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Would a customer adds whizzy new features while removing a few
milliseconds in the process. Rather, a clear understanding
design a queue? of the outcome sought and the main elements that make
up the activity are required. The customer perspective
is simple: I have found my goods and would now like to
enjoy them.
This means we need to consider not just the mechanical
elements necessary to process a payment, but also the
emotional process and the flow of senses and reactions it
can precipitate. If we consider the following four design
principles, then perhaps the goal can be achieved—where
the best payment experience is the one you don't even
remember.

• Simple: The easiest way to avoid friction is to design
it out and keep everything as simple as it needs to be,
ensuring that any complexity is present only in so far
as it has to be there to support compliance. Let the
merchant do the work while letting customers think
forward to the enjoyment of their new purchases.

• Quick: The fastest route between two points is
By Simon Fairbairn always a straight line, and the same principle applies
Ingenico, a Worldline company when designing a payment routine. Keep it simple,
minimize the fuss, ensure all aspects are designed
n our always-on world, much has been made of the to perform and then maintain it over time to keep it
customer experience and the best way to deliver it. healthy. Like removing a sticking plaster, if it is over
This is nowhere more so than in the world of pay- in a flash, then there is little upset to remember.
I ments and the means by which customers can seam-
lessly move from choice to gratification. Historically, the • Choice: The options on offer must cater to the route
sales process has been peppered with friction, particularly customers' wishes to use (such as card and card
at the point of payment. scheme, credit or debit, cash, alternative payment) as
well the mode of payment (contactless, online, POS,
Designing a great customer experience is simple: put self-serve, mobile POS, for example). The range of
yourself in customers' shoes, and envisage how they see options offered by the payments industry has been at
the world, what frustrates them and how they want their the heart of helping the retailer get closer to the kind
experience to be. of experience a customer would design—anytime,
anywhere, anyhow.
For payment, though, merchants have struggled with • Trust: Above all else, everything in the process must
realizing this promise because where there is payment, you exude confidence—confidence that all is well, secure,
can usually find a queue. Equally, it is fairly certain that safe and will not give rise to remorse or recourse
if customers were to design their own buying experience, later. Our modern payment methods are transactions
it's unlikely the payment part would be top of the list, nor founded on trust, and without it as a securing
would they include a queue as a valuable design feature. foundation, all the good design in the world will
simply fall away.
So, how then to balance this conundrum? After all,
payment is the pivot on which virtually all trade sits So, how hard can it be? We have the tools and technology at
within the modern economy. Should we simply accept it as our disposal. Perhaps it's time to review what is currently
a necessary evil and just a fact of life we need to live with, on offer through the eyes of customers, testing how close
or could we do something about it? Would it be a better your reality is to what they would design themselves.
goal to pursue a genuine seamless shopping experience
where the friction of payment is absent, or at least so
negligible as to not evoke any form of dissatisfaction? Simon Fairbairn is head of professional services/EMEA for Ingenico, a
Worldline company. Take a look around the new Payments Landscape
As with anything done well in life, it starts with design; in this Ingenico white paper with a special focus on the impacts to con-
and in this case, the design starts with the customer. What sumer behavior: www.ingenico.com/payment-landscape-new-normal.
is not required is a technological response that efficiently To reach Simon, please email simon.fairbairn@ingenico.com.

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