Save Fee Saver Adoption
Save Fee Saver Adoption
Pass on your credit card processing fees with
Online Fee Saver
How it works
Enabling this feature will set your default payment method to credit card and ACH bank payments. Whenever you send an online payment request, if customer pays by
Credit Card
You pay
0%
ACH Bank Payment
You pay
0.5% + 25¢ *
*Fees capped at $6 per transaction
Available on
Invoicing
Payment Pages
Payment Request
HelcimPay. js
Not now
Enable now
Enjoy zero-cost payment processing
Pass on your credit card processing fees to your customers.
Get started
Enjoy zero-cost payment processing
Pass on your credit card processing fees to your customers.
Get started
Enjoy zero-cost payment processing
Pass on your credit card processing fees to your customers.
Get started
Confirm activation
By enabling Online Fee Saver, you agree to Helcim Fee Saver terms and conditions. This feature will be enable on all eligible products.
Cancel
Confirm
Confirm activation
By enabling Online Fee Saver, you agree to Helcim Fee Saver terms and conditions. This feature will be enable on all eligible products.
Cancel
Confirm
Confirm activation
By enabling Online Fee Saver, you agree to Helcim Fee Saver terms and conditions. This feature will be enable on all eligible products.
Cancel
Confirm
Pass on your credit card processing fees with
Online Fee Saver
How it works
Enabling this feature will set your default payment method to credit card and ACH bank payments. Whenever you send an online payment request, if customer pays by
Credit Card
You pay
0%
ACH Bank Payment
You pay
0.5% + 25¢ *
*Fees capped at $6 per transaction
Available on
Invoicing
Payment Pages
Payment Request
HelcimPay. js
Not now
Enable now
Online Fee Saver enabled
You can now process credit card payments for free on select online payment tools!
Close
Problem
In winter 2023, Helcim, a payment processor company, launched Fee Saver (FS) to help merchants reduce processing costs. Despite its potential, the feature’s adoption rate stagnated at 5.7% one month post-launch.
Impact
I took the initiative to investigate adoption barriers, uncover key friction points, and drive a cross-functional solution—ultimately increasing adoption 8X to 63% and creating a scalable design pattern for future feature promotions.
Role
Role
Lead Product Designer
Core responsibility
Core responsibility
UX Design
Visual design
Product strategy
Research
Team
Team
1 Product Manager
3 developers
Timeline
Timeline
1 months
TL;DR
TL;DR
Adoption increase
Adoption increase
8X
8X
Fee Saver adoption skyrocketed to 63%—an 8x increase within weeks of implementation.
Fee Saver adoption skyrocketed to 63%—an 8x increase within weeks of implementation.
Strong drive for revenue growth
Strong drive for revenue growth
Directly contributed to Helcim’s revenue growth, a key factor during its Series B funding efforts.
Directly contributed to Helcim’s revenue growth, a key factor during its Series B funding efforts.
New global design pattern
New global design pattern
Established a global framework for feature promotions across Helcim’s product suite.
Leadership and Mentorship
Leadership and Mentorship
By partnering with another designer and driving alignment across teams, I ensured a win-win outcome.
By partnering with another designer and driving alignment across teams, I ensured a win-win outcome.
What is Fee Saver? A Feature to Save Merchants Money with 1-click
Fee Saver lets merchants pass credit card processing fees to their customers instead of paying them out of pocket. With one-click, merchants can save businesses thousands of dollars every year.
Helcim Fee Saver allow merchants (user) to passes the processing fees to their customers (same as surcharging). It is available on several products across Helcim’s product suite. Once merchants enable this feature (as easy as 1-click), it can save them tons of money.
Given its simplicity and value, we expected a high adoption rate. However, the actual adoption fell short.
🚨 The adoption rate was much lower than anticipated.
Helcim Fee Saver allow merchants (user) to passes the processing fees to their customers (same as surcharging). It is available on several products across Helcim’s product suite. Once merchants enable this feature (as easy as 1-click), it can save them tons of money.
I tried multiple approaches to gather data, analyze them, and capture insights. After several trials and errors, I finally found a way to uncover the root cause.
I compared adoption trends between new merchants who encountered FS during onboarding1 and beta merchants who were notified via email campaigns.
I tried multiple approaches to gather data, analyze them, and capture insights. After several trials and errors, I finally found a way to uncover the root cause.
