June 2026

MAKiNG FiNANCiAL SYSTEMS FEEL EASY

Exploring the importance of highlighting guardrails to support the comprehension of a feature.

Theme: E-commerce

Role: Product Design [web, iOS, android]

Timeframe: 4 months

Overview

Ping balance is a digital wallet for Trade Me users, allowing sellers to receive funds from a sale instantly.

As Ping became a mandatory payment option across Trade Me Marketplace, more sellers needed to understand how to transfer their balance out. Existing users also wanted more control over when transfers happened.

I led the redesign of the transfer experience across web, iOS and Android. The underlying payment system couldn't be changed within the scope of the project, so I focused on making its behaviour easier to understand and giving sellers more control over their transfers.

I focused on three principles:

Trust. Make system rules and constraints visible and predictable.

Clarity. Explain the experience in terms users could understand and act on.

Control. Give sellers greater control without overwhelming them with functionality.

Ping balance is a digital wallet for Trade Me users, allowing sellers to receive funds from a sale instantly.

I focused on three principles:

Trust. Make system rules and constraints visible and predictable.

Clarity. Explain the experience in terms users could understand and act on.

Control. Give sellers greater control without overwhelming them with functionality.

Problem

Sellers struggled to understand how their money would be transferred.

Sellers new to Ping found the transfer system difficult to understand, while existing sellers were frustrated by the limited control they had over when their funds were transferred.

The experience was difficult to understand

Technical copy, unclear transfer timing and a confusing form hierarchy made it difficult to understand what would happen after taking an action.

Control wasn't consistent

Automatic transfers weren't available on mobile, while outdated components and patterns made the experience feel disconnected from the wider Trade Me product.

Transfer timing created uncertainty

Information about when transfers would be processed and funds would arrive was unclear and, in some cases, misleading. This created concern and apprehension around when sellers would receive their money.

Sellers struggled to understand how their money would be transferred.

Sellers new to Ping found the transfer system difficult to understand, while existing sellers were frustrated by the limited control they had over when their funds were transferred.

The experience was difficult to understand

Technical copy, unclear transfer timing and a confusing form hierarchy made it difficult to understand what would happen after taking an action.

Control wasn't consistent

Automatic transfers weren't available on mobile, while outdated components and patterns made the experience feel disconnected from the wider Trade Me product.

Transfer timing created uncertainty

Web experience highlighting unclear copy, confusing hierarchy, transfer timing, outdated/inconsistent components.

Mobile experience highlighting unclear copy, confusing hierarchy, transfer timing, outdated/inconsistent components.

What we already knew

We already knew sellers wanted more control.

Years of customer feedback showed that sellers wanted more control over how and when their Ping balance was transferred.

The question was how to provide that control without making an already-complex financial system harder to understand.

I focused the design work on five areas:

How do users understand the difference between a manual and automatic transfer?
Which parts of the system need to be explained, and when?
How can we communicate constraints without creating unnecessary apprehension?
How much functionality can we expose without increasing cognitive load?
How can the experience provide consistent control across web and mobile?

We already knew sellers wanted more control.

Years of customer feedback showed that sellers wanted more control over how and when their Ping balance was transferred.

The question was how to provide that control without making an already-complex financial system harder to understand.

I focused the design work on five areas:

How do users understand the difference between a manual and automatic transfer?
Which parts of the system need to be explained, and when?
How can we communicate constraints without creating unnecessary apprehension?
How much functionality can we expose without increasing cognitive load?
How can the experience provide consistent control across web and mobile?

constraints

Aspects of the underlying payment system couldn't change.

Parts of the transfer experience were constrained by existing system behaviour and backend architecture, so the project wasn't an opportunity to fundamentally change how Ping processed transfers.

I therefore focused on giving sellers more control while being clear about what the system could and couldn't do.

Rather than hiding these limitations, I treated transparency as part of the experience.

Aspects of the underlying payment system couldn't change.

Parts of the transfer experience were constrained by existing system behaviour and backend architecture, so the project wasn't an opportunity to fundamentally change how Ping processed transfers.

I therefore focused on giving sellers more control while being clear about what the system could and couldn't do.

Rather than hiding these limitations, I treated transparency as part of the experience.

Designing for trust

make the system predictable, not invisible.

The existing experience hid important system rules and made it difficult to understand what would happen after an action. I focused on making those rules visible at the point they mattered.

make the system predictable, not invisible.

The existing experience hid important system rules and made it difficult to understand what would happen after an action. I focused on making those rules visible at the point they mattered.

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Make system rules visible

I introduced contextual Infoboxes to explain transfer rules and other information that could affect a user's decision.

