Rethinking the account management experience to better scale for merchants with multiple accounts.
Problem
Merchants today have an average of 7 PayPal accounts to manage.
However, they have to log in and out of each individual account repeatedly to manage all of them.
Some reasons merchants have multiple accounts would be for different brands,
business locations, currencies. etc. But there was no way for merchants to manage all of
their accounts holistically.
Streamline the account management experience for merchants by allowing them to
link their various accounts and have a consolidated view to manage their business holistically.
Data-driven design
I worked with the analytics team to understand the merchants through data points.
This helped me understand the target users and their needs better!
~6
PayPal accounts under the same business entity
~42
seconds to log in and out and back into different PayPal accounts
~20
secondary users per PayPal account
27,000+
SMB/MM merchants in the target segment of users >1 account
Account linking MVP
Due to time constraints, we took an MVP approach and worked on account linking first.
I worked on user flows for the various users involved in the account linking flow.
We focused on providing an experience for merchants to link their multiple PayPal accounts.
Due to the complex architecture of PayPal accounts, the flow included complex steps such as creating
an enterprise, sending an invite, and sharing a code.
The final MVP flow was launched for all users with multiple accounts and users to leverage.
This help page article
highlights the step-by-step guide on how the flow works. The guided video and help page has informed thousands of merchants to date!
Envisioning the future
Even though the account linking MVP was solving a core user problem, I felt there were more opportunities to rethink
account management experience as a whole.
In order to better understand the accounts space, I facilitated a FOG session with my cross-functional team,
which helped identify general themes to address moving forward.
Optimize creation
Simplify linking
Provide flexibile groups
Designing beyond constraints
After the FOG session as well as additional user research sessions, I explored new concepts
to address issues with account management, end-to-end.
In rethinking account creation, I explored the concept of cloning accounts to avoid the repetition
that exists with today's creation experience.
In enhancing the complex linking flow, I explored bulk invites to link accounts. Based on research, we
found that people often own account the account they want to link. So, I explored enabling logging in to
the account they want to link.
Since aggregate management was something merchants needed, I explored making this experience more flexible
through an account switcher. Merchants can now easily toggle between their different accounts with ease.
I went with the sheet, rather than a dropdown, since that scaled better for merchants with upwards of 100 accounts.
Lastly, in order to address the need for account organization, I explored the idea of enabling merchants to
create custom account groups. Since all merchants organize their businesses differently, it was important to
provide the flexibility to create groupings based on their unique needs!
Impact for merchants
Even as an MVP, the account linking flow had a lasting impact for merchants!
25%
reduction in servicing time spent by admins to do tasks
83%
flow completion rate for merchants linking accounts
9,000+
SMB/MM merchants have adopted the linking flow
12,000+
accounts successfully linked as of Q1 2024
Lessons learned
Some lessons learned along the way...
Constraints → MVP
Research can uncover opportunities
Content alleviates complexity
In an ideal world...
I would push for thinking about account management as a whole earlier.
But I understand constraints exist, so just have to be adaptable!
