CASE STUDY · FINTECH · MOBILE APP
MaddoxPay
Making digital payments simple for rural India
MaddoxPay helps small shop owners in rural India offer recharges, bill payments and Aadhaar based cash withdrawals to their customers. The product worked, but the experience didn't. I led the revamp of its entire design language with one mission: make digital payments feel simple, safe and finished for people who are new to smartphones.
ROLE
Product & UI/UX Designer
TIMELINE
July 2025 to October 2025
PLATFORM
Android · Mobile app
SCOPE
Complete UI revamp & design language
01 · THE PROBLEM
Powerful product, overwhelming experience
MaddoxPay puts banking and bill payment services in the hands of local shopkeepers, who then serve their whole community. But the old app asked too much of them. Crowded screens, no clear hierarchy and an inconsistent visual language made every transaction feel like a risk.
USER SNAPSHOT
The rural retailer
• Runs a small shop in a village or small town
• Serves customers with recharges, bills and cash withdrawals
• Often new to smartphones and digital payments
• Needs every transaction to be fast and certain
Who it's for
Small shop owners and agents in rural areas who run recharges, bill payments and AEPS cash withdrawals for their customers. Many are new to smartphones and digital payments.
10M+ consumers through 25,000+ retail stores across Uttar Pradesh.
What wasn't working
P1
Overwhelming screens
Every screen tried to do too much, so simple tasks felt complicated and risky.
P2
Services fighting for attention
Services sat in one long, flat grid with no grouping, so users had to hunt for what they needed.
P3
Unclear money status
Balances, outcomes and errors were easy to miss. For a payments app, that is the worst problem to have.
P4
No consistent design language
The app looked unfinished and inconsistent, which quietly eroded trust in the product.
Design goals
G1
Recognisable at a glance
Every service should be found by sight, with icons and short labels instead of paragraphs.
G2
One clear action per screen
Fewer decisions per screen, so new users always know what to do next.
G3
Trust at every money moment
Balances, confirmations and outcomes should be impossible to misread.
02 · DESIGN APPROACH
A calmer, more trustworthy design language
I started by auditing every flow in the existing app and mapping where users hesitated, misread or dropped off. The vision was clear: keep every capability, but make the product feel calm, guided and trustworthy. Three principles shaped every screen.
Principles
01
Recognition over reading
Illustrated icons and short labels so services are recognised, not read.
02
One primary action per screen
A single teal button on every screen tells users exactly what to do next.
03
Always show where the money is
Balances, amounts and statuses always carry the strongest visual weight.
Design language
Color
Navy
#214F93
Teal
#02B1A2
Ink
#2A2A2A
Surface
#F9F9F9
Success
#2CB540
Navy carries trust and structure, teal marks every action and success, and light surfaces keep screens calm.
Typography: Mulish
Aa
Heading · Bold 24
Transaction Successful!
Title · SemiBold 18
Recharge Services
Body · Medium 14
Enter mobile number to continue
Mulish is rounded and friendly, and stays legible at small sizes on budget Android phones.
From the old app to the new direction
The live app (left) was dark and dense, with actions and information competing for attention. The new direction (right) moves to a light, spacious layout with one clear action per screen and a consistent navy and teal language.
03 · KEY FLOWS
Redesigning the moments that matter
The revamp covered the entire product. These five flows show how the new design language guides a retailer from joining MaddoxPay to serving customers every day.
FLOW A
Onboarding, KYC & security
Sign up is broken into short steps that each do one thing: name, contact, password, store and referral. Aadhaar and PAN verification, MPIN and biometric login build security into the journey without overwhelming new users.
FLOW B
A home screen that groups services by need
The wallet balance and quick actions sit at the top. Below them, services are grouped by need: Banking, Recharge, Bill Payments, Financial, Travel and Insurance. Users find services by category instead of scanning a wall of icons.
1
Balance first
Wallet balance, Add Money and Passbook live together in one card at the top.
2
Grouped by need
Services are sorted into clear categories instead of one long grid.
3
Easy to tap tiles
Illustrated icons with short labels, sized for confident tapping.
FLOW C
Recharge & bill payments
Recharges start from contacts or recent numbers, and operators and plans are fetched automatically. The same select biller → payee details pattern powers every Bharat Connect bill: one pattern to learn, many services unlocked.
Clear transaction states
Every payment ends in a clear, distinct state: success, processing or failure. Each comes with a receipt that can be printed, downloaded or shared on WhatsApp.
FLOW D
Wallets & moving money
Main and Credit wallets are clearly separated, with visible balances and quick amounts for adding money. Bank transfers follow a guided path through beneficiary, amount, confirmation and success, so users always know where their money is.
FLOW E
AEPS: banking for customers
AEPS lets retailers act as a bank for their community. Merchant onboarding is split into short steps with visible progress. eKYC, cash withdrawal, balance enquiry and mini statements all follow one pattern: verify first, then act.
04 · IMPACT & LEARNINGS
What changed after the revamp
The revamp turned MaddoxPay into a product that looks finished and feels safe to use. One consistent design language now runs across every flow, built for people who are new to digital payments.
