1. Context & Scope
This research engagement focused on understanding the UX friction points faced by vendors and individual consumers attempting cross-border mobile payments across three West African markets: Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal. The client operated an informal e-commerce platform connecting buyers across borders via WhatsApp-routed storefronts.
12 field interviews conducted over 3 weeks. Research conducted remotely via voice call and in-person in Accra. The central question: why were payment completion rates dropping below 22% at the confirmation step?
Key finding: The product was built around a search-first paradigm, users typed product names to find listings. West African users in these markets browse, not search. They want to see what's available first, not know what to look for upfront.
2. The Paradigm Shift
The fundamental structural error was designing for a user mental model that didn't match the market. Global e-commerce patterns (Amazon, Shopify) assume the user arrives with intent. Local informal commerce patterns assume the user arrives with curiosity.
"Shifting from search-first to filter-first reduced the clicks-to-product from 7 to 2."
The redesign replaced the search bar with a category-first filter panel. The landing surface showed product grids immediately, no input required. Users filtered by price range, location, and product type rather than typing search terms they weren't sure of.
3. Research Architecture
Interviews followed a structured contextual inquiry format: participants shared their screen while attempting to browse and pay for a product. Each session was recorded and segmented into micro-moments mapped to an interaction funnel.
Friction Mapping
The friction map identified 4 critical drop-off moments. The highest-friction point was the currency confirmation screen, users were shown amounts in USD but expected local currency equivalents with real-time conversion. Adding a persistent currency toggle and live conversion display resolved the largest single drop-off.
- Search bar abandonment: 41% of users left after typing a term and receiving zero results.
- Currency confusion at checkout: 67% of abandoned sessions included a "zoom in" gesture on the total amount.
- Network timeout failures: 34% of sessions experienced a payment failure that showed a blank screen rather than an error state.
- Re-entry friction: Users who closed the app mid-payment returned to the home screen rather than the abandoned cart.
4. Outcomes & Metrics
Post-redesign A/B test across 3,200 sessions:
- Payment completion rate increased from 22% to 54%, a 145% improvement.
- Average session duration decreased from 8.3 minutes to 4.1 minutes, fewer friction loops.
- Support tickets related to "payment confusion" dropped by 71% in the first month post-launch.
"Designing for the actual context of use, not the assumed context of use, is the single highest-ROI research intervention available to a product team."