Mercado Pago
Creating a smart payment solution for small businesses
Launching and iteration of a payment terminal that rapidly gained adoption in the small business segment
DURATION
ROLE
Product designer to Lead designer
UX TEAM
TEAM
Context
Mercado Pago provides payment terminals for small merchants in Latin America, specifically targeting the long-tail segment. In 2020, the company was set to launch a new smart device with a touchscreen, an Android-based operating system, and an integrated printer.
Project goals
Launch a new payment terminal targeting small businesses (SMBs), offering a more complete solution by leveraging Mercado Pago’s ecosystem capabilities. The initial launch was set for Brazil.
UX goals
Create a custom app for the device to enable payment processing and additional functionalities. To achieve this, conduct in-depth research into the user segment to understand their needs.
Discovery
Research
Supported by the User Research team and business analysts, we conducted market research on SMBs in Brazil.
Our approach combined market analytics (benchmarking, statistics) with UX discovery methods (benchmarking, observation of day-to-day operations, user personas).
INSIGHTS
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The segment is underserved in terms of payment solutions:
The current landscape primarily targets corporate clients or informal sellers.
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Customer service is a major pain point:
SMBs typically have more urgent needs than individual customers.
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There is a need for customization based on different business lines.
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55% of SMBs don’t use bookkeeping software, and 43% handle it manually.
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89% of businesses have 9 or less employees.
Strategy
Based on these insights, we aligned on the main value propositions for the product:
KEY TAKEAWAYS / VALUE PROPS:
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Seamless payment experience.
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Managing options directly within the device.
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Exclusive support channel.
Design
Architecture
Using the device’s physical buttons, we defined two sections in the navigation: Start a Payment and Managing Options.
Due to time constraints, the exploratory design phase was shortened, and we had to incorporate some components from a pre-existing library.
Managing options
MVP
Start a payment
Start a payment
Users could initiate a payment by typing an amount, selecting from a product catalog, or combining both.
The catalog existed in the web version of Mercado Pago as an inventory system. I collaborated with another designer to adapt this functionality for a touch-based device. I also worked closely with the development team to optimize the design and reduce loading times within the payment flow.
First launch
A pilot was launched with a select group of sellers to test the device in their stores. I conducted interviews with some users during the pilot. The feedback was largely positive, and more than 500,000 units were sold in the first six months.
Iteration
To support the introduction of new functionalities, we redesigned the Managing Options section. This process took about six months, during which we aligned with stakeholders on the roadmap for the following year.
I conducted workshops with stakeholders and organized discovery sessions with other teams in the company to leverage ecosystem capabilities for our product.
NEW FUNCTIONALITIES
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Services
Merchants can now offer customer phone top-ups, transport card top-ups, and bill payments.
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Managing options
New fees and installment settings, new sales report features, and improved usability for existing options.
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Third party apps
Support for external apps tailored to specific business needs, such as table and order management for restaurants.
To accommodate the growing scope of features, I split the secondary sections into three tabs:
Services
Managing options
Apps
I used qualitative feedback from user interviews and quantitative data to prioritize the options on the page based on adoption and frequency of use.
Managing options
Latest activity
View or print sales report
Log out
Business settings
Device settings
Impact
3 countries
Launched in 3 countries during the first year.
500k units
sold in the first six months, becoming one of the top-selling devices in Argentina.
+94% TPV
94% TPV growth in the first year.
+2%
2% market share growth for Mercado Pago in the POS terminal market in Brazil.