A key aspect of the success of Dash is Visual Design.
Location Singapore
Duration 6 months
Role Lead Visual Designer
Products iOS app / Android app
I worked as the lead Visual designer for Singtel DASH, Singapore’s all-in-one mobile e-wallet that lets you pay, remit, save, invest, and insure from one app.
The success of Dash relies heavily on its visual design, with several priority areas identified. These include typography, color palette, native UI optimization, iconography, grid design and page structure, imagery, as well as animation and interaction.
The original intention
The vision of Dash was to “disrupt cash”
to make it easy to exchange value anywhere and overcome the current challenges of moving money in and out of the system
For SingTel it was also a way to give the mobile device even more value in our lives and to differentiate the brand in an increasingly tough competitive market.
In the years since it was conceived in the very early days of mobile wallets, banking, and payments the world of money has changed. People have much greater familiarity with NFC, mobile payments, and QR codes. Transacting through mobile commerce is not unusual and for the latest generation of mobile users, credit cards are beginning to seem quite old-fashioned.
The challenge
Singtel provided a clear picture of the challenges faced by Dash in terms of awareness, engagement, onboarding, and continued use.
Our exploration in Discovery has helped us identify key causes in product, communication, usability, and process that have contributed to those problems
Some of the challenges are inherent in the current state of the regulatory and technology context, but many are within our reach to improve.
The opportunity
Overcoming the challenges is about executing on a few key objectives:
Make people aware of Dash - Simply and clearly
Give people a reason to choose Dash - Benefit, situation, incentive
Make it very easy to use - Usable, learnable, familiar, un-intimidating, habitual
Give people a reason to share it with others - context, ease and value
Make it attractive and easy for merchants - learnable, simple, efficient
Ideation phase
In the ideation phase, we engage in productive brainstorming to generate ideas and potential solutions. Our team comes together to discuss various options. Once the brainstorming session is complete, we make assumptions about the user journey and create a user flow. We then proceed to sketch out preliminary designs on paper.
Speaking to real consumers
Evaluating how merchants deal with DASH consumers
Brainstorming how we can improve the app
Establishing consumer problems
Observation and interviews
2 Watsons
Supermarket checkout
Food Republic
Coffee shops
Taxies
Food stalls
Wireframing
Wireframing is an essential step in the design process. wireframing plays a crucial role in translating ideas into tangible design concepts, facilitating effective communication, planning the user experience, gathering feedback, and ultimately, creating well-thought-out and user-friendly digital products.
Supporting the vision
Understanding the business objectives and goals puts the project into perspective. This allows us to look at all consumer problems and begin thinking of how we can tackle these through design.
Visual concepts
To effectively prioritize and comprehend the user's needs and challenges, we adopted an iterative approach that involved creating and identifying alternative strategies and solutions. This iterative process allowed us to refine our understanding of the user's requirements and develop more effective approaches to address their needs.
Visual design
Producing high-fidelity UI designs is essential for ensuring a visually appealing, consistent, and user-friendly interface. It aids in validating the user experience, facilitating communication and collaboration, refining design details, and ultimately, satisfying clients and stakeholders.
