Paypal

Enhancing PayPal’s user trust through transparent transfers and AI-driven guidance.

My Role

Research

Interviews

Wireframe

Design System

Prototype

Usability Test

Team

2 Product Designers

Tools

Figjam & Figma

Gemini 2.5

Chat GPT 5

Google Sheets

Procreate

Duration

Jun - July 2025

(7 Weeks)

Overview

AS-IS

Problem

Home (US version)

Complex navigation

Lack of Multi-Currency Balance Visibility

Review (transfer flow)

lack of double confirmation

No visibility of the recipient’s final received amount

Offer (US Version)

Hard to find desired items eligible for cashback

Unpersonalized listings

How might we make remittances simpler and more transparent while improving navigation and trust?

TO-BE

Solution

Home

AI Chatbot Search

Added to the global menu to simplify navigation, improve accessibility, and clearly display multiple currencies.

Review (transfer flow)

Clear Transfer Verification

Clear information verification by displaying sent and received amounts, with a double confirmation step to reduce transfer errors.

Offer

Clear Personalized Offers

Refined offer visuals to clearly highlight personalized benefits, while keeping the home screen focused on core financial services.

Design Process

Discover

Where Are PayPal Users Losing Trust?

Secondary Research

Analyzing the Causes of PayPal’s Decline in Usage

To understand the decline in PayPal usage, we conducted AI-driven market and trend research, competitive analysis, app store review analysis, and a review of PayPal Investor Day 2025 materials. We identified 92 issue cards and organized them into key categories using affinity mapping.

Market & Competitor analysis (table)

content analysis (reddit, play store, app store)

Competitor analysis (app screen)

Team affinity mapping session

Key Insights from Secondary Research

Money transfers are a core function with critical friction

PayPal users still heavily rely on it for money transfers, yet experience many pain points in the process.

Underdeveloped features that undermine trust

PayPal is expanding in-app shopping as a super app, but poorly executed features like Offers are eroding user trust.

1:1 IN-Depth User Interviews

Identifying Key Pain Points in Transfers and Advanced Features

Building on the complexity and usability issues identified in secondary research, we conducted 1:1 think-aloud interviews to observe user thinking and navigation during money transfers, and synthesized insights through thematic analysis.

[Participate]

10 PayPal users participated : US (3), UK (2), Singapore (2), South Korea (2), Canada (1)

Interview screenshots with participants 1, 3, 6, and 8

Color-coded interview script

Thematic analysis

Key Insights from 1:1 In-Depth User Interviews

Unclear Fees and Final Received Amount

Senders can’t clearly see the final amount received, and missing fee details & confirmation steps create anxiety.

Confusing Navigation to International Transfers

Navigation to international transfers is duplicated across multiple menus, making the feature hard to find and navigate.

Information Architecture

Analyzing Issues in PayPal’s Current Menu Structure

To address navigation issues from interviews, where multiple international transfer menus led to the same screen, we analyzed the IA of the U.S. and U.K. PayPal apps and the global web, and consolidated redundant transfer menus.

IA analysis of the existing PayPal app

IA analysis of the existing PayPal website

Define

Defining the Core Problems in PayPal’s Navigation and Transfer Experience

User Persona

Defining the Target User to Address Core Issues

We synthesized research insights into a persona, Amy Park, representing core needs around improving PayPal’s international transfers and navigation.

“One small mistake in international transfers can create major problems. I want a payment method that’s safe, clear, and modern!”

Name : Amy Park

Bio : 42, Korean-American living in the UK

Occupation : Global company freelance marketer

Family : husband, 8 year old daughter, pet dog

Amy Park manages multiple currencies through PayPal but often encounters issues like duplicate transfers, unclear amounts, and low visibility on mobile. She wants a simpler and more predictable global payment flow.

GOALS

· Wants reliable multi-currency income management.

· Wants safe, error-free international payments.

· Wants fast access to payment and transfer history.

FRUSTRATIONS

· Hard to manage multiple currencies in the app.

· Weak confirmation steps lead to duplicate or incorrect transfers.

· Unclear fees cause unexpected received amounts.

Problem statement · HMW

Reframing the Problem into a Design Question

PayPal users struggle to confidently manage remittances due to unclear fees and recipient information, along with unintuitive navigation, leading to anxiety and reduced trust.

How might we make remittances simpler and more transparent while improving navigation and trust?

Prioritizing Key Opportunities

Prioritizing Key Issues with a Desirability–Feasibility Matrix

Since we couldn’t address everything at once, we used an Effort–Impact matrix to prioritize high-impact improvements and focus on three key priorities.

Effort–Impact 2×2 matrix

3 Key priorities for immediate improvement

Develop

Developing Clearer Information for Home and Transfer Flows

Task Flow

Visualizing Flows to Improve PayPal and International Bank Transfers

To create a more intuitive and reliable remittance flow, we identified key pain points in domestic and international transfers by visualizing two main flows: PayPal-to-PayPal and global bank transfers.

