Mobile App UX/UI
Rethink the ecoATM app to reduce uninstalls, improve the accuracy of phone price estimates, and enhance the overall user experience
Team
1 UX Designer (me), 2 Developers, 1 Legal Advisor, 1 Product Manager
Client
ecoATM
Methods
Double Diamond User-Centered Design, Competitive Analysis, Wireframing, Prototyping, Iteration
Tools
Figma, Jira, UserZoom
Overview
Our goal as an Agile team was to rethink the ecoATM app to reduce uninstalls, improve the accuracy of phone price estimates, and enhance the overall user experience. The user research identified a few pain points, and solving these was critical to keeping users engaged while making the price estimate process more transparent and fair. I followed the Double Diamond method for user-centered design, which consists of discovery, definition, development, and delivery stages.
Who Was Impacted?
Anyone using the ecoATM mobile app to sell or recycle their phones. With users coming from various tech backgrounds, creating a seamless experience was essential to increasing engagement and reducing frustrations that could lead to uninstalling the app.
Discover (User Research)
To ensure that our redesign decisions were grounded in user insights, we conducted a mix of quantitative and qualitative research. This involved several data sources:
Consultant Data We reviewed insights from external consultants specializing in mobile app behavior and user engagement. Their data helped us understand how users typically interacted with apps like ecoATM.
Usability Studies We ran a series of usability tests to observe how real users navigated the app. This gave us firsthand information about the pain points users faced, especially with the Terms & Conditions pop-up and the price estimate process.
User Interviews To dive deeper into user experiences, we conducted interviews with a diverse group of users through UserZoom. We asked about their frustrations, what they liked, and how they perceived the app overall. These conversations provided valuable context that analytics alone couldn’t capture.
Feedback from the App Store & Play Store User reviews in both the App Store and Play Store served as a goldmine for understanding common complaints. Most feedback pointed to frustrations with immediate uninstalls, misleading price estimates, and slow kiosk locator functionality.
Analytics on Immediate Uninstalls By analyzing uninstall data, we could pinpoint where users were dropping off. A significant portion of users abandoned the app right after being prompted with the T&Cs screen. This insight was key to recommending the shift of the legal agreement to a more appropriate time in the user journey.
Develop Solutions
(Issue #1 Before/After Prototypes)
Define Issues
Issue One: Uninstalls due to Early T&Cs The first thing users saw when they launched the app was a permissions screen requiring agreement to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy. If they didn’t agree, the app would close immediately—not the most user-friendly experience.
Issue Two: Misleading Price Estimates Price estimates required users to assess the condition of their phones, but customers were often too generous in their self-assessments. When the kiosk offered a lower price, users became frustrated.
Issue Three: Slow and Unattractive Kiosk Locator The GPS function to find a nearby ecoATM kiosk was slow, and results were displayed in an unattractive list, making the experience even more frustrating.
Develop Solutions
(Issue #2 Before/After Prototypes)
Develop Solutions
Solution One: Postpone the Legal Stuff I collaborated with the Legal team to move the T&Cs screen to a later point in the user journey, just before personal data was required for price estimates. This gave users time to gain trust in the company before being asked to sign their rights away. I also created an alternative happy path for users who never agree to the T&Cs, allowing them access to limited app features.
Solution Two: Add Visuals to Price Estimate Screens To ensure more accurate self-assessments, I redesigned the phone condition screens with images showing different phone conditions. This helped users understand how their phones would be evaluated at the kiosk, reducing frustration when receiving a lower price.
Solution Three: Faster, Map-based Kiosk Locator To improve the kiosk locator experience, I worked with developers to reduce load times and replace the list with an interactive map. This made the experience visually appealing and more intuitive.
Outcome
I left ecoATM before we entered the Deliver stage of the Double Diamond user-centered design process. However, after multiple rounds of internal usability testing and discussions with the Software Development and Quality Assurance teams, I am confident that I provided the files, tools, and documentation needed to build a mobile app that solves users’ pain points and, further, provides a delightful experience.
