Quicko needed a web app for tax filing and planning. Our goal was to create a user-friendly platform that made it simple for users to explore and use Quicko's tax features, providing a smooth and efficient experience.
We successfully brought together all key features from Quicko's product lineup, such as tax planning and filing, into a single web app. We also introduced new, exclusive features designed specifically for the web app.
This project was a unique experience because converting a significant set of features into a web app was both challenging and rewarding. As the design lead, I made decisions on how to consolidate features, identified improvements for a better mobile experience, oversaw the design and delivery of the app.
Quicko and Niyo Money formed a partnership where Quicko would have a banner in the Niyo Money app, through which the users would get redirected into a web app where they can access all the services provided by Quicko.
The web app was designed for people who find taxes challenging to manage on their own, providing a user-friendly solution to simplify the process.
Many users view taxes as overly complex. Our aim was to change this perception by making the process more accessible and user-friendly.
"Taxes are boooooring" is the general perception among users when it comes to tax filing and planning. Our web app aimed to help users overcome this perception by simplifying the process.
The challenge was to develop a neutral-branded web app from scratch, essential for a partnership, while effectively introducing users to the diverse services provided by Quicko.
Making taxes engaging has been a puzzle people have grappled with for a long time. It's a complex challenge due to the critical nature of tax matters and the wide range of variable factors.
Taxes are often something people tend to avoid. Quicko has been making efforts to engage and encourage individuals to file their returns independently. However, the perception around taxes has typically been one of avoidance.
People often handle their tax filing in multiple sessions, which can make it less engaging and difficult to encourage them to use web apps, among other challenges.
The user category and primary persona were broad, encompassing every tax-paying citizen of India, from salaried employees to business owners and self-employed professionals. The primary persona represented the average taxpayer seeking a simple and seamless tax filing experience.
Following background research and interviews, we identified key challenges. These challenges became our focal points to address with the web app.
People look at taxes as something very confusing and complicated. Thus they try to avoid them as much as possible.
They also have a fear of not doing taxes correctly, thus incurring fines after filing them.
Looking and perusing through the official tax filing portals and other alternatives, users found them to be really bland and monotonous.
These portals have complex and confusing user journeys leading to people feeling lost.
We researched and interviewed users on their current struggles while using current Income tax websites and other portals that were available. Since web-app is not a fully fledged mobile app, we had some constraints while designing the product. Some of the major questions we were trying to answer via this were:
Web-app is not a fully fledged app, how do we keep the user engaged with limited resources?
How do we make taxes look more approachable and not a hurdle through the web-app?
We decided to design Tax planning in a way that encapsulates all major parts one would need when planning their taxes, i.e. selecting which regime to file their taxes in, their tax savings and their advance tax calculation.
Tax Filing was made really straightforward and easy to use by just importing the data from ITD. Similarly users could also see their capital gains report and import it from other brokers too.
My main goal for the design was to keep it simple, clear, and easy to use. I wanted users to feel empowered to handle their taxes with confidence.
We wanted to keep the web-app really easy to use and visually appealing. Thus the web-app was divided into 3 major parts: Tax Planning, Tax P&L and Tax Filing.
We simplified complex tax planning tasks like calculating advance tax and choosing tax regimes to make them easy to understand. This way, even first-time taxpayers can confidently plan their taxes.
To file taxes, users simply needed to import their information from the Income Tax Department portal, enter their Aadhar details, and their information would be automatically imported into the app. From there, they could easily file their ITR via Quicko.
The Finance Act 2020 introduced two new tax schemes: the Old Tax Regime with slab rates and the New Tax Regime with flat rates.
To help users decide, we created a simple comparison table. Users input their incomes, and we calculated and visually presented which regime would be most beneficial for them.
This project gave me the chance to explore mobile design for a web app, which was a unique experience. I learned a lot about web app design norms, visual design, and the differences in navigation and interaction patterns. It also helped me see how these factors shape the overall user experience :)