Task flow 1 (UK → US PayPal account transfer)

Task flow 2 (UK → Korean bank account transfer)

Sketch

Sketches to reduce information overload and clarify the remittance flow.

Sketching the home and transfer flows revealed information overload from showing balances, country labels, crypto, and rewards together. Using Crazy 8s, I explored alternatives and redesigned the top area as swipeable balance cards.

Sketches for the Home and Transfer flows

Crazy 8's

Rapid Idea Generation Using Crazy 8s to Optimize Information Hierarchy

When ideas stalled, we used Crazy 8s to generate alternatives, defined essential information for the transfer review screen, prioritized its hierarchy, and refined the concept through sticker voting and team feedback.

Crazy 8's session

Post–Crazy 8's feedback

Wireframe

Wireframing the Transfer Flow for Fee & Receiving Clarity

In the existing flow, users often missed the receiving method. Through wireframes, we redesigned the flow to prioritize receiving method selection, surface fees upfront, and replace the bottom sheet with a clear full-screen step-by-step structure.

New wireframes (orange) vs. original screens (blue)

DeLiver

Validating Flow, Navigation, and Design System Improvements

Design system

Building a Token-Based Design System

To enhance clarity while keeping PayPal’s identity, I built a token-based design system. Colors were redefined by function, font sizes increased for readability, and components, Auto Layout, Variants, and Variables were used to create a consistent, scalable system.

Color system

Typography, Component

Accessibility (WCAG)

Checking Button Color & Text Contrast for Accessibility

While building design-system components, we resolved contrast issues in the home multi-currency balance card’s buttons by refining the Primary 600/500 hierarchy and adding a 1px white border to meet WCAG standards.

Adjusting contrast ratios to improve accessibility

Prototype

Completing Prototypes for Usability Testing

After refining PayPal’s design system, we built prototypes to test a new transfer flow, AI-driven home navigation, and the Offer page.

Prototype session

Usability test

Usability Test and SUS Results Based on 5 Task Scenarios to Validate the Redesign

To validate a clearer and more reliable PayPal transfer flow, we tested 5 task scenarios with six users based on the core persona, Amy Park. The average SUS score was 86.7 (Excellent), while slightly lower LOKS scores revealed minor issues around the AI search entry point and understanding of some transfer steps.

[Participate]

6 PayPal users from around the world

[Session Length]

40 - 60 minutes per participant

[Task]

Home

Explore the home, navigate the full menu, and check multi-currency and crypto balances.

AI Chat-bot Global Search

Use the AI Chatbot to search for and save the Bose noise-canceling headset.

Money Transfer (UK → US PayPal)

Send £77.27($100) from the UK to American friend ‘Sophia’ via PayPal account transfer.

Money Transfer (UK → Korean bank)

Sending £100(₩180,641) from the UK to a non-PayPal user’s Toss Bank account in Korea.

Offer

Browse Offer items, then save your favorite stores and products.

[Post-Task Questionnaire]

· Does the app give you a sense of being a reliable financial platform?

· Did this screen feel engaging or a bit overwhelming?

· Is it clear how much the recipient will receive?

· What kinds of services did you expect under this menu option?

· Was the AI assistant visible and easy to access?

Task completion for 6 user (2025-07-30)

SUS result for 6 user

Iteration

Design Screens Iterated Based on Prioritized Usability Testing Insights

Using usability insights, we prioritized high-impact, low-effort improvements with a 2×2 matrix and iterated on the design, improving transfer trust, navigation speed, and task success. Before-and-after screens are shown below.

Balance Card

Users wanted an overview of total funds, so we added a compact top balance card to clarify hierarchy and improve space efficiency.

Crypto Portfolio Preview

To provide clearer asset visibility, the crypto card was expanded to show total value and market changes at a glance.

Xoom Transfer Flow

Guidance and clearer copy were added to make the unfamiliar Xoom transfer flow more intuitive for international users.

Recipient Information Flow

A brief explanation and review step were added to reduce confusion and help users confirm recipient details.

Screens updated through post-usability-test iteration

Final Prototype

Final Validated Product Improvements Across Home, Transfer, AI Search, and Offer

AS-IS Home

Home

The PayPal UK app update released near the end of our redesign adopted an Offers-focused structure, validating that our design direction aligned with real market trends.

AS-IS Review

Money Transfer

We improved multi-currency international transfers by adding a transaction review page, double-confirmation popup, and post-transfer details to enhance transparency and security.

AS-IS Assistant

AI Chat-bot

We replaced the four-step Help flow with a global search bar and the PayPal AI Agent, significantly improving accessibility and response speed.

AS-IS Offer

Offer

We reorganized the previously scattered Offer cards with engaging thumbnails, clear hierarchy, and stronger personalization, improving readability and visual focus.

Reflection

User-Centered, Research-Driven Design

The project highlighted that grounding design decisions in real user behavior and research results in deeper insights and more meaningful outcomes, reinforcing a user-first approach.

Balancing Vision and Feasibility

Through collaboration, I focused on how to balance ideal UX with technical constraints, translating creative ideas into practical and feasible designs that can realistically be built and scaled.