Business objective

To increase the approval process rate (% of number of approvals/number of requests)

About the users

Our user base consisted of a variety of profiles, each with distinct behaviors and objectives.

We had 3 user profiles, each acting as approvers, as outlined below:

1) Approvers for Bill Payment (*80%) (e.g. You were the manager and you needed to approve a Bill request from a freelancer)

2)Approvers for Reimbursement (*17%) (e.g. You were the manager and you needed to approve reimbursement from your sub-ordinates)

3)Approvers for Card (*3%) (e.g. You were the manager and you had a new employee just onboarded, and he/she needed to have a new Spenmo Card and get your approval to get the card.)

*The above figures were used for illustration purposes only and did not reflect the actual statistics.

My role

Take charge of navigating this ambiguity and devising a customer-centric UX strategy that effectively met the project's objectives.

Challenges

We faced significant ambiguity, including unclear customer problems that needed solving, and we were working under a tight timeline from research to finalizing the design.

Ambiguity towards clients

Ambiguity towards product

Approach

Agile design thinking: quickly testing over 10 hypotheses to simultaneously uncover and solve client problems

Although the team had numerous ideas for possible solutions (over 10 hypotheses), none of us were certain which solutions would work best. To address this uncertainty, I developed an agile design thinking process that includes a hypothesis phase and aims to deliver the end design in just 1.5 months.

By testing the hypotheses directly with clients, we hope to identify the lowest-hanging fruit and ensure that the MVP is scalable for the rest of the year while addressing the real customer problems and needs. Despite the ambitious timeline, we are committed to keeping an open mind and exploring all possibilities.

Turning hypothesis into concepts

It was crucial to consider the customer profiles, anticipated customer behaviors (JTBD), and the reasons behind these behaviors when developing a product or service. By understanding who our customers were, what they wanted to achieve, and why they wanted to achieve it, we could design solutions that met their needs and expectations.

Emerging challenge before the usability testing

Given we had different users who had different needs and different perceptions of what urgent tasks meant to them, we had a debate in the team on a design approach:

As both options had their advantages and disadvantages, it was challenging to decide which one to choose, particularly as we lacked a full understanding of the clients' needs. Based on common design principles, Option A appeared to be the simpler option, with a lower cognitive load compared to Option B.

Clients preferred Option B and defied our expectations on design principles

Although Option B contradicted the design principles we were familiar with, it appeared to be the preferred choice among clients.

The main reasons were :

1. Bill Requests were typically more time-sensitive than Reimbursements, and clients preferred to see these requests displayed at the top of the page at all times.

2. Combining both types of requests into one page did not appear to create any confusion, as clients could differentiate between them through the use of distinct icons and colors.

As a result, the preference was to merge the requests to quickly identify and prioritize the most urgent ones.

Other hypotheses

Exploring different hypotheses resulted in a polished and simplified interface design and also uncovered the reasons clients prefer using mobile for approvals.

Hypothesis #1

Yes, but approvers had another stronger need to use approvals in mobile.

- More useful to see the oldest requests first: since those requests will have the urgency to be approved ASAP. e.g. employees pay a large amount of reimbursement and need to get the money back soon.

Hypothesis #2

Indeed, it became evident that this feature is a recognized advantage for both bill and reimbursement approvers. Given that approvers are often overwhelmed with other tasks, they can utilize these reminders to make sure they remember to approve it before the due date.

Takeaway from the testing

#1 Define the product’s value proposition and customer journey

• Through the testing, we gained a deeper understanding of our clients' expectations and how the mobile app could cater to their needs.

• We discovered that the app is crucial in enabling clients to approve urgent requests anytime and anywhere, providing them with a greater degree of flexibility and emergency assistance.

• This is in addition to the app's role in their existing journey.

#2 Define mobile app value proposition: The mobile app provided the flexibility to facilitate clients
to complete their tasks easier and faster 
(from mobile to desktop, and vice versa)

“I can remind myself to approve it(request) later, because I have so many things to do at the same time and I would just forget some of the important one” - Client A

#3 Refined the MVP scope and lowest-hanging fruit

With the approval feature integrated into the mobile app, clients benefited from enhanced reminders for urgent requests, leading to an improvement in the approval process rate.

• The testing aided us in narrowing down the scope of the MVP, as we have decided to proceed with Option B.

• It also allowed us to collaborate with the Product Manager and define the upcoming scopes based on data-driven insights.

• The testing also helped us define the extent to which we should scale in the mobile app, as we gained a better understanding of clients' expectations and needs.

Problem statement

How might we allow the users to quickly identify and approve urgent requests, no matter the request type?

The testing gave us the insights leading to a customer journey between mobile app and web dashboard.

Solutions

Final design

• Choosing a grouping method: As an approver, I have the option to select the default grouping method for my tasks, either by Due Date for Bill Requests or by Request Date with the oldest first for Reimbursement Requests.

• Overview of urgent approvals: Once I opt for grouping by Due Date, I can quickly see the number of Bill Requests that urgently need my approval before their due dates.

• Approve on mobile or do it later: Depending on my preference, I can choose to approve these requests directly on my mobile device if necessary, or I can set a reminder to prompt me to approve on a specific date and time.

Designing for future scalability

In collaboration with the product manager, I crafted the design to be scalable, accommodating future use cases like adding reimbursement and card approval features.

Define successful metrics

In addition to the standard business metrics, it was crucial to define the UX metrics:

Results

Utilizing the agile design thinking approach and supported by quantitative data, we achieved several key outcomes.

1. No more ambiguity: We eliminated ambiguity, created a clear mobile app proposition, and identified key customer value and the lowest-hanging fruit for the MVP.

2. Redefined the MVP and product roadmap: This customer insight enabled us to better facilitate the product roadmap by redefining the MVP and prioritizing features for the upcoming half-year.

3. Nailed a simple design: Additionally, we delivered creative, intuitive, and user-friendly experiences, considering all user profiles.

4. We were inspired: The customer insight also inspired us to develop a high-level customer journey across SaaS and mobile platforms, allowing us to define the unique value of the mobile app in comparison to the SaaS solution.

Summary & learning

The way to embrace UX strategy in a start-up environment:

1. Addressed the ambiguity of the problem-to-solve and the initial solution towards Product Manager and stakeholders created a chance to suggest a design process that focused on the customer in the organization. This approach built trust and showed the value of using customer feedback and testing ideas during product creation.

2. Suggesting an extended design phase with solid product reasoning.

Customer preferences could override established design principles

Our experience had further emphasized the significance of comprehending customer behavior, expectations, and needs—qualities that surpass sole reliance on design principles. In the grander context, several takeaways were gleaned from this project:

1. The application of design principles remained uncertain until user testing was executed, as customers themselves were the ultimate judges of intuitiveness.

2. Customers might also overlook design principles in favor of their actual needs.

3. With just one straightforward test, we could identify the most attainable goals, develop the MVP, and furnish a valuable and user-friendly product. The investment was justified and scalable.