UX CASE STUDY · MOBILE APP
A new home page for the Western Union app (sender country: United States) that puts quick actions, transfer summaries and services one tap away — designed end-to-end across four user scenarios, from a logged-out first-timer to a repeat sender resuming a transfer.
The app lacked a true home: no single place for quick actions, transfer status, offers and services. Logged-out users hit friction before they could even try the product.
Benchmarked 17 direct and indirect competitors, mapped 4 user scenarios, explored 8 wireframe directions and a full widget library, then locked a per-scenario widget priority matrix.
A personalized dashboard that surfaces the most relevant actions for each user — encouraging first-time users to explore the product before registering, and seamless resume-and-resend transfers workflows for repeat senders.
Sender country: United States (US). The reason for launching this page: provide quick actions, a summary, and multiple services or features on the home page, so users can easily access everything from one place.
Western Union is a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money transfer services. Through its digital channels, it helps people and businesses move money to more than 500,000 agent locations in over 200 countries and territories, in more than 130+ currencies.
Instead of demographic personas, the home page is designed around the states a user can arrive in — each with its own mindset and its own UX objective.
User mental model: Explore the product, compare with competitors, learn about offerings.
User mental model: Wants to send money, check the exchange rate and any offers.
User mental model: Still ready to explore, could be slightly unsure; may still compare offerings and exchange rates with competitors.
User mental model: Resend; wants to send money, check the exchange rate and any offers.
17 apps were audited across the same states the personas describe — first-time logged-in without a transfer, existing users, and (where reachable) logged-out home pages. Remittance specialists were treated as direct competitors; banks and neo-banks as indirect references for dashboard patterns.
For each of the two core use cases — logged-out and logged-in first-time users — four dashboard structures were explored, testing where the send-money widget, value propositions, payment methods, services and bottom navigation should live.
Every candidate widget was designed as an interchangeable module so the dashboard can be recomposed per user state.
A single matrix maps every final widget to its position and rationale in each of the three dashboard states. Highlights:
Logged-out users see offers first, encouraging them to start their journey; the send-money widget with currency converter sits directly beneath.
Users who left a transaction midway find Resume at the very top; recent transfers follow so repeat sends are one tap.
Google Ads space is reserved to meet business requirements but placed so it never overshadows dashboard usability.
The complete journey — from a logged-out landing through registration, eKYC, transfer setup, payment and tracking — mapped screen by screen to verify the dashboard hands off cleanly into every downstream flow.
