Revolut was a complete game-changer and it improved tenfold the way people use e-money. At the time I discovered it I was already using the best banking solution in the Romanian market, but to put it in simple terms, using it felt like switching from diesel to electric. Fast forward a couple of years, Revolut is still one of the the easiest ways to deal with e-money. In these couple of years I witnessed and used every new release, each and every one with it’s good and maybe not so good aspects, which at times made me think about ways I’d like to see it improve, have it work better or be easier to use.
Even though in this micro use case I will point out ways in which the app can be improved, I am aware of the fact that the current user experience has been shaped by a cocktail of factors which are opaque to the end user, such as C-level business decisions and goals, complex analytics data, usability testing data, A/B testing data and so on, nevertheless I used this opportunity to showcase some aspects from the perspective of the end user.
Making adding and sending money more intuitive
Insights
• In previous releases (if my memory serves me well) somehow adding and sending money seemed more intuitive and easier to use. After changing to the current iteration it became somewhat less intuitive, although this might very well also be a case of change resistance due to already formed/learned mental models (user mental model stayed the same while the interface and experience changed)
• Currently the add and send features seem visually and functionally a bit difficult to use due to the small size and labeling
Improvements
• Help the user make quicker decisions and move money around faster and easier by removing the need to think too much about what the steps to reach the goal are
• Enlarging add and send actionable items while also improving iconography and labels improves the ease of use, enhancing visibility and reducing the chances of wrong taps
Making accounts easier to use
Insights
• The flow in the accounts section seems to be a bit labor intensive, with several extra screens/steps that can seemingly be condensed down to a more compact ux
• Revolut is revolutionizing the way the users port their e-money through various accounts and exchanges to different currencies, so creating/opening an account easier would improve how fast users can make transactions
• Adding money should also be ridiculously intuitive and easy to do even in the account detail screen
Improvement opportunities
• Make accounts obvious, prominent and visible
• Make adding new accounts easy and managing those accounts equally easy
• Keep information logical an hierarchical
Simplifying card management
Insights
• Cards are a main way of moving money around and making payments so managing cards should be a straight forward operation without keeping the user busy too much trying to figure out the ropes or navigating through too many screens
Improvement opportunities
• Enable users to take fewer steps for performing activities related to their credit cards (adding cards, viewing card details etc.) by making the interactions simpler and clearer
Making payments easier to use and shuffling account info to a more logical setup
Insights
• Sending and requesting money should be as easy as adding money to the account
• Information related to the users account should all be grouped in a logical way based on function and similarity and preferentially in the same place
Improvement opportunities
• Implement a similar usability pattern to payments as the one for topping up the revolut account
• Help users to more easily process, modify, share, copy with ease by grouping account details, banking IDs, IBANs and usernames
Improving contacts and who to pay by enabling users to quickly create favorites
Insights
• Algorithms already groups contacts based on interaction frequency but enabling the user to customize might improve the overall experience
Improvement opportunities
• Enable users to create favorite contacts from the start, increasing the chances of raising the number of transactions by making it easier to send money to familiar contacts
Make ‘message’ transactions actually be as easy as messaging
Insights
• In a typical messaging scenario, users usually first input some sort of information (text, emoji, gifs etc.) and only then take the action (send)
• In the messaging transaction scenario the user flow is not as straight forward or intuitive because the user first has to tap send (take action) to actually be able to input the desired information and then circling back again to taking action (send or request)
Improvements
• Emulate the same type of flow as in a messaging app to simulate the experience but with the added value of a transaction without creating cognitive dissonances for the user
• First enable the user to input all the necessary information then allow him to take the action, send (or request) from (to) the desired recipient without the need to goo through hoops to get to the desired result
