Cubby Payments

Cubby is a platform created for self-storage operators to manage and expand their businesses. Since self-storage companies generate revenue primarily by renting out units to tenants, monitoring payments and their status is one of the most critical tasks.

In the self-storage industry, it is common to have up to 20% of tenants who require active reminders about past due payments and specific payment collection actions.

Problem

The traditional method of obtaining an overview of payments was through the "Payment history" page, which displayed a list of previous payments and some payment activity statistics.

Through discussions with self-storage operators, we discovered their challenges in obtaining a comprehensive overview of all payments in a facility, identifying declined payments or specific transactions, and filtering or accessing a particular payment.

Unified experience

While our primary focus was on addressing the challenges self-storage operators faced with our legacy "Payment history" screen, we also aimed to establish a more robust foundation for a resource page (a typical page hosting a data table with resource objects like units, pricing groups, payments, etc.) to be utilized throughout Cubby.

With this objective in mind, I have developed a more adaptable and robust data table structure with search and filtering functionalities that emphasize transparently communicating the state and selected options. As an optional enhancement, insight cards could be positioned above the data table to provide a summary of specific filters or views of the data displayed below.

Insight cards such as "Failed" or "Refunded" directly tackled common issues raised by self-storage operators, allowing them to swiftly view a summary of crucial information. On the new payment screen, the resource page would default to being filtered by the current month, as this timeframe is typically the most relevant for operators.

For self-storage operators looking for more payment details, a slide-over shows additional information like the breakdown of all payment line items and a timeline of individual transactions.

Each slide-over has a unique URL, allowing users to save a link to a specific payment or share it with a colleague, a functionality absent in the legacy system.

Transactions and disputes

While payments are essential, individual transactions can also be viewed independently. In Cubby, payments may comprise multiple transactions. Consider transactions as individual activities, and the transactions overview as an activity log.

We enhanced the payment capabilities in Cubby by including detailed information on chargebacks and ACH returns, crucial for operators, highlighted on a separate interface. The payment details now provide comprehensive information about each dispute.

Outcome

The payment redesign significantly benefited our operators by offering a clearer overview and saving valuable time in comprehending each payment. Notably, it instilled more confidence and trust in Cubby as the redesign provided more answers and clarity on the most critical questions for them.