Introduction

At OKAD Agency, we thrive on tackling complex challenges in user experience (UX) research. One of our most unique and demanding projects involved conducting UX research for Unistream Bank, a leading payment system for international money transfers.

This project required us to:
✅ Find and interview respondents offline in challenging conditions
✅ Overcome language barriers and user mistrust
✅ Identify pain points in the banking app’s UX for migrants
✅ Deliver actionable recommendations to improve conversion rates and user satisfaction

The Challenge: UX Research in Russia

In Russia, major companies like Yandex and Sber have dedicated UX research teams, but niche products often struggle with usability testing. Many businesses assume that a well-designed interface guarantees success, but hidden UX issuescan lead to low conversion rates and user frustration.

Unistream’s team initially focused on improving their banking processes—office design, card processing algorithms, etc. However, negative user feedback persisted. That’s when they turned to us for an in-depth UX study of their mobile app.

Unistream UX Research: Key Objectives

Our mission was to analyze two core user flows in the Unistream banking app:
1️⃣ Sending money abroad via phone number
2️⃣ Sending money abroad via card number

By identifying common user mistakes and pain points, we aimed to increase transaction success rates and improve overall app usability.

Methodology: Finding the Right Respondents

We opted for qualitative interviews, which meant finding and speaking with real users offline—a challenging but necessary step.

🚧 Obstacles We Faced: ❄️ Extreme weather conditions made outdoor respondent searches difficult.
🚫 Mistrust and data privacy concerns hindered participant willingness.
🌍 Language barriers complicated interviews with migrants.

💡 Solution: We simplified research questions, ensured data anonymity, and Unistream provided a test build of the appto encourage participation.

🎯 Target respondents: Migrants who frequently use Unistream for international transfers, but who are not tech-savvyand struggle with app-based transactions.

Key UX Issues Identified

1️⃣ Transfer by Phone Number: User Pain Points

🔹 Confusing sender data entry – Users mistakenly clicked "Change Data" when adding a document.
🔹 Intimidating document selection – The variety of document types overwhelmed users.
🔹 Unclear validation process – Errors (e.g., incorrect number/currency) only appeared at the end of the process.
🔹 Format confusion – Users struggled with input fields, not realizing hyphens/spaces were required.

2️⃣ Transfer by Card Number: User Pain Points

🔹 Recipient name confusion – Users often entered their own name instead of the recipient’s.
🔹 First name/last name mix-up – Many users reversed these fields.
🔹 Resetting selection errors – Re-selecting the transfer method automatically switched to cash pickup, erasing previous entries.

Actionable UX Recommendations

After analyzing user behavior, we systematized UX fixes based on priority and development effort:

✅ Quick Fixes (Low Effort, High Impact)
✔ Add real-time validation to prevent incorrect entry submissions.
✔ Provide tooltip explanations for document formats.
✔ Introduce progressive disclosure (hiding less relevant document options until needed).

✅ Moderate Effort Fixes
✔ Simplify UI copywriting for easier comprehension by non-native speakers.
✔ Improve error messaging clarity (e.g., “Recipient name must match bank records”).
✔ Allow auto-fill suggestions for frequently used details.

✅ Long-Term UX Improvements (Higher Effort)
✔ Redesign flow to auto-save inputs, reducing accidental resets.
✔ Implement localized versions of the app for different migrant communities.
✔ Enhance onboarding tutorials to guide new users more effectively.

Final Results & Client Feedback

The active research phase lasted 2 weeks, during which we: 👥 Interviewed 15 migrants + 2 relocants
📈 Identified key usability bottlenecks
📑 Delivered prioritized UX recommendations

🚀 Impact on Unistream:

• Faster, error-free transactions for migrant users

• Increased conversion rates for international transfers

• Improved app accessibility for non-tech-savvy audiences

🎤 Client Testimonial: “The research provided by OKAD Agency gave us crucial insights that we hadn’t considered before. The suggested UX fixes are already improving our app’s user experience.” – Unistream UX Team

Key Takeaways: Why UX Research Matters

📌 Small UX improvements = Major impact on conversions
📌 Real users provide insights that internal teams overlook
📌 Localized UX research is crucial for serving diverse audiences
📌 Spot UX research is a cost-effective alternative to full app redesigns

🚀 Want to optimize your product’s UX? Let’s talk about how OKAD Agency can help!