Evolving is very important to us at Ria Money Transfer. We constantly add and upgrade parts of our app to make sending money easy.

We spoke to Elena, a Product Designer at Ria, to talk about what happens behind-the-scenes to create a money transfer app. Elena is from Russia and has lived in the United States for two years. She, too, sends money back home to her family.

Step 1: Understand

A new feature starts with you! Specifically, how you use – or don’t use – the app. Based on data, surveys, and research, many groups within Ria will identify opportunities then present them to product designers like Elena.

Understanding the impact a change or addition has on you is incredibly important. If there is a chance to make the app better, we take advantage of it.

Step 2: Collaborate

The next step is collaboration. After everyone shares their ideas, Elena and other product designers figure out how to best improve the app.

Sometimes, it can be solved with a design change. Other times, more teams need to get involved, especially when we need to make changes behind the scenes.

Step 3: Bring it to life

New features and upgraded features are then designed. Every detail you see was purposefully placed by a designer like Elena. These designs are then converted to a “prototype” that can be explored and tested.

From there, product developers work their magic to code the feature.

“My job is very rewarding,” said Elena. “It can take months to for a feature to be made, but it’s worth it in the end.”

Step 4: Introduce it to you

This is when you finally get to use the features! We’ve come a long way in the last year. Now you can:

• Modify a recipient
• Send money to mobile wallets
• Get special rates depending on delivery method
• Easily change your lost or forgotten password
• Add new payment options

The best way to make sure you can use new features is to make sure your app is up to date.

Step 5: Make it even better

Upgrading features is a huge part of what we do – and what Elena does! Once you start using new features, we analyze it to see how we can make improvements. As our community grows, we want to grow too.

To stay up to date on the latest features and improvements, continue to check out the blog.

Don’t have the app yet? Get it now.