25,000+
Retail stores running their business on the app
Source: MaddoxPay Google Play listing
7.5L+
Monthly transactions across recharges, bills and AEPS
Estimate: 25K stores × 30% active × about 4 a day
~40%
Faster completion of everyday tasks like recharges and bill payments
Estimate · replace with employer data
~25%
Fewer support queries and failed transactions after launch
Estimate · replace with employer data
What I learned
01
Designing for low digital literacy means removing decisions, not adding instructions.
02
In payments, clarity is trust. Every amount, state and status has to be unmistakable.
03
A strong, reusable pattern scales further than a custom screen for every service.
05 · VOICES FROM THE FIELD
Trusted by retailers across rural Uttar Pradesh
MaddoxPay's network spans 25,000+ stores serving over 10 million people in rural and semi urban Uttar Pradesh. For these retailers, the app is their business. Here is what they say about it.
BBPS · BILL PAYMENTS
“
Bill payments are quick and easy, commissions arrive on time, and the Maddox team supports me whenever I need it. I've grown my earnings without any major investment and gained respect in my community.
Akhilesh Kumar
Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh
PAN CARD SERVICES
“
PAN card services earn me good commission and steady profit. My customers are happy, and the team's constant support makes it a five star experience.
Viren Thakkar
Doeria, Uttar Pradesh
Reviews condensed from maddoxpay.com.
Top performers of the month
Rohit Pathak
Chitrakoot, UP
Anup Kumar
Ballia, UP
Faijan Ahmed Rai
Bareilly, UP
Amit Jaiswal
Azamgarh, UP
CASE STUDY · FINTECH
MaddoxPay
Making digital payments simple for rural India
I led the revamp of MaddoxPay's entire design language with one mission: make digital payments feel simple, safe and finished for shop owners who are new to smartphones.
ROLE
Product & UI/UX Designer
TIMELINE
Jul 2025 to Oct 2025
PLATFORM
Android app
SCOPE
Complete UI revamp
01 · THE PROBLEM
Powerful product, overwhelming experience
Local shopkeepers use MaddoxPay to bring banking and bill payments to their whole community. But the old app asked too much of them, and every transaction felt like a risk.
25,000+
retail stores
10M+
rural consumers
What wasn't working
P1
Overwhelming screens
Every screen tried to do too much.
P2
Services fighting for attention
One long, flat grid with no grouping.
P3
Unclear money status
Balances, outcomes and errors were easy to miss.
P4
No consistent design language
The app looked unfinished, which eroded trust.
02 · DESIGN APPROACH
A calmer, more trustworthy design language
Keep every capability, but make the product feel calm, guided and trustworthy. Three principles shaped every screen.
01
Recognition over reading
Icons and short labels so services are found by sight.
02
One primary action per screen
A single teal button always shows what to do next.
03
Always show where the money is
Balances and statuses carry the strongest visual weight.
Navy, teal and Mulish
Navy carries trust, teal marks every action and success, and Mulish stays legible on budget Android phones.
From the old app to the new direction
Before · live app
After · new design
03 · KEY FLOWS
Redesigning the moments that matter
Five flows that take a retailer from joining MaddoxPay to serving customers every day.
FLOW A
Onboarding, KYC & security
Sign up happens in short steps that each do one thing. Aadhaar, PAN, MPIN and biometric login add security without overwhelming new users.
FLOW B
A home that groups services by need
Balance and quick actions sit on top, with services grouped into clear categories below.
1
Balance first
Wallet, Add Money and Passbook in one card.
2
Grouped by need
Banking, Recharge, Bills and more.
3
Easy to tap
Big illustrated tiles with short labels.
FLOW C
Recharge & bill payments
Contacts and plans load automatically, and one select biller pattern powers every Bharat Connect bill.
Clear transaction states
Success, processing and failure each look distinct, with a shareable receipt.
FLOW D
Wallets & moving money
Main and Credit wallets are clearly separated, and bank transfers follow a guided path so users always know where their money is.
FLOW E
AEPS: banking for customers
Retailers act as a bank for their community. Onboarding, eKYC and withdrawals all follow one pattern: verify first, then act.
04 · IMPACT & LEARNINGS
What changed after the revamp
One consistent design language across every flow, built for people new to digital payments.
25,000+
Retail stores on the app
Google Play listing
7.5L+
Monthly transactions
Estimate
~40%
Faster everyday tasks
Estimate
~25%
Fewer support queries
Estimate
What I learned
01
Designing for low digital literacy means removing decisions, not adding instructions.
02
In payments, clarity is trust.
03
A reusable pattern scales further than a custom screen for every service.
05 · VOICES FROM THE FIELD
Trusted by retailers across rural Uttar Pradesh
BBPS · BILL PAYMENTS
“Bill payments are quick and easy, commissions arrive on time, and the team supports me whenever I need it.”
Akhilesh Kumar
Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh
PAN CARD SERVICES
“PAN card services earn me good commission and steady profit. My customers are happy.”
Viren Thakkar
Doeria, Uttar Pradesh
Top performers of the month
Rohit Pathak
Chitrakoot, UP
Anup Kumar
Ballia, UP
Faijan Ahmed Rai
Bareilly, UP
Amit Jaiswal
Azamgarh, UP
Reviews condensed from maddoxpay.com.