Reduced late payments to 30% with a refined account statement and emails
overview
Here’s the story of how we managed to reduce 30% of the late payments of Bioteksa's Distributors through an App that takes the stress out of managing accounts, leading to fewer late payments and much happier customers.
ROLE
30%
Late payments reduced on 1st Month
40%
User adoption on launch
Imagine being a national distributor in Mexico. You have so much on your plate, managing people, different stores and warehouses all over the country, and then you get a call from one of the brands you sell saying you have to pay interests because you are behind on your payments. Then, they sent you an account statement that looks like this:
It's frustrating, it's confusing, and on top of that, you needed to pay $10K-$20K in cash (although they didn't say you could do a bank transfer too). All of this caused a spike of 45% in the total amount of late payments in Bioteksa. So, we sat down and started to think how can we reduce this amount and give a better service to our distributors.
The Business Goal
The directors wanted to reduce the percentage of late payments to at least 20% and automize the whole account statement calculation (there was someone doing this for every client manually, can you believe that?!).
Our Big Challenge
We wanted to build something that would empower distributors to manage their accounts and pay their bills with total confidence.
How did I discover the problem?
By doing discovery and research, of course
To get to the heart of the matter, I first sat down with the credits department first. They helped me document the whole process of getting Bioteksa products to paying the account statement. By doing a User Journey Map of this process, I identified the main pain points and opportunities:
Users may be confused by the account statement
The statements sent via email in a spreadsheet were a puzzle, making it hard to figure out payment amounts and due dates.
Account statements had errors
Because all of the account statements were calculated manually, some of them had human errors.
Distributors weren't notified on time
Because there was a team of two making the account statements of more than 300 distributors each month.
User Journey Map of the previous payment process.
Then, to get to the heart of the matter, I interviewed 5 Bioteksa distributors. These conversations were incredibly insightful and confirmed what we thought and helped identifying the distributors pain points:
"I don't understand Bioteksa's email"
The statements sent via email in a spreadsheet were a puzzle, making it hard to figure out payment amounts and due dates.
"Really? I didn't know we had discounts for paying early"
Users were not aware of the benefits of paying on time.
"I pay cash. That's the only method I know with them"
Users were told that the only way to pay was via cash, we actually had more payment options like bank transfer.
User persona developed through the interviews
the process
It's Design Process Time
With the why figured it out, it was time to start the design process:
I first laid out the sections of the app and the sections an account statement needs to have based on the Product Requirements
Then, I sent a card sorting test to the same users I interviewed to group the sections of the app and the account statement through their mental models.
Finally, I created the sitemap of the app and Information architecture based on the findings of the card sorting tests.
Sitemap of Bioteksa App after the card sorting test
Information architecture of the account statement
When the first wireframes were designed, the Head of IT told us they wanted this app built in 2 months, with the first wireframes in the first two weeks and with poor context on what they wanted. I felt the pressure and started designing in Figma since day one (Big Mistake). So I did some initial wireframes and mockups that were not at all what the goal was.
Why it doesn't work?
There is no quick look on what to do and what to pay at a glance, so it may be frustrating and confusing to the user.
Why this doesn't work?
There is no explanation on what the benefits and interests are, and seems that they are unrelated to the account statement due to being in different sections.
The solution
Bioteksa App for Clients
The Bioteksa App was born to solve the problem distributors had to manage account, see statements and pay. The app replaces confusing account statements with clear, on-demand financial data, highlighting key payment dates and available early-payment discounts. It also eliminates the security risks and logistical hassles of cash transactions by integrating secure digital payment options.
Setbacks after launch
After our initial launch, we hit an unexpected bump. We learned that many clients were hesitant to download yet another app onto their phones. To solve this we managed to create a Web App easily through Flutter adaptive capabilities and set up email remainders to pay and links on how to pay so users can access the full experience from any browser, without downloading another app.
Bioteksa App Desktop
Bioteksa App tablet
Bioteksa App mobile
Prototyping & Testing
Before finishing the core functionalities, I built a PDF account statement with the product requirements and main features and made an A/B Test to determine if the new account statement will be understood versus the old one. We asked some users to analyze the previous statement PDF, and the feedback was really good—it was this test that showed us 65% of users could now easily understand the amount to pay and the discounts, comparing it to the 10% of users who tested the previous statement and understood the amount to pay and the discounts.
High-Fidelity UI Design
For this project I developed a clean and trustworthy visual identity using Bioteksa’s branding and developed a Design System based on Material Design that is compatible with flutter that will scale to more products inside the company to improve design and development time.
impact
How the idea performed after launch?
The pivot to a web app was a game-changer and the results were even better than we had hoped.
65% of users
Understood the new statement vs. only 10% with the old one.
90%
User adoption after Web App launch
30%
Overdue payments dropped after the 1st month of launch.
My take
For me, this project was a continuous learning experience where I learned how to lead the launch of a product with clear impact objectives and that solved a real problem in a scalable, organized, and fun way. I feel very proud to have been part of this project and to have provided the necessary tools for its continued growth.