Design Ethics: The Importance of Integrated Currency Conversion

View Original Article Published on TheStartup

I regret to inform you that this article comes from personal experience.

As a UX Design Student I am constantly being reminded about transparency, ethics and a good user experience on every step of my journey to becoming a professional designer. By using heuristics that promote seamless interfaces that interact with the human, we can create experiences for our users that bring ease and joy to their technological experience.

The Situation

After getting excited about a launch of a new product, I immediately clicked through to the brand’s website and main e-commerce platform. I looked at the price for the two items and thought “Hmm, $38 each item isn’t so bad! Taxes in, shipping etc that’ll come out to under $100. I have budget room for that!”

So I placed the order, got my confirmation email and all the usual marketing follow-up. The order came up in my email to be around $90.

Suddenly, I was shocked when I checked my banking online a few days later. As I did my regular check on my credit card, I saw a charge for $125.

$125.00?! That’s NOT what my receipt said. My receipt said the purchase was just under $100. How could this be?

After contacting customer service I was informed that the website is permanently set in USD, and once the payment is processed, the exchange rate is processed by PayPal or your credit card used for payment. The customer service representative also seemed shocked that I would want it in any other currency other than in US Dollars.

Nowhere on the website did it specify what currency the site was in. I didn’t see any iconography, or currency symbol to customize my experience.

There wasn’t even anything written that said “Prices are in USD”.

Intentional? Accidental? It doesn’t matter.

Is It Really Buyer Beware?

It may seem pedantic to think about, but this detail was crucial in my feeling of deception as a consumer.

The Canadian dollar sign is the exact same symbol as the US dollar sign, ($) and most websites have an option to convert the currency while you’re shopping into one that represents your country’s currency. This is not a difficult feature to implement, and it has become a norm in online shopping to customize your experience based on the country or currency relevant to the user.

I have built e-commerce websites for clients as a Shopify Partner, and this is an essential piece in the basic components of every platform I create.

It’s not even that difficult to include a currency converter, and I will not launch sites without them for fear of this exact situation happening. If clients ever question the need for the free add on, I always discuss the fact that the client needs to relate the price to their country of origin. The customer wants to feel like the experience is tailored to their needs and relevant currency is a very important need for clients looking to purchase something using their hard earned money. Nobody wants to be converting dollar amounts and taking that time when another website selling a similar product could already do that for them right on the product page.

The user wants a fast, seamless experience that makes them feel valued.

In this case, I was sufficiently duped and feeling pretty unhappy. The only solution the company could offer was their standard return policy since the item had shipped before the authorized amount came up on my credit card statement. For international customers outside the US (like me) a return required a mandatory 25% restocking fee to be taken off the refund amount and to pay shipping and duties back over the border to the return address.

After doing some math, I realized not only the fact that it would be more bother, but I would have to pay all the duties, fees, and shipping all over again just to send back the product was sold to me in what I thought was Canadian Dollars.

The argument about buyer beware was a devil’s advocate situation that I played in my head numerous times, however, for a multi-million dollar company it is clear to me that they had access to the resources available for excellent UI on their website. After all, they had top of the line fulfillment, order tracking and some really nice script on their site for all the other components.

Why then would they conveniently neglect to include a currency converter?

Design is about clarity.

Although this segment may illustrate a point of moral difference, as designers I believe it is our responsibility to be as ethical and as clear as we can in our designs. By creating an experience where users can feel comfortable shopping, we are not only satisfying the business need for a new customer, but keeping the return customer in the long run. We are doing the monumentally important task of maintaining sales for a business while providing an experience that is comfortable, reliable and enjoyable for their customers.

Would you want your customers to feel duped after they made a purchase? I can’t imagine so. In this situation I can’t ascertain whether there was intent for malice or fishing for that extra few dollars, however, from the customer perspective I can definitely say that they have lost my individual contribution of sales and brand loyalty because of this.

In a highly oversaturated market for absolutely everything, these small details will be what deters a buyer from future purchases.

By creating clear designs with good heuristics and interfaces, we can help set every customer up for success when they order from an e-commerce platform. Although it may not have profited the company any more (after all I was charged the ‘same’ amount translated into my own currency) there is a clear issue that extends beyond financial gain and into a crucial UX error that could cost many international customers from this brand.

Do you think standards for currency conversion should be implemented in design?

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