Chapter 1. Bovines, Banknotes & Bytes
We tend to think of money as a mundane artifact, either in digital or tangible form, that we employ to get the things we want. It is a means to an end. For example:
I want a box of Twinkies.
I have a credit card.
I walk to the store, pick up a box from the snack aisle, and swipe my card.
Now, I’ve got Twinkies!
Easy, right? And sinfully delicious!
But why do we expect payments to be so easy? The circulation and settlement of these funds are accomplished behind-the-scenes by a complex web of protocols and institutions, but we only ever see the tip of the iceberg that makes our daily purchases possible. Speedy transactions are a consumer expectation that has been learned over the thousands of years we have been purchasing things, and so digital experiences in this space must facilitate easy exchanges in kind.
Primarily, financial apps should be simple and intuitive. Payments with a mobile phone have to be as fast and reliable as cash or cards, because we are already accustomed to making payments several times a day with various methods: cards, cash, the Web, and others. We expect instant gratification from these exchanges. We have become familiar with these payment methods and they have proven to be successful over time, superseding other forms (checks) that fade into obsolescence. As financial paradigms have changed throughout the centuries, the idea of what currency ultimately is has become more abstract. Within this evolution, designers in this space ...