I compared adoption trends between new merchants who encountered FS during onboarding1 and beta merchants who were notified via email campaigns.
The data revealed a striking contrast:
The data revealed a striking contrast:
89.2%
of new merchants activated FS during onboarding.
of new merchants activated FS during onboarding.
5.7%
of beta merchants activated FS through email
of beta merchants activated FS through email
[1] Fee Saver had been released with another product 6 months before our launch. To promote it on that product, the company integrated it into the onboarding process, enabling all new customers over the past 6 months to activate Fee Saver during onboarding.
This confirmed two critical insights:
Lack of Exposure
Lack of Exposure
New merchants discovered to FS in onboarding, while existing merchants relied on a single marketing email - causing low awareness.
New merchants discovered to FS in onboarding, while existing merchants relied on a single marketing email - causing low awareness.
High Friction in Activation
High Friction in Activation
Existing merchants had to follow a lengthy process: open the email → log into the platform → navigate to Payment Page → create or edit a payment page → manually enable FS. Each step increased the likelihood of drop-off.
Existing merchants had to follow a lengthy process: open the email → log into the platform → navigate to Payment Page → create or edit a payment page → manually enable FS. Each step increased the likelihood of drop-off.
The real issue wasn’t a lack of interest—it was a lack of visibility and an overly complex activation process.
The real issue wasn’t a lack of interest—it was a lack of visibility and an overly complex activation process.
Why doesn't the email campaign flow work?
If we think about the email campaign flow from users' perspective, this is what happened:
If we think about the email campaign flow from users' perspective, this is what happened:
If we think about the email campaign flow from users' perspective, this is what happened:
Imagine you’re a merchant, busy managing orders and customers. You see an email about Fee Saver, but you’re in the middle of something—so you leave it for later. By the time you remember, you’ve forgotten where to find it. And when you finally log in, you have to search through the platform just to enable it. At that point, it hardly feels worth the effort.
Many merchants won't see the email.
Many merchants may never see the email due to overflowing inboxes, spam filters, or simply ignoring promotional messages. By its nature, it won't reach 100% of active users, so email engagement is unpredictable and often low.
Even those who see it face too many steps to activate.
Even if merchants open the email, they might receive it at a random moment—when they’re not thinking about payments, not ready to activate a new feature, or don’t have access to the product. And even if they are interested, the process requires too many steps—clicking a link, logging in, searching for the feature, and manually enabling it. With each extra step, the likelihood of drop-off increases. It’s not that they don’t want to activate it—it’s just not the right time, and the effort feels too high in the moment.
Reframe the problem
Reframe the problem
HMW increase the exposure of FS and reduce the friction of activation?
HMW increase the exposure of FS and reduce the friction of activation?
To address these issues, I designed a few options and shared the following one with stakeholders for their feedback and support. The modal acted as a tutorial, guiding merchants through the activation process step-by-step. This design maximized exposure by ensuring every merchant saw it upon login.
To address these issues, I designed a few options and shared the following one with stakeholders for their feedback and support. The modal acted as a tutorial, guiding merchants through the activation process step-by-step. This design maximized exposure by ensuring every merchant saw it upon login.
Why it works:
Why it works:
In-app Promotion Maximizes Contextual Exposure
In-app Promotion Maximizes Contextual Exposure
Email promotion alone wasn’t enough. In-app promotion targets users right when they're on the product, simplifies discovery, and encourages immediate action.
Email promotion alone wasn’t enough. In-app promotion targets users right when they're on the product, simplifies discovery, and encourages immediate action.
Interactive Walkthrough Simplifies the Learning Curve
Interactive Walkthrough Simplifies the Learning Curve
Interactive walkthrough simplifies the learning curve, highlight key functionality, captures attention, and eliminates the needs for external resources.
Interactive walkthrough simplifies the learning curve, highlight key functionality, captures attention, and eliminates the needs for external resources.
Value-Driven Messaging Drives the Activation
Value-Driven Messaging Drives the Activation
Thoughtfully crafted copy that addresses user needs, highlights benefits, and motivates action.
Thoughtfully crafted copy that addresses user needs, highlights benefits, and motivates action.
