Snap Merchant Portal 3.0 - Inclusive User Experience Design

Merchant Portal 3.0 is Snap Finance's upgraded platform, built with Inclusive Product Design principles to ensure ease of use for all merchants, regardless of technical expertise. The platform's intuitive, user-friendly interface allows merchants to self-serve and manage customer applications without the need for specialized training. With enhanced functionality, robust security, and real-time insights, Merchant Portal 3.0 empowers businesses to streamline their financing processes, improve productivity, and reduce operational costs. Its advanced reporting tools and increased accessibility make it an essential tool for merchants to efficiently manage financing, while offering a seamless customer experience.

Here are the key tasks and the outcomes achieved in the process:

Pioneered User Research: Led extensive user research, including interviews, surveys, and usability tests, to deeply understand merchant needs. This research was the foundation for the redesign, directly addressing pain points and optimizing the user journey.

Executed Detailed Task Analysis: Conducted thorough task analysis to identify inefficiencies in how merchants completed essential tasks. My insights led to streamlined processes, reducing friction and enhancing workflow efficiency.

Revolutionized Information Architecture: Architected a new, intuitive structure for the portal, ensuring that content and features were logically organized. This design improved user navigation and accessibility, significantly boosting Application Management and Edge Program functionalities.

Optimized Mental Models: Simplified the user interface by developing a new mental model, which reduced cognitive load and cut task completion times from 10 minutes to just 30 seconds. This change drastically improved the user experience.

Integrated Accessibility Features: Designed the portal to be inclusive, incorporating features that support users with visual, cognitive, motor, and cultural differences. My focus on accessibility broadened the user base and promoted diversity in the workforce.

Collaborated with Engineering for Seamless Implementation: Worked closely with engineering teams to ensure the accurate implementation of the new design. I established a structured design handoff process, ensuring high-quality translation of design into the final product.

Enhanced Security: Led the integration of Auth0 for multi-factor authentication, strengthening the portal’s security without compromising user experience. This approach protected personal identification information and bolstered customer trust.