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woowahan

For a Seamless User Experience: The Journey (opens in new tab)

To provide a seamless user experience, Baedal Minjok (Baemin) successfully integrated KakaoTalk brand vouchers directly into its ordering system, overcoming significant technical and organizational barriers between platforms. This project was driven by a mission to resolve long-standing customer friction and strategically capture external purchase demand within the Baemin ecosystem. By bridging the gap between Kakao’s gifting infrastructure and Baemin’s delivery network, the team successfully transformed a fragmented journey into a unified, user-centric service. ### Bridging User Friction and Business Growth - Addressed persistent Voice of Customer (VOC) complaints from users who found it inconvenient to use KakaoTalk vouchers through separate brand apps or physical store visits. - Aimed to capture untapped external traffic and convert it into active order volume within the Baemin platform, enhancing customer retention and "lock-in" effects. - Defined the project’s core essence as "connection," which served as a North Star for decision-making when technical constraints or business interests conflicted. ### Navigating Multi-Party Stakeholder Complexity - Coordinated a massive ecosystem involving Kakao (the platform), F&B brands, third-party voucher issuers, and internal Baemin backend teams. - Managed conflicting KPIs across organizations, balancing Kakao’s requirement for platform stability with voucher issuers' needs for settlement clarity. - Employed "context-aware communication" to bridge terminology gaps, such as reconciling Baemin’s "register and use" logic with the voucher companies' "inquiry and approval" workflows. ### Standardizing External Voucher Integration - Developed a standardized technical framework to accommodate diverse external voucher issuers while maintaining a consistent and simple interface for the end-user. - Resolved technical trade-offs regarding API response speeds, error-handling policies, and real-time validation across disparate systems. - Empowered Product Managers to act as "technical translators" and "captains," proactively managing complex dependency chains and prioritizing core features over secondary improvements to meet delivery timelines. The successful integration of KakaoTalk vouchers demonstrates that overcoming platform silos requires more than just technical API mapping; it requires a fundamental shift toward user-centric thinking. By prioritizing the "seamlessness" of the connection over individual platform boundaries, organizations can unlock significant new growth opportunities and deliver a superior digital experience.

uxapi-designproduct-managementbackend+3
naver

Recreating the User's (opens in new tab)

The development of NSona, an LLM-based multi-agent persona platform, addresses the persistent gap between user research and service implementation by transforming static data into real-time collaborative resources. By recreating user voices through a multi-party dialogue system, the project demonstrates how AI can serve as an active participant in the daily design and development process. Ultimately, the initiative highlights a fundamental shift in cross-functional collaboration, where traditional role boundaries dissolve in favor of a shared starting point centered on AI-driven user empathy. ## Bridging UX Research and Daily Collaboration * The project was born from the realization that traditional UX research often remains isolated from the actual development cycle, leading to a loss of insight during implementation. * NSona transforms static user research data into dynamic "persona bots" that can interact with project members in real-time. * The platform aims to turn the user voice into a "live" resource, allowing designers and developers to consult the persona during the decision-making process. ## Agent-Centric Engineering and Multi-Party UX * The system architecture is built on an agent-centric structure designed to handle the complexities of specific user behaviors and motivations. * It utilizes a Multi-Party dialogue framework, enabling a collaborative environment where multiple AI agents and human stakeholders can converse simultaneously. * Technical implementation focused on bridging the gap between qualitative UX requirements and LLM orchestration, ensuring the persona's responses remained grounded in actual research data. ## Service-Specific Evaluation and Quality Metrics * The team moved beyond generic LLM benchmarks to establish a "Service-specific" evaluation process tailored to the project's unique UX goals. * Model quality was measured by how vividly and accurately it recreated the intended persona, focusing on the degree of "immersion" it triggered in human users. * Insights from these evaluations helped refine the prompt design and agent logic to ensure the AI's output provided genuine value to the product development lifecycle. ## Redefining Cross-Functional Collaboration * The AI development process reshaped traditional Roles and Responsibilities (RNR); designers became prompt engineers, while researchers translated qualitative logic into agentic structures. * Front-end developers evolved their roles to act as critical reviewers of the AI, treating the model as a subject of critique rather than a static asset. * The workflow shifted from a linear "relay" model to a concentric one, where all team members influence the product's core from the same starting point. To successfully integrate AI into the product lifecycle, organizations should move beyond using LLMs as simple tools and instead view them as a medium for interdisciplinary collaboration. By building multi-agent systems that reflect real user data, teams can ensure that the "user's voice" is not just a research summary, but a tangible participant in the development process.

