FRAMER
Product Design
Product Design
Product Design
Integrating Bharat Bill Payment System into BlackBuck's Ecosystem
Integrating Bharat Bill Payment System into BlackBuck's Ecosystem
But wait, what's Bharat Bill Payment System(BBPS)?
Imagine a one stop store where you could pay for everything: your electricity, water, gas and even mobile bills. BBPS is the digital version of that store.
But wait, what's Bharat Bill Payment System(BBPS)?
Imagine a one stop store where you could pay for everything: your electricity, water, gas and even mobile bills. BBPS is the digital version of that store.
Okay, but what does it have to do with a trucking platform?
The answer is FASTag Recharges. BBPS also enables you to recharge FASTags of any vehicles you own. And BlackBuck, India's largest digital trucking platform, also allows FASTag issuances and recharges among its other offerings.
Okay, but what does it have to do with a trucking platform?
The answer is FASTag Recharges. BBPS also enables you to recharge FASTags of any vehicles you own. And BlackBuck, India's largest digital trucking platform, also allows FASTag issuances and recharges among its other offerings.
The bling bling aspect
The bling bling aspect
Currently, 35% of BlackBuck's active FASTag users have trucks with FASTags from banks that aren't partnered with us. As a result, they're using third-party apps for those recharges. Our mission? To bring those recharges directly to our app. Each time a recharge happens via BBPS on the BlackBuck app, we earn 0.135%. That's our bling right there.
Further survey has brought to light that if, given a chance, 50% of these truck owners would use BlackBuck's app to recharge their other vehicle's FASTag.
Currently, 35% of BlackBuck's active FASTag users have trucks with FASTags from banks that aren't partnered with us. As a result, they're using third-party apps for those recharges. Our mission? To bring those recharges directly to our app. Each time a recharge happens via BBPS on the BlackBuck app, we earn 0.135%. That's our bling right there.
Further survey has brought to light that if, given a chance, 50% of these truck owners would use BlackBuck's app to recharge their other vehicle's FASTag.
What part do I play in all of these?
What part do I play in all of these?
I'm the product designer who is going to bring together this experience for our customer base.
I'm the product designer who is going to bring together this experience for our customer base.
Customer base? Who's that and what do they even need?
Customer base? Who's that and what do they even need?
Indian truck drivers who spend most of their time on the highways, navigating through dusty roads and sometimes dealing with spotty signals. They're not exactly rocking the latest high-end devices, and digital literacy can be a bit hit or miss.
They don't need a flashy and over the top interface, but they do need simplicity, familiarity, and something that can go click click click and done! All the while being compliant with the rules set by BBPS's design guidelines.
Indian truck drivers who spend most of their time on the highways, navigating through dusty roads and sometimes dealing with spotty signals. They're not exactly rocking the latest high-end devices, and digital literacy can be a bit hit or miss.
They don't need a flashy and over the top interface, but they do need simplicity, familiarity, and something that can go click click click and done! All the while being compliant with the rules set by BBPS's design guidelines.
So. . Simplicity, familiarity, and something that can go click click click and done huh?
So. . Simplicity, familiarity, and something that can go click click click and done huh?
Yes, that's what we're focussing on for this sprint, which we will be validating later on in this article. This sentiment is also well articulated by author Steve Krug in his popular book Don't Make Me Think. He writes:
Yes, that's what we're focussing on for this sprint, which we will be validating later on in this article. This sentiment is also well articulated by author Steve Krug in his popular book Don't Make Me Think. He writes:
The more efficient and effective your interface is, the more likely your users will feel confident and in control. If the interface is simple, intuitive, and easy to navigate, the user experience will feel almost effortless.
The more efficient and effective your interface is, the more likely your users will feel confident and in control. If the interface is simple, intuitive, and easy to navigate, the user experience will feel almost effortless.
Understanding the existing market
Understanding the existing market
In our initial brainstorming and research, we assumed our direct competitors were the trucking apps that had already integrated BBPS - like Wheelseye, with 500k+ Play Store downloads. But once we hit the field and talked to truck drivers and fleet owners, we quickly realized we were looking in the wrong place. Most truckers were actually using super-apps like PhonePe, PayTM, and GPay to recharge their FASTags. That's when it clicked - simplicity and familiarity aren't just nice-to-haves; they're everything.
Once this was understood, I dived into and studied the existing flows of how these apps addressed FASTag recharges, their information architecture, their user flows, their edge cases handling and all the nits and bits. With all of this knowledge, only thing left was to start implementing.
In our initial brainstorming and research, we assumed our direct competitors were the trucking apps that had already integrated BBPS - like Wheelseye, with 500k+ Play Store downloads. But once we hit the field and talked to truck drivers and fleet owners, we quickly realized we were looking in the wrong place. Most truckers were actually using super-apps like PhonePe, PayTM, and GPay to recharge their FASTags. That's when it clicked - simplicity and familiarity aren't just nice-to-haves; they're everything.
Once this was understood, I dived into and studied the existing flows of how these apps addressed FASTag recharges, their information architecture, their user flows, their edge cases handling and all the nits and bits. With all of this knowledge, only thing left was to start implementing.
The (s)implementation
The (s)implementation
This stage sparked a lot of cross-team collaboration to set up efficient flows that kept costs low while still covering every possible scenario.
This stage sparked a lot of cross-team collaboration to set up efficient flows that kept costs low while still covering every possible scenario.
Keeping the primary flow in mind, we devised a flow to test customer behavior with it - let's call it the Decision First flow.
