What does a simple and intuitive interface design look like?
A user interface design that considers women’s needs and barriers should incorporate certain attributes that makes use easier. The users’ journey should be simple as she begins to interact with digital interfaces with more advanced features (such as gamification) introduced incrementally and over time as she builds confidence in usage.
Select User Interface Attributes
Feature and smart phone ready
Potential Use
- Throughout all payment instructions and flows
- Alerts, notifications
See more: Design Accommodates Basic User Devices Practice
Illustrative Market Example
Diamond Bank (Nigeria): Worked to ensure that feature phone menu instructions would be in all capital letters and menu options would only offer 4 options at a time, making it easier to read and navigate at all times.
Audio cues
Potential Use
- How-to content
- Unique cues for payment stages (e.g., payment initiated, received, or declined)
- Various errors
Illustrative Market Example
Jazz Cash (Pakistan): Provided “Contextual Help” – voice instructions at every step of the mobile money process that explained what was happening in that “page” of the user interface.
Color and iconography
Potential Use
- Inclusive IPS brand
- Unique icons for each service (e.g., send, check balance)
- Unique icons for payment stages (e.g., payment initiated, received, or declined)
- Various errors
- Frequent recipients
Illustrative Market Example
bKash (Bangladesh): The mobile money product was designed for low-literacy customers by having each service with a different icon and different color, allowing users to navigate purely through icon and color if needed.
Integrated digital and financial literacy
Potential Use
- Throughout interface
- During payment journey
Illustrative Market Example
MoMo Pay (Vietnam): The MoMo Pay app offers users gamified savings challenges, interactive quizzes, and microlearning modules to build financial literacy (source)
Complaint features
Potential Use
- In-app streamlined complaint reporting
Illustrative Market Example
PhonePe (India): PhonePe’s mobile includes a “help” button that allows users to see recent transactions and report problems associated with them
Personal safety features
See Risk Note: Embedding personal safety features into user interface