uxaillmmultimodal-ai+5
toss

In search of Toss’s brand (opens in new tab)

Toss, a leading Korean fintech platform, embarked on a UX research journey to define its visual identity as it expanded from digital services into offline environments like Toss Pay payment stations. The study revealed that while users strongly associate the brand with seamless "usability," they lacked a single, clear mental image of a visual symbol. By analyzing user perceptions of fonts, colors, and shapes, Toss identified a specific visual formula—combining the app icon shape with a white, blue, and black palette—to ensure the brand remains instantly recognizable in the physical world. ## The Challenge of Offline Brand Recognition * The project began with the need to design "danglers" (small signage at payment counters) to signal that Toss Pay is accepted at offline merchants. * While Toss had successfully used various logo iterations online, the team realized that "Toss-ness" learned within the app might not automatically translate to unfamiliar offline environments. * Initial internal debates focused on superficial visual tweaks, such as background colors or language choices, rather than understanding the core assets that trigger brand recognition. ## Identifying Usability as the Core Brand Image * In-depth interviews were conducted with participants selected for their ability to articulate abstract brand impressions. * Research showed that users primarily associate Toss with keywords like "clean," "practical," and "convenient," rather than specific aesthetic elements. * One participant described Toss as a "program made by a genius engineer in Excel," highlighting that the brand’s value was rooted in its utility rather than a distinct visual symbol. * This presented a challenge: since the "app experience" cannot be felt through a static offline sign, the team had to find a visual surrogate for that functional reliability. ## Deconstructing the Toss Symbol: Font, Color, and Shape * **Font:** Testing revealed that the most recognizable font was the black English "toss" wordmark, primarily because users see it most often in external media and news rather than inside the app. * **Color:** Surprisingly, users did not associate Toss with a single shade of blue. Instead, they recognized the specific combination of a "blue logo on a white background." * **Logo:** When asked to draw the logo from memory, users consistently included a square border. This indicated that users perceive the brand’s "face" specifically as the smartphone app icon (the blue logo inside a rounded square) rather than the standalone logo mark. ## Implementing the "Toss Formula" in Design * The research led to a refined brand identity formula: **White background + Black bold English font + Blue app-icon-shaped logo.** * In the "10 to 100" 10th-anniversary campaign, the company shifted away from all-blue backgrounds in favor of this white-based combination to maximize recognition. * Toss Pay payment screens were updated to remove blue backgrounds, adopting the white-and-black layout to align with how users intuitively identify the service. For UX researchers and designers, this case demonstrates that brand identity is often a composite of environmental cues rather than a single graphic. When moving a digital-first brand into the physical world, it is essential to look beyond the logo and identify the specific "visual formula" that triggers the user's memory of the product experience.

uxbrand-identityuser-researchui-ux-design+3
toss

In an era where everyone does research, (opens in new tab)

