Case 03 · ICICI Bank · UX Research

Creating a pivot plan for ICICI UPI

A deep-dive UX research study into why users reached for GPay and PhonePe over their own bank's UPI — and what it would take to win them back.

Swiggy payment request on ICICI app
Scanning a QR code to pay
Google Pay payment complete
UPI and payment app logos
iPay security guarantee screen
iPay direction
UPI QR stickers at a shop
Self-transfer between bank accounts

Work overview

Team & Timeline

  • 3 people
  • 3 months

Disciplines

  • UX Research
  • Interaction Design
  • Information Architecture
  • Usability Testing

Responsibilities

  • User Interviews and Synthesis
  • Competitive Analysis
  • Journey Mapping
  • Scenario Testing

Context

ICICI approached our team because they needed to know why their users use other UPI platforms instead of the bank app UPI, and how to bring traction to their UPI.

As of 2022, 81% of the UPI market had Google Pay, PhonePe and PayTM users.

71% ICICI customers didn't do UPI payments from the bank app, but use it for other tasks.

So we conducted an in-depth research to solve this issue.

The Objective

To curate a research handbook that addressed the following challenges:

How do you make ICICI UPI stand out without a first mover advantage?
How do we make ICICI UPI be so reliable that users deem it more reliable than their current UPI platforms?
How and what scenarios do we test to identify the correct problems and insights?
What design directions can ICICI take after this research?
Gpay kar do
scanner hai?
Paytm par Rs. 200..

The Research Plan

1

Research Protocol

  • Funnel method research
  • Prototyped and tested 5 existing scenario based flows
2

Primary Research

  • 24 users
  • 5 tier-1 cities in India
3

Research Synthesis

  • Curated research insights
  • Spotting patterns
4

Research Report

  • Designed a handbook and design directions for ICICI Bank

Scan & Pay at Subway

We asked users to complete a payment at Subway using iMobile Pay's Scan & Pay flow — one of the most common real-world UPI tasks. No hints. Just the app.

Design challenge #1

We had to address the "hard truth" that ICICI bank has no first-mover advantage against its competitors.

So. to stand out as a UPI platform, they would have to innovate on the branding, marketing and offers cohorts.

Google Pay
Google Pay UPI

“We do UPI.”

ICICI Bank
ICICI Bank UPI

“We also do UPI.”

Design challenge #2: Security Concerns

The environment impacts the user's decision to open the right app.

Public spaces Controlled Environments Big Payment Small Payment Credit Card UPI App Banking App UPI App 😢 Bank apps feel too formal to use for smaller payments. 📞 User can contact bank's help desk if payment is stuck.

Users resort to Gpay / Phonepe / PayTM for small payments because:

Privacy Concerns Users assume Gpay/Phonepe is more prone to fraud Bank apps are better for bigger payments Payments take lesser time

Because when your payment gets stuck,
the bank gets blamed

GPay payment processing
Person scanning QR at store

“They can see my balance also, so I dont open the app in public.”

“I wont open my banking app around many people they will see my password and snatch my phone.”

Design challenge #3: Labels

Users take more time to complete UPI payments on the app due to confusing labels.

Before and after labels comparison
Before

Similar sounding labels with inconsistent iconography.

After

Consistent labels and icons matching users mental model.

10 Factors that Drive UPI Preference & Usage

1.Social Proof

2.Visibility

3.Marketing Push

4.Rewards

5.UPI Misconceptions

6.Security Concerns

7.Discoverability

8.Look & Feel

9.Labels

10.Form Design

Low
hanging
fruit

Note: The full handbook goes much deeper, this case study highlights only the most striking findings from it.

3 Design Directions

We suggested 3 different ways to highlight ICICI UPI to the user based on the amount of disruption.

Highlight UPI as an entry point
Safe

Highlight UPI as an entry point

Create a separate brand for UPI
Moderately disruptive

Create a separate brand for UPI

Create a separate app for UPI payments
Most disruptive

Create a separate app for UPI payments

Impact

Research findings translated into a handbook and design directions ICICI could act on immediately.

24 interviews

Conducted across 5 cities to map real UPI trust gaps and usage drivers

4

days to live product changes

3 new ICICI projects

ICICI came back to the agency with 3 more projects after ours.