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Communicate constraints honestly

Where an action couldn't be completed, Snack bars and validation messaging explained why, rather than leaving users to discover the limitation afterwards.

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Confirm important actions

When users changed persistent transfer preferences, the experience clearly confirmed what had been saved. This was particularly important for automatic transfers, where users were changing how their money would be managed in the future.

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Keep the experience consistent across platforms

I kept the experience consistent across web, iOS and Android while respecting the interaction patterns of each platform and ensuring system behaviour was communicated consistently across states.

Designing for clarity

explain the system in terms of what the user is trying to do.

The existing experience relied on technical language and system-oriented descriptions. I focused on making the experience easier to understand by using plain language and surfacing information when users needed it.

explain the system in terms of what the user is trying to do.

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Use plain, user-focused language

Copy was rewritten to explain what users could do and what would happen next, rather than relying on financial-system terminology.

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Explain complexity at the point of decision

Relevant information was surfaced alongside the decision it affected, rather than requiring users to understand the transfer system upfront.

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Make transfer timing clearer

Transfer timing was a major source of uncertainty. The redesign made it clearer when transfers would be processed and when sellers could expect their funds to arrive.

Designing for control

give users flexibility without overwhelming them.

Users wanted greater control over how their Ping balance was transferred. The challenge was giving them that control without exposing more functionality than they needed.

give users flexibility without overwhelming them.

Users wanted greater control over how their Ping balance was transferred. The challenge was giving them that control without exposing more functionality than they needed.

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Separate actions from settings

I treated automatic transfers as a setting rather than another transaction, giving users a clearer way to understand and manage their preferences.

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Show functionality when it's needed

I showed additional options only when they became relevant, rather than exposing every available setting at once, which kept the experience simpler while still giving users access to more control.

Make control consistent across platforms

Automatic transfers weren't previously available on mobile. I brought the functionality across web, iOS and Android while respecting the interaction patterns of each platform.

Impact

a clearer transfer experience, without changing the underlying system.

The redesigned experience shipped across web, iOS and Android within the existing system and four-month timeframe.

It improved four areas of the experience:

Users understood what they were configuring

The distinction between manual transfers and persistent automatic settings became clearer.

System behaviour was easier to understand

Transfer timing, eligibility and constraints were communicated more explicitly.

Users had greater control

Transfer preferences could be managed more consistently across web and mobile.

There was less uncertainty

Support queries relating to transfer confusion decreased, while usage remained stable.

a clearer transfer experience, without changing the underlying system.

The redesigned experience shipped across web, iOS and Android within the existing system and four-month timeframe.

It improved four areas of the experience:

Users understood what they were configuring

The distinction between manual transfers and persistent automatic settings became clearer.

System behaviour was easier to understand

Transfer timing, eligibility and constraints were communicated more explicitly.

Users had greater control

Transfer preferences could be managed more consistently across web and mobile.

There was less uncertainty

Support queries relating to transfer confusion decreased, while usage remained stable.

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New mobile experience for manual transfers.

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New mobile experience for automatic transfers.

Learnings

in financial products, clarity isn't about removing complexity.

Aspects of the underlying Ping transfer system couldn't be fundamentally changed within this project.

I learned that making a financial experience feel simple doesn't mean hiding information or system constraints. It means making the right information understandable when users need it.

For Ping, that meant:

Trust is created by being honest about what the system could and couldn't do.

Clarity is created by explaining behaviour in language users could understand.

Control is created by giving users meaningful choices without overwhelming them.

When you can't change the system, you can still change how confidently people can use it.

in financial products, clarity isn't about removing complexity.

Aspects of the underlying Ping transfer system couldn't be fundamentally changed within this project.

I learned that making a financial experience feel simple doesn't mean hiding information or system constraints. It means making the right information understandable when users need it.

For Ping, that meant:

Trust — being honest about what the system could and couldn't do.

Clarity — explaining behaviour in language users could understand.

Control — giving users meaningful choices without overwhelming them.

When you can't change the system, you can still change how confidently people can use it.

The redesigned experience shipped across web, iOS and Android within the existing system and four-month timeframe.

It improved four areas of the experience:

Users understood what they were configuring

The distinction between manual transfers and persistent automatic settings became clearer.

System behaviour was easier to understand

Transfer timing, eligibility and constraints were communicated more explicitly.

Users had greater control

Transfer preferences could be managed more consistently across web and mobile.

There was less uncertainty

Support queries relating to transfer confusion decreased, while usage remained stable.

key takeaway

When system constraints can’t change, improving how the system is understood can be just as impactful as improving the system itself.