In an era where AI moderators and non-researchers handle the bulk of data collection, the role of the UX researcher has shifted from a technical specialist to a strategic guide. The core value of the researcher now lies in "UX Leadership"—the ability to frame problems, align team perspectives, and define the fundamental identity of a product. By bridging the gap between business goals and user needs, researchers ensure that products solve real problems rather than just chasing metrics or technical feasibility. ### Setting the Framework in the Idea Phase When starting a new project, a researcher’s primary task is to establish the "boundaries of the puzzle" by shifting the team’s focus from business impact to user value. * **Case - AI Signal:** For a service that interprets stock market events using AI, the team initially focused on business metrics like retention and news consumption. * **Avoiding "Metric Traps":** A researcher intervenes to prevent fatigue-inducing UX (e.g., excessive notifications to boost CTR) by defining the "North Star" as the specific problem the user is trying to solve. * **The Checklist:** Once the user problem and value are defined, they serve as a persistent checklist for every design iteration and action item. ### Aligning Team Direction for Product Improvements When a product already exists but needs improvement, different team members often have scattered, subjective opinions on what to fix. The researcher structures these thoughts into a cohesive direction. * **Case - Stock Market Calendar:** While the team suggested UI changes like "it doesn't look like a calendar," the researcher refocused the effort on the user's ultimate goal: making better investment decisions. * **Defining Success Criteria:** The team agreed on a "Good Usage" standard based on three stages: Awareness (recognizing issues) → Understanding (why it matters) → Preparation (adjusting investment plans). * **Identifying Obstacles:** By identifying specific friction points—such as the lack of information hierarchy or the difficulty of interpreting complex indicators—the researcher moves the project from "simple UI cleanup" to "essential tool development." ### Redefining Product Identity During Stagnation When a product's growth stalls, the issue often isn't a specific UI bug but a fundamental mismatch between the product's identity and its environment. * **Case - Toss Securities PC:** Despite being functional, the PC version struggled because it initially tried to copy the "mobile simplicity" of the app. * **Contextual Analysis:** Research revealed that while mobile users value speed and portability, PC users require an environment for deep analysis, multi-window comparisons, and deliberate decision-making. * **Consensus through Synthesis:** The researcher integrates data, user interviews, and market trends into workshops to help the team decide where the product should "live" in the market. This process creates team-wide alignment on a new strategic direction rather than just fixing features. The modern UX researcher must move beyond "crafting the tool" (interviewing and data gathering) and toward "UX Leadership." True expertise involves maintaining a broad view of the industry and product ecosystem, structuring team discussions to reach a consensus, and ensuring that every product decision is rooted in a clear understanding of the user's context and goals.

uxaidata-analysisproduct-strategy+3
toss

Creating the worst experience at Toss (opens in new tab)

Toss designer Lee Hyeon-jeong argues that business goals and user experience are not mutually exclusive, even when integrating controversial elements like advertising. By identifying the intersection between monetization and usability, her team transformed intrusive ads into value-driven features that maintain user trust while driving significant revenue. The ultimate conclusion is that transparency and appropriate rewards can mitigate negative feedback and even increase user engagement. ### Reducing Friction through Predictability and Placement * Addressed "surprise" ads by introducing clear labeling, such as "Watch Ad" buttons or specifying ad durations (e.g., "30-second ad"), which reduced negative sentiment without decreasing revenue. * Discovered that when users are given a choice and clear expectations, their anxiety decreases and their willingness to engage with the content increases. * Eliminated "flow-breaking" ads that mimicked functional UI elements, such as banners placed inside transaction histories that users frequently mistook for personal bank records. * Established a design principle to place advertisements only in areas that do not interfere with information discovery or core user navigation tasks. ### Transforming Advertisements into User Benefits * Developed a dedicated B2B ad platform to scale the variety of available advertisements, ensuring that users receive ads relevant to their specific life stages, such as car insurance or new credit cards. * Shifted the internal perception of ads from "noise" to "benefits" by focusing on the right timing and high-quality matching between the advertiser and the user's needs. * Institutionalized regular "creative ideation sessions" to explore interactive formats, including advertisements that respond to phone movement (gyroscope), quizzes, and mini-games. * Leveraged long-term internal experiments to ensure that even if an idea cannot be implemented immediately, it remains in the team's "creative bank" for future product opportunities. ### Optimizing Value Exchange through Rewards * Conducted over a year of A/B testing on reward thresholds, comparing small cash amounts (1 KRW to 200 KRW), non-monetary items (gifticons), and high-stakes lottery-style prizes. * Analyzed the "labor intensity" of ads by adjusting lengths (10 to 30 seconds) to find the psychological tipping point where users felt the reward was worth their time. * Implemented a high-value lottery system within the Toss Pedometer service, which successfully transitioned a loss-making feature into a profitable revenue stream. * Maintained user activity and satisfaction levels despite the increased presence of ads by ensuring the "worst-case experience"—viewing ads for no gain—was entirely avoided. Product teams should stop viewing business requirements and UX as a zero-sum game. By focusing on user psychology—specifically transparency, non-disruption, and fair value exchange—it is possible to achieve aggressive business targets while maintaining a sustainable and trusted user environment.

