Redesigned the Merchant Loan Journey for 37 million users
BUSINESS IMPACT
26%
growth in number of loans disbursed through platform
15%
growth in value of yearly loans disbursed, worth $156 million
72%
increase in loan process completion
4%
increase in support cases
MY ROLE
Design: Conceptual product development, UX concepts, Visual Design, Prototyping
Research: Co-designed research plan; conducted interviews and synthesized research
TEAM
1 Product designer (me), 1 Product Manager & 2 Engineers
TIMELINE
Jan - March 2022 (10 weeks)
OVERVIEW OF THE SOLUTION
Lets users borrow any amount of their pre-approved loan or check eligibility for a higher amount.
Lets users set a higher loan target with a slider & instantly see the auto-calculated monthly amount they need to receive for eligibility.
Helps users track progress at a glance and get actionable tips to improve eligibility.
Lets users adjust their targets anytime.
STUDY OVERVIEW
Context
Paytm is India’s largest fintech platform, generating over $1.2B in annual revenue and brought the revolution of how the country pays digitally. I worked on the B2B arm, Paytm for Business (P4B), which supports over 37M merchants (target users) from large enterprises to small shop owners, many of whom are not tech-savvy or highly educated. The platform helps users manage payments, track sales, and grow their business online.
And, it does a lot more...
In this project, we redesigned the Merchant’s Business Loan journey on the Paytm for Business app - a feature that helps merchants qualify for loans based on their Gross Merchandise Value (GMV). What was once a confusing and low-engagement flow for merchants became a flexible, engaging, goal-oriented for them. It was internally referred to as “Merchant Loan Gamification.”
The new design introduced two features:
Earlier
Now
No Loan Flexibility
Merchants could only borrow the maximum approved amount.
Loan Flexibility
Choose any amount up to the limit — save interest, borrow only what’s needed.
Earlier
Now
No Eligibility Gamification
No way to save or track higher loan targets.
Eligibility Gamification
merchants can set and track progress toward higher loans with clear milestones.
GMV refers to the total value of payments processed through the platform for merchants.
WHY REDESIGNING
Problem Statement
How might we give users flexibility in how much they borrow today, while motivating them to understand, track, and confidently achieve higher loan eligibility?
What Wasn’t Working
The previous merchant loan flow relied on a single landing page for the entire journey, which led to confusion and drop-offs.
Impact of these issues on Business
The unclear, single-screen flow didn’t just frustrate merchants, it significantly hurt business outcomes.
🔄 Only 4% loan conversion rate
from loan page visits to applying for loans
💰 Over 41% mid journey drop-off rate
as users abandoned at the target-setting step due to no save option.
⬇️ Underutilized loan program
with 34% merchants preferring external loans due to lack of flexibility in changing pre-approved amounts.
📉 33% decline in repeat engagement
as the loan feature failed to retain merchant interest over time.
DISCOVER
Key Takeaway from Primary Qualitative Research
To understand why merchant were dropping-off, we partnered with our field research vendors and conducted 100+ in depth interviews with merchants across India.
“I’m not very familiar with digital apps, so the loan process feels confusing.”
“I don’t know what steps I need to take or how far along I am in the process.”
“I can’t tell the difference between my pre-approved loan and how I can qualify for a higher one.”
Over 60% of merchants from Tier II & III cities had either higher or lower loan requirements, causing dissatisfaction in the loan process.
DEFINE
Experience review with participants allowed us to streamline our focus areas.
Design Goals
Simplicity & Clarity
Break the loan journey into clear steps so merchants easily understand how loans work.
Engagement
Encourage merchants to come back by making targets interactive and saving progress.
Trust & Transparency
show progress towards targets and explain why it matter.
Stakeholder Goals
Increase Loan Disbursements
Boost total monthly loan disbursements by 5%.
Boost Repeat Usage
Improve repeat usage rate by 2.5%.
Operational Implications
Manage Support Load
Anticipated 10% higher support load from new flows, and can be mitigated with additional support staff.
USER FLOW JOURNEY
From Goals to Flow
With design goals and stakeholder needs defined, I streamlined the journey into a user flow showing the two branches (borrow now vs. qualify for more) that became the blueprint for the final solution.
SOLUTION
Final Design Journey
Our redesign splits the merchant loan journey into two clear, goal‑driven paths.
Flow I: Loan Flexibility
Problem: Merchants could only borrow the maximum approved amount.
Solution: Introduced a slider and input field so merchants could customise their loan amount.
Impact: This boosted flexibility, reduced drop-offs, and drove higher loan conversions and disbursals.
Flow II: Eligibility Gamification
Problem: Merchants didn’t know how to qualify for higher loans.
Solution: Added gamified goal-setting and progress tracking.
Impact: This improved transparency and trust, increased engagement, and the number of repeat visits.
Key Use Cases & their Measurable Impact
Beyond the main design flows, I also addressed critical edge cases to ensure a seamless user journey. These use cases highlight how design thinking solved real user pain points while driving trust, engagement, and conversions.
Target Achieved + 15
days evaluation period
Problem: Users felt uncertain after hitting loan targets.
Solution: Introduced a 15 day evaluation buffer with clear status messaging
Impact: This reduced anxiety, built transparency, and encouraged users to stay engaged.
Target Achieved + Loan Qualified
Problem: Post-waiting period, users lacked clarity on approval status.
Solution: Added a celebratory approval screen with clear next steps (apply immediately or set a new target).
Impact: This reinforced progress, motivated users, and reduced drop-offs.
Highest Loan Achieved (Final Milestone)
Problem: No acknowledgement when users hit maximum loan cap.
Solution: Designed a success state with celebratory feedback.
Impact: This delivered closure, boosted confidence, and improved satisfaction.
REFLECTION
Working on this project taught me that designing for financial products goes beyond creating smooth interfaces — it’s about building trust in moments of uncertainty.
Key Challenges I faced:
✅ Balancing business goals (loan disbursals) with user needs (clarity + flexibility).
✅ Designing for edge cases without disrupting the core user flow, and keeping it simple and seamless.
✅ Maintaining transparency in a high-trust product like loans to reduce uncertainty and build user confidence.
Lessons I learned:
✅ Small design details (progress states, clear messaging, celebratory screens) can directly strengthen user trust and engagement.
✅ In fintech, design goes beyond usability, it’s about building confidence in every interaction.
✅ Close collaboration with developers is key to balancing user needs with technical feasibility and delivering realistic, high-impact solutions.
Further Product Improvements:
✅ User Assessment Testing: After finalizing the core flow, user assessment testing was conducted to validate usability across different merchant types.
✅ Multi-Language Support: Based on the feedback, the journey was further enhanced with multi-language support on landing page, making the loan journey more accessible and inclusive for our diverse user base across India.
