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Monitoring an Anticipated Refund

  • Writer: Peter Johnson
    Peter Johnson
  • Dec 30, 2023
  • 5 min read
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Think back to any online returns that you previously dropped off at the post office. Do you have the tracking notification confirming that you were refunded for the items? If you've been left wondering if you've received a refund for an Amazon item from a few months ago, then this feature is for you! Checking now will help you confirm whether or not you did get a refund. It is impossible to determine if refunds have been credited back to customers’ accounts. Many people are unaware that they have not received a refund until months later and have to then contact their bank or merchant to find out what happened. To be candid, this particular product was designed to address an issue which I personally found bothersome. This is generally unwanted in the industry, as the focus should always be on satisfying the needs of users and not any individual. Although, this project was part of my Designlab course, which encourages you to take risks and pursue projects from the heart. In any case, if I’m facing an annoyance, chances are that other people are too. Following a design critique in which my project was subject to harsh feedback, I was in danger of having it binned. However, I was eventually able to save it, and here I will explain how I defended my decision. My return was sent to the merchant over a month ago, yet I have not seen a single refund appear on my account, despite this happening three times. Around 2.14 billion individuals have done online shopping, which doesn't look like it will decrease anytime soon. The typical e-commerce return rate is generally between 20 and 30% due to various different reasons. Even when I shipped my return to the merchant last month, I was never given a refund; not only once, but three times. Each time, the only way I was able to receive a refund was by reaching out to the merchant and getting an "apology" and payment. The Capital One mobile app's refund tracker feature innovatively and authentically serves the users by ensuring they are kept informed about a refund's expected date of arrival, or if any refunds remain unresolved. No matter where your money is going, it should be returned there. That is, after all, the primary goal of Capital One: to provide customers with a successful online banking experience filled with innovation, simplicity, and compassion. Enable users to better manage their finances and experience a greater sense of security when expecting reimbursement to appear on their credit statement. We need to captivate users with our app and foster customer loyalty and contentment. Simultaneously, we must cut down the number of customer support issues related to refund status. Practically speaking, the main metrics that should be monitored are the quantity of refunds completed by the end of Q4, the rise in app store reviews, and the Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) score. It seems odd that there is no way for us to be able to follow up on our anticipated refunds, whereas it is possible to keep track of delivery packages. Exploring my rivals, I desired to check if a feature similar to the one I had in mind had already been implemented. Given that there are no similar items available, let us go ahead and evaluate our users. Given the lack of time, it was not possible for me to do in-person interviews. Therefore, I sent out surveys to collect data instead – please click on the link to see the full research plan. I found out from the user surveys. The results back up my idea that users don't have a simple way to monitor their expected reimbursements. Frequently, a lot of them end up totally forgetting about the refund they requested initially. In the event that they do remember – they will contact the seller to stay informed of the status of the reimbursement. The Account Summary page's 'Upcoming Bills' section was chosen as the logical integration point for the new feature when navigating through the app. From the perspective of a user, the most desirable feedback we would like regarding our finances is: Creating a fast visual illustration of the projected passage gave me an understanding of what screens would be required, which screens could be reused, and whether any present pages within the application might be recycled. Many people were involved in managing the refund of a consumer. It was beneficial for me to discuss this in design reviews so that I had the chance to explain and illustrate how I thought it could be done. What does this feature look like when integrated into the app? It was now time to reveal my idea (which was the most nerve-wracking part). I had already shared the concept and wireframes with a few people, including some of my peers and a senior design mentor, so that I could get their feedback. The mentor broke into my explanation of concept and wireframes to inquire if I had done any research on the project. They suggested that I should conduct more research before going further into the project, questioning whether my product was even relevant in solving a problem. You should always conduct research when giving valid feedback, as it is the best way to validate your design decisions and any essential product development. I felt quite distressed by the manner and mannerism of the speaker. Being in a group crucible with twelve other students, I was blindsided and didn't know what to say as I was strongly embarrassed. plagued my mind. "I was doubtful," I replied. My thought was full of questions, for example, "She's a senior designer, so she must know what she's discussing" and "Maybe she's right, and this concept is worthless". I spent the remainder of the day pondering what I should do - start over with fresh work or proceed with the existing one. Despite her being right, it wouldn't prove worthwhile if it did not deliver an advantageous outcome for the user, business, or stakeholder. Rather than abandoning my invested time and efforts, I took the time to look into if the product had a market. I am pleased I did so. Browsing this Reddit thread rekindled my enthusiasm for this idea and motivated me to move forward with the project; it was comforting to read about so many other people facing the same dilemma. Going ahead, I developed the rest of the screens in great detail and created a prototype for user testing. I requested that participants do two tasks. You can access the usability testing plan, the testing report, and the analysis here respectively. Gathering feedback from users concerning how a design operates, what is not working, and how to make it better is essential to any design. Following usability testing and evaluation, here are my four proposed design upgrades:. Locate the particular purchase for which you are anticipating a refund and monitor it through the Capital One cell phone program. Get an all-inclusive recap of finalized, unresolved, and waiting refunds. Don't overlook the opportunity to guarantee getting back your well-deserved money. I am proud to have achieved research and usability testing within the 1-week timeline. I successfully defended my project and problem scope during the design critique, which may not always be done in the traditional workplace. There was not an abundance of resources from Capital One's design system or components, so it was difficult to achieve a uniform look — however, I gained a lot of insight by attempting to replicate it. This feature would not only help users get all refunds back, but it would also reduce the number of customer support requests from both merchants and credit institutions. I reckon a lot of legalities and technicalities would have to be looked into were this feature to be implemented. Nevertheless, BootCamp projects are the ideal platform for creative thought and invention. Congratulations, Candace! Best wishes!

 
 
 

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