Thanks to Donald Trump: a lesson in awareness of regional differences and the requirements of localization in user experience design.

United States Treasury Economic Impact Payment. Image: Ultan O’Broin

My U.S. economic stimulus check (cheque) made its way in Ireland. I tried to cash it in the local shops; fairly low expectations about success, admittedly. I thought the staff might blink at (then) President Donald J. Trump’s name on it, at least.

Instead, without exception, the response was “Jaysis, haven’t see one of those for years!” or “What is this?” The shop folks were referring to the cheque itself. An antique. Who in Europe uses these things anymore?

Fintech

I, myself, have not seen a cheque drawn on an Irish bank or used for a transaction in years. Official revenue services use electronic transfers. Digital money apps such as Revolut and N26 are the happening financial UX solutions here, especially with those younger than me.

Revolut. An “electronic money institution”. Image: Ultan O’Broin

Apple Pay and Google Pay are encountered more too, with integrations offered as part of mobile device and app onboarding. Even the ‘established’ old school banks are getting in on the online act.

Checking account in U.S. banking mobile app. Source: US Bank

However, the use of checks in personal and business banking in the U.S. is commonplace. Bouncing a check is a big no-no. Mobile apps use checks as icons. UI labels and conversational UX scripts refer to the banking parlance of checking accounts. Smartphones harness device OCR and cameras for physical check-related actions.

Camera imaging for check deposit. Source: US Bank

Before you withdraw . . .

There’s a lesson there: If you’re localizing a U.S. (or other) source app or web UI for another region, check (ha!) that iconography, language, terminology (and other locale specifics, Financial processes and regulations) make local sense for a smooth user experience.

(The equivalent of “Checking Account” in Ireland, for example, is “Current Account.”)

Take account of those user requirements!

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