When I presented this solution to stakeholders, I encountered some concerns:
When I presented this solution to stakeholders, I encountered some concerns:
Determined to move forward, I adopted a collaborative approach to address these concerns:
Determined to move forward, I adopted a collaborative approach to address these concerns:
Resource Limitation? What If We Partner…
Resource Limitation? What If We Partner…
With limited engineering bandwidth and competing priorities, I had to find a way to implement changes without overwhelming the team. I partnered with a designer from another team whose product use FS as well. We brainstormed together and explored new ideas that can be used for both our product. By proposing a shared solution, I convinced their team to implement the design as part of their development efforts. Our team only needed to adapt and reuse the implementation, significantly reducing the engineering workload.
With limited engineering bandwidth and competing priorities, I had to find a way to implement changes without overwhelming the team. I partnered with a designer from another team whose product use FS as well. We brainstormed together and explored new ideas that can be used for both our product. By proposing a shared solution, I convinced their team to implement the design as part of their development efforts. Our team only needed to adapt and reuse the implementation, significantly reducing the engineering workload.
ROI Concern? Let's Make it Benefit Multiple Products…
ROI Concern? Let's Make it Benefit Multiple Products…
Expanding the solution to benefit multiple products and teams added significant value. I secured buy-in from the Head of Design by demonstrating how the design could scale across Helcim’s ecosystem. This buy-in unlocked additional support from the Design System team, whose front-end developers handled implementation, further alleviating resource constraints for both teams.
Expanding the solution to benefit multiple products and teams added significant value. I secured buy-in from the Head of Design by demonstrating how the design could scale across Helcim’s ecosystem. This buy-in unlocked additional support from the Design System team, whose front-end developers handled implementation, further alleviating resource constraints for both teams.
New design strategy
Focus on a universal, scalable approach that highlights the feature's global benefits across all products.
Focus on a universal, scalable approach that highlights the feature's global benefits across all products.
Here is a breakdown of the things we changed based on the new design strategy.
Here is a breakdown of the things we changed based on the new design strategy.
Collaborating with a product marketer, we refined the messaging for clarity and engagement, while an illustrator and motion designer helped bring it to life with branded visuals and subtle animations. To ensure seamless implementation, I worked closely with front-end designers to package it as a reusable component, making it easy for full-stack developers to adopt.
Collaborating with a product marketer, we refined the messaging for clarity and engagement, while an illustrator and motion designer helped bring it to life with branded visuals and subtle animations. To ensure seamless implementation, I worked closely with front-end designers to package it as a reusable component, making it easy for full-stack developers to adopt.
After extensive exploration and thoughtful trade-offs, I led the team to land on this final design. When customers navigate to Fee Saver-eligible products, a modal appears to educate them about the feature and promote activation.
The modal provides a seamless way for customers to activate Fee Saver directly. For those who prefer to skip or activate it later, selecting "Remind me later" transforms the modal into a banner pinned at the top of the page. This ensures the feature remains visible and easily accessible, allowing customers to revisit it when ready.
After extensive exploration and thoughtful trade-offs, I led the team to land on this final design. When customers navigate to Fee Saver-eligible products, a modal appears to educate them about the feature and promote activation.
The modal provides a seamless way for customers to activate Fee Saver directly. For those who prefer to skip or activate it later, selecting "Remind me later" transforms the modal into a banner pinned at the top of the page. This ensures the feature remains visible and easily accessible, allowing customers to revisit it when ready.
Enable Fee Saver
Enable Fee Saver
"Not now" flow
"Not now" flow
Why it is even better?
Why it is even better?
On top of In-app Promotion, and Value-Driven Messaging, it also has
On top of In-app Promotion, and Value-Driven Messaging, it also has
Educational Content to Reduce User Hesitation
Educational Content to Reduce User Hesitation
By explaining the "why" and "how" of the feature, educational content builds user confidence, reducing hesitation to try it.
By explaining the "why" and "how" of the feature, educational content builds user confidence, reducing hesitation to try it.
Cross-Product Design Approach Boosted Feature Visibility
Cross-Product Design Approach Boosted Feature Visibility
The design worked across multiple products, promoting FS and related features simultaneously
The design worked across multiple products, promoting FS and related features simultaneously
The design worked across multiple products, promoting FS and related features simultaneously.
Built a Standardized Approach for Feature Adoption
Built a Standardized Approach for Feature Adoption
The implementation established a global design pattern for future feature promotions.
The implementation established a global design pattern for future feature promotions.
