Restructuring the process of splitting the bill
PAYPAL/VENMO
UX DESIGN
ROLE
Product Designer
TIMELINE
Spring 2026
TEAM
2 Product Managers
2 Product Designer
2 Product Marketers
SKILLS
Product Thinking
UX Research
UI Design
User Interviews
OVERVIEW
Project Summary
As part of UCLA Product Space, we partnered with PayPal and Venmo on an open-ended product strategy project to identify opportunities for improving the student payment experience. Through user research, we uncovered a common pain point around managing shared expenses, where splitting bills often required manual calculations and awkward follow-ups. In response, we designed a dedicated bill-splitting experience with receipt scanning, item-level claiming, and smart repayment nudges to help groups settle expenses accurately, efficiently, and with less friction.
PREVIEW
A Glimpse into our Feature
I worked towards ideating a feature that was smooth and intuitive.
AN ACCURATE, LOW FRICTION, AND SOCIALLY COMFORTABLE EXPERIENCE
PROBLEM
There is too much friction in splitting the bill.
Venmo has solved peer-to-peer payments, but group splitting breaks at execution: initiators face clunky, manual splitting, repayment breaks down after the request is sent, and users recover only 80–90% of what they are owed. The core gap is not sending or receiving money, but the absence of a system to capture the bill, assign what each person owes, and ensure everyone actually pays.
MY GOAL: DISCOVER WHAT’S MISSING
RESEARCH
Defining My Strategy
To understand how students manage shared expenses, we conducted competitive analysis across payment platforms and interviewed college students about their experiences splitting bills.
THESE METHODS HELPED US DECIDE WHAT PROBLEM TO FOCUS ON
KEY INSIGHTS
Method 1: Competitive Analysis
We analyzed peer-to-peer payment apps to see how Venmo compares in terms of social reach and feature depth.
Key Takeaways from these apps
Bill splitting is still largely manual
Existing tools prioritize payments over coordination
Specialized expense apps create too much friction
KEY INSIGHTS
Method 2: User Interviews
I interviewed 4 different users, spanning across students who stay on top of finances and often organize large group payments and those who never budgeted before. Here are some takeaways from my interviews:
Key Takeaways from Interviews
Calculating who owes what is the biggest pain point
Social familiarity allows apps to be viewed as secure and reliable
Following up for repayment feels socially uncomfortable
SETUP
Focusing on usability & personalized user experiences
Our research revealed three recurring themes: reducing manual effort, improving repayment completion, and keeping group coordination within Venmo's existing experience. While each presented opportunities, we focused on simplifying the entire bill-splitting workflow—from capturing the receipt to collecting payments—because it addressed the largest source of friction without requiring users to adopt a new app.
CONVERTING MY RESEARCH INTO DESIGN GOALS
SOLUTION
The Current Experience
The existing user journey of splitting a receipt is full of friction. The process includes complex, manual calculations, disorganized reminders, and awkward follow up texts.
A PROCESS FULL OF FRICTION
SOLUTION
The Redesigned Experience
Our new user journey simplifies the process for both hosts (those who fronted the receipt) and invited users (those who need to pay the host back).
A NEW, INTUITIVE USER JOURNEY
SOLUTION
Step 1: Receipt Scanning
The first step is scanning
STRAIGHTFORWARD TRACKING
SOLUTION
Feature 4: Friendly Habit Support through Visual Streaks
We introduced a plant-collecting system tied to logging streaks to encourage consistency in a friendly, low-pressure way. As users log their meals, they grow a personal garden that appears on their profile, turning habit-building into a visual and motivating experience.
GAMIFIED REWARDS FOR USER RETENTION
TESTING
How can we see who paid and who has not?
Version 1 introduced a menu with four features: Eat, Move, Saved, and Profile. Users could log their meals and workouts in their respective sections and pages while exploring food and exercise recommendations.
INITIAL DESIGNS OF LOGGING WORKFLOW
However, during testing, I realized that logging both exercise and food overwhelmed users
During testing, 85% of users said that they would never log their exercise. Logging both food and restaurants made users feel less inclined/motivated to log.
A Challenge: How might we streamline/simplify the logging feature?
Although recipes and restaurants offered flexibility, the added steps introduced unnecessary friction during logging.
Version 2 Lofi: Creating a page solely for logging meals
I created an accessible tab on the navigation bar to allow users to log their meals conveniently with minimal clicks. I also decided to focus solely on logging meals for a simplified process.
A PAGE FOR LOGGING
Successful in User Testing!
Users expressed that it was significantly easier to log their meals since it was an accessible
TEST CASE 2
Version 1 Lofi: User Discovery of Restaurants and Recipes
Version 1 introduced a page where users could discover recipes and restaurants within the “Eat” page. Users are able to explore different options through a filtering system,
HELPING USERS FIND RECIPES AND RESTAURANTS
However, during testing, I discovered that users had an additional decision to make: were they in a mood to cook or go out?
During testing, users expressed that they also were making decisions of whether or not they were in the mood to make something or go out. They were frustrated with the excessive scrolling needed in order find the restaurants section.
A Challenge: How might we make recipes and restaurants equivalently accessible and easy to locate?
While the recipes and restaurants section was accessible through the same section, users found it inconvenient to scroll up and down between restaurants and recipes. The challenge was finding a way to support users' decision processes of deciding whether they wanted to cook or to get something from a restaurant.
A Flexible Solution: A toggle option for recipes and restaurants
I created a streamlined process where users could seamlessly switch between exploring restaurant and recipe options, allowing them to see what they were in the mood to do and support their decision making.
ALLOWING USERS TO SEAMLESSLY SWITCH BETWEEN RECIPES AND RESTAURANTS
Successful In User Testing!
All the users responded positively to the toggle layout. They appreciated the flexibility to reopen the recipes and restaurants sections while making decisions. This new system also significantly sped up the decision process of choosing what to eat.
REFLECTION
Personal Learnings from the project
I analyzed 10 apps across nutrition, fitness, and wellness, but narrowed my focus to 3 apps that better reflected Nutrio’s spirit of personalization and positivity.
Here are my biggest takeaways from this project:
Align product decisions with clear user goals to maintain focus
Prioritize clarity when presenting complex information to users
Balance visual aesthetics with usability to avoid overwhelming users
All done?