AI Enhanced Design Process for PayPal Merchant Messages
PayPal brought me in to lead the design of a centralized messaging hub for merchants, a responsive web app that aggregates business correspondence and system notifications in one place. The goal: help merchants easily filter, search, and reference messages across all communication channels, including critical updates from PayPal that could impact their operations.
My Role
Strategy
UX Research
UI/UX Design
Visual Design
Timeline
1.5 Months
From concept to initial user testing in just 20% of the typical timeline, powered by AI-driven design and research tools.
“Without a doubt, working with Ian is a professional experience. Through the various projects I have worked on with him, his team has always gone above and beyond to produce and deliver outstanding creative work. He put emphasis on punctual delivery, while still being flexible to last minute changes. Plus, he’s fun to work with!”
Laura WardThe Opportunity
Merchant feedback revealed a key tension: they were overwhelmed by PayPal’s system-wide notifications, yet frustrated by the fragmented nature of their communication tools. Merchants had to toggle between customer conversations and operational alerts, making it hard to stay informed and take action. PayPal’s solution was to create a dedicated Merchant Messaging Hub, offering a unified view for all relevant communication.
Prototype in 40 minutes using Figma Make. See the prototype
The Process
We took a fast, AI-driven approach, skipping traditional specs in favor of a quick feature discussion. I used Figma Make to prototype a working messaging app in just 40 minutes, which we immediately tested with users. Daily feedback was captured through Dovetail and integrated via n8n.io, creating a rapid feedback loop. This continuous testing cycle allowed us to iterate quickly and design a data-driven product grounded in verified merchant needs.
Research
- User demographics
- Define user goals
- Stakeholder interviews
- Customer interviews
- Prototype
Create
- Visual design
- Prototype
- Iterate
Test
- Usability
- Track usage
- Inform next iteration
AI-Powered Design
AI enabled us to think differently about how to design a product. Rather than waiting weeks or months to get a prototype in front of users, we were able to spin up a prototype in just 40 minutes, which shaped our product in the following ways:
- It confirmed that there was a need for the product
- It verified which features were essential and which weren’t
- It allowed for an ongoing rapid prototyping and testing cycle
AI-Powered Insights
We used AI-powered customer insights tool, Dovetail, to put rich prototypes in front of users, with . We used daily customer input to help guide our our design decisions, ensuring that the product was aligned with customer needs.
The Solution
The final product is a responsive messaging hub that centralizes PayPal and customer communications, making it easy for merchants to search, filter, and manage messages. We focused the MVP on message viewing rather than composition, based on user feedback. A key outcome of our research was the Events View, a calendar-style display that surfaces critical service-impacting updates, helping merchants quickly spot what matters most without digging through threads.
The Results
The messaging hub has been rolled out to a select group of merchants, with broader adoption and business metrics still in progress. From a design process standpoint, the project was a clear success. By leveraging AI tools, we reduced both design and research timelines by 80 percent, delivered a validated MVP in record time, and created a model for rapid, insight-driven product development within PayPal’s ecosystem.