Take ownership when there’s a gap.
Take ownership when there’s a gap.
You won’t always have dedicated research support or predefined feedback loops. That means you’ll need to keep moving forward, even without all the answers. Own the momentum of your ideas—don’t let them stall in endless discussions or uncertainty.
You won’t always have dedicated research support or predefined feedback loops. That means you’ll need to keep moving forward, even without all the answers. Own the momentum of your ideas—don’t let them stall in endless discussions or uncertainty.
🪫
System thinking can help maximize design impact.
System thinking can help maximize design impact.
It’s easy to focus on solving one problem, but stepping back to consider the broader context often reveals greater opportunities. It’s easier to convince others that your idea is high ROI when you can show how it unlocks new opportunities in the product. The more surface area that your idea touches, the more people have the potential to be excited about it.
It’s easy to focus on solving one problem, but stepping back to consider the broader context often reveals greater opportunities. It’s easier to convince others that your idea is high ROI when you can show how it unlocks new opportunities in the product. The more surface area that your idea touches, the more people have the potential to be excited about it.
Data is an essential guide.
Data is an essential guide.
Even when data is limited, digging deeper can provide meaningful insights. By analyzing adoption trends, I uncovered key issues that shaped my hypotheses and guided the solution. Seeing adoption rates rise from 5.7% to 83% showed me the power of data-driven decisions, and sharing these findings helped align teams and build confidence in the path forward.
Even when data is limited, digging deeper can provide meaningful insights. By analyzing adoption trends, I uncovered key issues that shaped my hypotheses and guided the solution. Seeing adoption rates rise from 5.7% to 83% showed me the power of data-driven decisions, and sharing these findings helped align teams and build confidence in the path forward.
Design can demonstrate business impact.
Design can demonstrate business impact.
Most non-designers, especially business leaders, aren’t naturally trained to see how design drives business value. It’s up to us, as designers, to bridge that gap. Every small opportunity is a chance to demonstrate impact—so push your ideas forward, advocate for design, and turn vision into results that prove its value.
Most non-designers, especially business leaders, aren’t naturally trained to see how design drives business value. It’s up to us, as designers, to bridge that gap. Every small opportunity is a chance to demonstrate impact—so push your ideas forward, advocate for design, and turn vision into results that prove its value.
While this project was a step forward, the challenge of driving feature adoption isn’t unique to Fee Saver—it’s a recurring issue across many products. Before leaving the team, I saw an opportunity to extend this solution into a more systematic approach that could benefit future launches.
Build a structured framework to help teams determine which promotion pattern to use, when to use it, and how to optimize it for impact. This system will provide:
✅ Standardized design patterns for different types of feature launches.
✅ Clear decision-making guidelines for selecting the most effective pattern.
✅ Success metrics and iteration loops to refine the approach over time.
Work collaboratively with PMs, Marketing, and other stakeholders to establish a clear, repeatable process for feature and product launches. The goal is to ensure that:
✅ Feature promotion is a shared responsibility across teams, not an afterthought.
✅ Marketing, product, and design efforts are aligned for maximum adoption.
✅ A launch playbook is in place to ensure every new release gets the visibility it deserves.
By bridging design, product, and marketing efforts, we can ensure that every feature launch is intentional, strategic, and successful.
While this project was a step forward, the challenge of driving feature adoption isn’t unique to Fee Saver—it’s a recurring issue across many products. Before leaving the team, I saw an opportunity to extend this solution into a more systematic approach that could benefit future launches.
Mid-term: Build a systematic design pattern for feature promotion
Build a structured framework to help teams determine which promotion pattern to use, when to use it, and how to optimize it for impact. This system will provide:
✅ Standardized design patterns for different types of feature launches.
✅ Clear decision-making guidelines for selecting the most effective pattern.
✅ Success metrics and iteration loops to refine the approach over time.
Long-term: Create a cross-functional launch process
Work collaboratively with PMs, Marketing, and other stakeholders to establish a clear, repeatable process for feature and product launches. The goal is to ensure that:
✅ Feature promotion is a shared responsibility across teams, not an afterthought.
✅ Marketing, product, and design efforts are aligned for maximum adoption.
✅ A launch playbook is in place to ensure every new release gets the visibility it deserves.
By bridging design, product, and marketing efforts, we can ensure that every feature launch is intentional, strategic, and successful.