← workcase № 01 · 2024
Mercado Pago — a calmer
checkout.
role
Lead Product Designer
team
3 designers · 7 eng · 1 PM
platforms
iOS · Android · Web
timeline
8 months · 2023–2024
HERO SHOT · 3-UP DEVICE COMPOSITION
01 · context
Mercado Pago processes 1 in 3 digital payments in Latin America. The checkout had grown by accretion — seven flows, four teams, eleven A/B winners stitched together. Drop-off at the final step had crept past 22%.
02 · problem
Three things were true at the same time.
i.
Cognitive load
Average screen showed 14 distinct actions. The user had to triage before they could decide.
ii.
Trust gaps
Pricing, fees and timing were revealed late. The final screen surprised people.
iii.
Brand drift
Each platform looked different. Reading the same product across web and iOS felt like two products.
03 · approach
Remove three things for every one we add.
WIREFRAMES · 24 STATES
USER FLOWS · BEFORE / AFTER
01
Audit
Mapped every screen, every variant, every A/B legacy. 144 unique states.
02
Co-design
Workshops with risk, legal, growth. Every "we have to show it" became "where does it belong?"
03
Prototype
High-fidelity, working prototypes in 6 weeks. Tested with 38 users across MX, AR, BR.
04
Ship
Rolled to 5% → 50% → 100% over 14 weeks. Held the line on metrics at every step.
"What if the calmest checkout in Latin America was just one screen?"
— design principle № 1
04 · solution
01 · COLLAPSED SUMMARY
02 · DETAIL EXPANDED
03 · FULL FUNNEL — 4 STATES
iOS
ANDROID
WEB
05 · results
Numbers, the boring ones that pay the rent.
+18%
Conversion at final step
sustained at 100% rollout, n=6.2M / mo
−42%
Time to complete checkout
median, all platforms
−66%
Support tickets · "where is X"
first 90 days post-launch
4.7★
In-flow satisfaction score
previously 3.9
06 · what i learned
- 01Restraint is a political act. You have to defend the empty space against eleven stakeholders.
- 02Design systems are not the answer. They are the floor. Above the floor is taste.
- 03The metric that mattered was not conversion. It was the user not having to think.