Yarra Valley Water · UX/UI Design
Overview
Simplifying SmoothPay to increase uptake and reduce support calls.
SmoothPay lets customers spread their bills into manageable fortnightly or monthly instalments. While it sounds simple, the underlying business processes were complex leading to poor UX experience, confusion, low uptake and missed opportunity to support financially vulnerable customers.
Team
Product Manager, Service Designer, Content Writer, Business Analyst, Developers and Test Analysts.
What I worked on:
Flow redesign
Journey Mapping
Product (web app) UI & UX
Business process translation
Design system development
Outcomes
The right experience helped more people pay on time, on their terms.
During the hyper-care period, the first 3 months post-launch of SmoothPay to over 200,000 customers, we achieved the following impact:
Uptake of SmoothPay, showing stronger engagement with the new experience.
Completion rate for SmoothPay registrations in My Account, a strong result for a newly digitised, previously support-heavy process.
Reduction in support calls related to SmoothPay sign-ups, reducing pressure on the contact centre and improving self-service.
My role
A UX approach that balanced customer needs, business goals, and technical constraints.
I led the redesign of SmoothPay within the customer portal, where the primary challenge was to simplify a complex experience within a tightly regulated and rigid environment.
My role was to turn complex business rules and technical limitations into a simple, mobile-friendly experience. I worked closely with content, legal, product, and service teams to make sure the design met customer needs while staying aligned with business goals and regulations.
Problem
A helpful tool hidden behind complexity and confusion.
SmoothPay was designed to help customers budget their bills, but adoption was low and support teams were overwhelmed with sign-up queries.
of SmoothPay registrations were handled via customer care calls
of eligible customers weren’t using SmoothPay
of customers who started SmoothPay registration didn’t complete it
Research takeaways
What we learned from customers and support teams.
Through research, support team feedback, and internal data, we uncovered core issues behind this friction:
Low awareness of SmoothPay
Customers expressed interest in flexible payment options but were only able to find them when specifically told to them.
Complicated and overwhelming
There is a lot involved with SmoothPay, but customers were overwhelmed by the amount of information leading to drop-off.
Inflexibility led to low uptake
Customers highly valued flexibility, which the previous experience didn't offer that works around their pay cycles.
Process
Breaking down complexity to redesign with clarity.
Zooming out to understand systems, constraints and opportunities
I set out to understand the service beyond the screen together with a service designer, we mapped the full SmoothPay journey across letters, emails, support touchpoints, and internal business processes. This allowed the me to identify gaps, constraints, and dependencies and opportunities to improve the digital experience.
Redefining the SmoothPay registration flow
I then created a user flow to visualise the registration journey with vulnerable customers front of mind. This helped translate business requirements and complex processes into a clear, step-by-step flow.
Design improvements
Guiding customers through the process with confidence.
Working closely with the Product Manager, Business Analyst, developers, and content designers, I led the redesign of SmoothPay guided by four key design principles:
Simplify complexity
Break down overwhelming content into clear, digestible steps to reduce cognitive load.
Provide contextual support
Surface relevant, dynamic and helpful information based on the customer’s inputs and selections.
Build trust through transparency
Show instalment details upfront and clearly explain how payments work.
Design for flexibility and control
Give customers options that align with their pay cycles and financial needs.
Overview of SmoothPay with important information broken down into three categories nested in accordions.
Instalment amount previews on buttons are calculated on the customer's bills to date and selected payment frequency.
Customers can choose when their instalments start, making it easier to align with their pay cycle. I also added a preview of upcoming instalment dates to support planning and clarity.
Flexible payment options, including a $2 discount for choosing bank account payments, a new business process aimed at reducing paper bills.
Redesigned the "Manage SmoothPay" section to display instalment amounts, due dates, and give customers control to update their payment method.
Added calendar integration to help customers track instalment dates and avoid surprises, along with a view of upcoming and past payments under "Manage SmoothPay".
Learnings
Turning constraints into design opportunities.
This project pushed me to think strategically while recognising that small, thoughtful adjustments can create meaningful impact. I still approached the work with big-picture thinking, but the constraints and timelines challenged me to find creative ways to improve the experience and grow as a designer.
Content clarity is just as important as flow
Even with a well thought out UX, complex financial concepts and eligibility rules are overwhelming and confusing. Collaborating early and often with content designers made a big difference in the design process to deliver an improved experience.
Advocating for future-proof features
Even under tight timelines, thinking beyond MVP helped me advocate for features with long-term value. For example, the date picker component needed to align with business rules to avoid confusing the user experience. By demonstrating its future use across other flows, I secured buy-in and got it over the line.