Spock on Bitcoin
(Courtesy of evoorhees.blogspot.com)
As we head into the holiday shopping season, this month’s news roundup post looks at the user experience of online payments and ecommerce platforms.
How easy is it to shop online? What are the pros and cons of digital currencies, “mobile wallets,” along with the security implications that come with these disruptive modes of payment? The following stories highlight the transformation taking place with electronic commerce transactions.
Forbes: Could Digital Currency Make Our Money More Secure?
Forbes continues its in-depth look at digital currencies. The article looks at the security pros and cons of what is being termed “digital currencies” along with the user experience of online payments and adoption hurdles crypto currencies face. The subject matter expert interviewed in the article notes that if a payment technology offers a poor user experience, then it won’t succeed.
Payment Week: American Express Redesign is a Sign of the Adaptive FI
The article details how the American Express website has been rebuilt from scratch to streamline the site, make payments simpler, improve navigation, and to add personalization options. Taking feedback from various channels including online and social media, americanexpress.com has been redesigned with simplicity and ease-of-use in mind, reflecting the Future Internet. Showcased is the collaborative approach used to improve the user experience by linking directly with the user.
Stanford Daily: The Unfortunate State of Mobile Payments
The article looks at the history of mobile payments. As the author notes, there are very few applications in the tech industry that are as clear in their potential utility as user-friendly contactless payment. Yet mobile payments have yet to deliver a better user experience. Much of the friction comes from the credit card processors themselves. True innovation, along with an intuitive and market-accepted application, will come once the “middlemen” layer of processors is taken out of the experience and the user experience of online payments can improve.
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