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Paya UX Design Internship

How can we cement Paya's position in the government payment sector?

Role

Design

Time

05/31/22 - 07/29/22

Tools

Figma, Miro

Overview

In the summer of 2022, I had the opportunity to join the design team at Paya as a UX Design intern! During my time there, I worked on two projects: a utility payment portal and a usability test of the company’s other portals. Because of an NDA, there are many things I am not able to share. That being said, I want to share my experience at Paya!

PayaGov Introduction

What is PayaGov?

During the first half of my internship, I worked on a project called PayaGov to wireframe and prototype the admin-facing portal for UtilityConnect. UtilityConnect is a payment portal that Paya released in 2022 for utility bill payments in various towns, cities, and counties.

The Process for PayaGov

Our general process within each weekly sprint was: defining the project, setting requirements with the project manager (PM), structuring and designing the prototype, and refining the designs with developers and PMs.

Four circles representing the stages in the process from left to right: define, wireframe, design, and present

Design process for each sprint

The Experience

Designing for a Major Project

While I had worked on design projects before, designing for a B2B product in the fintech space was a different experience from my previous work.

A man and a woman collaborating over designs on a whiteboard. The woman is pointing at the design.

Design process for each sprint

For the project, I worked on a team with two other designers to design the B2B side of the portal. Below are my main contributions to the initiative!

My Contributions

1. Discussed Scope with PMs

Collaborated with leadership to determine the scope and extent of the design.

2. Designed Beyond UI

Contributed to the information infrastructure, interactions, and accessibility of the final design.

3. Considered Technical Constraints

Communicated with developers to balance interactions and technical constraints.

4. Assisted in QA Testing

Reviewed software in testing environment for potential errors and edge cases.

Project Impact

Key in Role in Government Sector

The launch of UtilityConnect aims to improve the efficiency of bill management and administrative workflows of Paya's clients. Paya currently serves more than 2,000 government municipalities, managing more than $1 billion in financial transactions for its clients.

To learn more about UtilityConnect's launch, please refer to Paya's press release .

Paya Usability Audit Introduction

What is a Usability Audit?

The usability audit was a project conducted by the team to compare Paya’s existing portals for usability issues and competitive features to provide recommendations for a future portal consolidation.

The Process for Paya Usability Audit

The team met with our project manager to discuss the scope, requirements, and potential benefits of the project. The timeline of the audit is broken down into four steps: introductions to the portals, design evaluations, SME interviews, and data synthesis for the report.

Four circles representing the stages in the process from left to right: demo, evaluate, interview, and report

Process used for portal research

The Experience

Improving for the Future

As one of the first research projects conducted within the company, the team and I needed to define the expectations to provide recommendations that would improve the current solutions.

A graphic of the synthesis table to show the structure. The columns are broken into: findings on the portals' usability, summaries of the findings, explanations for the observations, the importance of the observation, and recommendations.

General structure of the findings and data synthesis table

While the whole team did contribute, another intern, Katie, and I primarily drove the research. Below are my contributions to the research!

My Contributions

1. Reviewed Each Portal’s Usability

Conducted heuristic evaluations to review seven portals’ usability, overall flow, and visual design

2. Learned from the Experts

Facilitated SME interviews with each product owner to learn about customers' complaints

3. Reported Next Steps

Report our findings into actionable recommendations to leadership and future designers

Project Impact

Direction for Future Designs

The final research report covered general findings of the project and was approved by our PM and other key members of leadership. This set the stage for updating older portals into an consolidated, modern solution.

Challenges

During both of these projects, I faced three major challenges that helped me learn about designing within a company.

Obstacles in the Process

1. Budding Design Department

As a new department at Paya, we had to determine efficient ways of distributing work and processing notes. Collaborating and documenting progress in templates allowed for diverse interpretations and team alignment on projects.

2. Inexperience Working with Developers

As my first experience working with developers, I struggled with balancing design and technical constraints. To ensure we met our deadlines, our team communicated technical limitations during wireframing and refinement.

3. Time Crunch

Our team prioritized delivering an MVP to our developers for the upcoming launch. Without direct admin involvement, we relied on details from PMs and previous portal research.

Takeaways

Gaining Experience in the Industry

I am incredibly thankful for the experiences and challenges my time at Paya presented. I was not only able to have direct involvement in a crucial product but also learned to prototype more efficiently, foster the company’s budding design culture, and make valuable decisions for our products’ usage. It was a great experience working alongside the other designers and hope to grow as a designer!

Three women and two men are gathered for a photo after an outing

The team and other coworkers after an outing

Let’s Connect!
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