Utility billing · Customer payment experience

Make every payment decision feel clear.

A guided account-payment experience that helps customers understand what they owe, choose when and how to pay, and confirm what happened next.

Role
UX and interaction design
Focus
Transaction clarity and status
Scope
End-to-end payment journey
Billing and payments dashboard showing the total amount due, charge breakdown, payment activity, and quick actions

At a glance

Keep the amount, timing, source, and status connected.

Challenge

Payment confidence depends on understanding what is due, when it will move, where it will come from, and what the account will show afterward.

Design response

Separate each consequential decision into a visible step while preserving the amount and account context throughout the journey.

Result

A guided payment experience that distinguishes review, submission, processing, and posting while supporting both standard and past-due accounts.

01 · The challenge

A payment is never just a button.

Customers need to understand the amount, timing, source, and consequence of a payment before they can act with confidence.

The experience connected account context to a guided payment flow. Instead of asking customers to hold critical details in memory, each step kept the amount visible and made the next decision explicit.

The design organizes the journey around four customer decisions—amount, date, payment method, and review—then keeps submitted and posted status distinct after the customer commits.

01

Explain the amount

Bring the balance, due date, charge breakdown, and recent activity into one understandable starting point.

02

Separate each decision

Guide customers through amount, date, payment method, and review without losing context.

03

Make status unmistakable

Distinguish review, processing, and confirmation so customers know what the system is doing.

02 · The guided flow

One consequential decision at a time.

The four-step structure keeps progress visible while giving each choice enough space to be understood and corrected. Select any screen to view it at full size.

01Choose how much to pay
Payment amount step with options to pay the total amount due or enter another amount
02Choose when to pay
Payment date step with options to pay today, on the due date, or on another date
03Choose how to pay
Payment method step with saved card, bank account, and new payment method options
04Review before committing
Payment review step summarizing the amount, date, payment method, authorization, and submit action

03 · System feedback

Keep people oriented after they press submit.

Submission confirms that the payment was accepted for processing. Posting is a later account state, so the interface keeps that distinction explicit.

Processing state showing payment amount, method, date, and duplicate-submission reassurance
Processing

Preserve the submitted details and explain that the transaction is still underway.

Payment confirmation with transaction details, confirmation number, receipt, and AutoPay option
Accepted for processing

Confirm submission with a reference number and payment details while explaining that the transaction has not yet posted to the account.

04 · Higher-stakes states

Clarity matters most when the account is under pressure.

The past-due path distinguishes total balance, overdue charges, current charges, and the minimum action needed to help avoid service interruption. Assistance and arrangement options stay visible without obscuring the primary decision.

Past-due payment amount step with service-interruption warning, balance breakdown, payment choices, and assistance options

05 · Outcome

Make every state of the payment understandable.

01

Context through every decision

The selected amount remains visible as customers choose the date, payment method, and final authorization.

02

Status without ambiguity

Processing and confirmation explain whether the payment is underway, accepted for processing, or posted to the account.

03

Support under pressure

The past-due path separates balances, identifies the minimum action, and keeps payment assistance visible.

Next project

Designing for urgency without adding uncertainty.

Outage ExperienceService reliability Back to selected work