uxproduct-designad-techgrowth-hacking+3
line

Complex user authentication processes are (opens in new tab)

Designing a robust membership authentication system is a critical early-stage requirement that prevents long-term technical debt and protects a platform’s integrity. By analyzing the renewal of the Demaecan delivery service, it is evident that choosing the right authentication mechanism depends heavily on regional infrastructure and a balance between security costs and user friction. Ultimately, a well-structured authentication flow can simultaneously reduce fraud rates and significantly lower user drop-off during registration. ### The Consequences of Weak Authentication Neglecting authentication design during the initial stages of a project often leads to "ghost members" and operational hurdles that are difficult to rectify later. * **Data Integrity Issues:** Without verification, databases fill with unreachable or fake contact information, such as invalid phone numbers. * **Onboarding Blockers:** Legitimate new users may be prevented from signing up if their recycled phone numbers are already linked to unverified legacy accounts. * **Marketing Abuse:** A lack of unique identifiers makes it impossible to prevent bad actors from creating multiple accounts to exploit promotional coupons or events. ### Regional Differences in Verification Authentication strategies must be tailored to the specific digital infrastructure of the target market, as "identity verification" varies globally. * **Domestic (Korea) Standards:** Highly integrated systems allow for "Identity Verification," which combines possession (OTP) and real-name data through telecommunications companies or banking systems. * **Global and Japanese Standards:** Most regions lack a centralized government-linked identity system, relying instead on "Possession Authentication" via email or SMS, or simple two-factor authentication (2FA). * **Verification Expiration:** High-security services must define clear validity periods for authentication data and determine how long to retain data after a user withdraws to prevent immediate re-abuse. ### Strategic Fraud Prevention via IVR When SMS-based possession authentication becomes insufficient to stop determined abusers, shifting the economic cost for the fraudster is an effective solution. * **SMS vs. Voice (IVR):** In Japan, acquiring phone numbers capable of receiving voice calls is more expensive than acquiring SMS-only numbers. * **IVR Implementation:** By switching to call-based (Inbound Voice Response) authentication, Demaecan increased the barrier to entry for abusers. * **Impact:** This strategic shift in authentication type reduced the fraudulent user rate from over 20% to just 1.5%. ### Optimizing Sign-up UX and Retention A complex authentication process does not have to result in high churn if the UI flow is logically organized and user-friendly. * **Logical Grouping:** Grouping similar tasks—such as placing phone and email verification sequentially—helps users understand the progression of the sign-up flow. * **Streamlined Data Entry:** Integrating social login buttons early in the process allows for email auto-fill, reducing the number of manual input fields for the user. * **Safety Nets:** Implementing simple "back" buttons for correcting typos during email verification and adding warning dialogs when a user tries to close the window significantly reduces accidental exits. * **Performance Metrics:** These UX improvements led to a 30% decrease in user attrition, proving that structured flows can mitigate the friction of multi-step verification. To build a successful authentication system, planners should prioritize the most cost-effective verification method for their specific market and focus on grouping steps logically to maintain a smooth user experience. Monitoring conversion logs is essential to identify and fix specific points in the flow where users might struggle.

uxfraud-detectionmembership-authenticationidentity-verification+4