Key pointers for this flow:
The user sees two distinct cards, one of which takes them to the BBPS page for recharge.
Once recharged, the vehicle gets added to a list inside this page, keeping these vehicles separate from the usual ones registered with our partner banks.
Keeping the primary flow in mind, we devised a flow to test customer behavior with it - let's call it the Decision First flow.
Key pointers for this flow:
The user sees two distinct cards, one of which takes them to the BBPS page for recharge.
Once recharged, the vehicle gets added to a list inside this page, keeping these vehicles separate from the usual ones registered with our partner banks.
When the flow met the road. .
When the flow met the road. .
When the flow met the road, an accident happened. Validating the designs made me understand that our 87% existing customers were certainly completing the flow but when asked how they would complete another recharge for the same truck, 62% users had trouble figuring out. 38% of our customers also had difficulty understanding where their existing trucks went as historical flow would directly take the users to the list of their existing trucks of our partner bank upon clicking on FASTag in the app's homescreen. This feedback was then discussed with the stakeholders.
When the flow met the road, an accident happened. Validating the designs made me understand that our 87% existing customers were certainly completing the flow but when asked how they would complete another recharge for the same truck, 62% users had trouble figuring out. 38% of our customers also had difficulty understanding where their existing trucks went as historical flow would directly take the users to the list of their existing trucks of our partner bank upon clicking on FASTag in the app's homescreen. This feedback was then discussed with the stakeholders.
Back to the drawing board
Back to the drawing board
After the discussion, it was time to circle back to the drawing board and dive into some fundamental brainstorming. Let's revisit what we already knew about our customers:
35% of BlackBuck's active FASTag users have trucks with FASTags from banks that aren't partnered with us.
This means those trucks were already registered with other business verticals of our app (Fuel, GPS, etc.).
Instead of carving out a whole new space for BBPS FASTag recharges - potentially disrupting user behavior - we decided to try a different approach and measure its impact on revenue.
The reality is, in the eyes of the truck driver, there's no real difference between a BBPS recharge and a regular FASTag recharge. So why bother making them seem separate?
What if we just pre-populated those other trucks and grouped them with the existing ones? This would align with the truckers' current behavior of recharging all their FASTags through our app, without creating confusion.
After the discussion, it was time to circle back to the drawing board and dive into some fundamental brainstorming. Let's revisit what we already knew about our customers:
35% of BlackBuck's active FASTag users have trucks with FASTags from banks that aren't partnered with us.
This means those trucks were already registered with other business verticals of our app (Fuel, GPS, etc.).
Instead of carving out a whole new space for BBPS FASTag recharges - potentially disrupting user behavior - we decided to try a different approach and measure its impact on revenue.
The reality is, in the eyes of the truck driver, there's no real difference between a BBPS recharge and a regular FASTag recharge. So why bother making them seem separate?
What if we just pre-populated those other trucks and grouped them with the existing ones? This would align with the truckers' current behavior of recharging all their FASTags through our app, without creating confusion.
Finally, the fresh take
Finally, the fresh take
Taking all of this into consideration and implementing it into the redesign created the fresh take.
Taking all of this into consideration and implementing it into the redesign created the fresh take.
This redesign avoided altering existing user behavior. Moreover, since adding new trucks was not a priority, pre-populating the trucks removed the hassle of manually adding them. Users can still add new vehicles from the kebab menu if needed. At the same time, it gives us a clear view of whether customers are actually using our app to recharge their FASTags.
This redesign avoided altering existing user behavior. Moreover, since adding new trucks was not a priority, pre-populating the trucks removed the hassle of manually adding them. Users can still add new vehicles from the kebab menu if needed. At the same time, it gives us a clear view of whether customers are actually using our app to recharge their FASTags.
but when asked how they would complete another recharge for the same truck, 62% users had trouble figuring out. 38% of our customers also had difficulty understanding where their existing trucks went
but when asked how they would complete another recharge for the same truck, 62% users had trouble figuring out. 38% of our customers also had difficulty understanding where their existing trucks went
I validated the designs again with primary research and the previous metrics which were problematic were resolved significantly, both crossing 90% from 62% and 38% respectively.
I validated the designs again with primary research and the previous metrics which were problematic were resolved significantly, both crossing 90% from 62% and 38% respectively.
And it’s a wrap, for now.
And it’s a wrap, for now.
To wrap things up, we’ve learned that building an intuitive and seamless experience is not just about following a fixed plan — it’s about staying flexible and continuously adapting to real-world feedback. As directives shift and new insights emerge, it’s crucial to ideate, empathize, and iterate accordingly.
In this case, simplifying the recharge process and aligning it with truck drivers’ existing behaviors was key to improving their experience. However, we still face challenges with edge cases and intricate flows, which we’ll address in future iterations.
In the next article, I’ll dive deeper into how we tackled these challenges, fine-tuning the design to ensure a flawless experience from start to finish.
Stay tuned and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below! Thanks for reading.
To wrap things up, we’ve learned that building an intuitive and seamless experience is not just about following a fixed plan — it’s about staying flexible and continuously adapting to real-world feedback. As directives shift and new insights emerge, it’s crucial to ideate, empathize, and iterate accordingly.
In this case, simplifying the recharge process and aligning it with truck drivers’ existing behaviors was key to improving their experience. However, we still face challenges with edge cases and intricate flows, which we’ll address in future iterations.
In the next article, I’ll dive deeper into how we tackled these challenges, fine-tuning the design to ensure a flawless experience from start to finish.
Stay tuned and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below! Thanks for reading.
Dikshit Kashyap Das