Preventing payment issues

I led the content design for a flow that aimed to help advertisers proactively prevent payment issues.

Timeline

August 2022

Problem

Advertisers repeatedly experienced the same payment issues, which led to unsettled accounts and disruptions to advertising campaigns.

Team structure

  • 1 Content designer (me)

  • 1 Product designer

  • 2 Software engineers

  • 1 Data scientist

My objectives

  • Provide users with clear actions they can take to prevent payment issues

  • Help users understand the value of those actions

The process

Data analysis

A data scientist provided insights on what issues most commonly occur when users try to make payments. We decided to experiment with adding options to a payment flow that were statistically more likely to prevent users from experiencing future payment failures. I worked with the data scientist throughout the project to more deeply understand the options. Additionally, I used data to determine the order of the options, based on what would be most the effective and the least effort for the user.

Tone explorations

If the user moved forward with these preventative options, they’d be required to spend more time in a payment flow. It was especially important to be strategic with the tone I used to ensure that users understood the value of taking the extra time to forward with the preventative measures. I explored different versions of the content using celebratory, informative, and helpful tones. I decided to move forward with a combination of informative and celebratory tones to both clearly explain the recommended options and celebrate the user’s accomplishments.

Iterations

I worked closely with the software engineers to gather deeper context and information on the technical constraints of the product. Since content played a large role in this project, the product designer and I worked closely to determine how the content was displayed throughout the flow. I presented different iterations of my work at multiple design crit feedback sessions.

Challenges

Complexity

I dealt with technical terminology and processes that I wasn’t familiar with. Digging deeply into these terms not only helped me gain a stronger understanding of the billing space, but it also helped me more clearly explain what the user should expect if they selected the different options.

Technical limitations

The engineer identified some technical limitations later in the project process. I identified content solutions that would address the technical limitations and still provide a good experience for users.