PayPal
Web, Mobile, Point of Sale and Brand Ecosystem Design
My role: Vice President Global Design, Advisor to CMO (Brand)
During my role as Global Chief Designer and VP, my job was to simplify PayPal’s entire design ecosystem and introduce ‘mobile first’ best practices to the company. Working across all of PayPal’s business groups, this effort led to the redesign and rebranding of PayPal, driven by the design charter — design that’s driven by a brand that’s all about trust and people.
Read about how we rebranded PayPal to become a true citizen of both the mobile age and offering face-to-face transactions.
About
With all the exciting innovations that we ushered in with PayPal’s Website redesign, PayPal Home (by FuseProject) and PayPal mobile apps, it was only perfect timing to create a bolder, more progressive expression of PayPal—the original innovator in the digital payments industry, and one that would be more suitable for the mobile world.
Working closely with Yves Behar and Fuse Project, we designed an identity to better express PayPal’s innovative DNA and future as the leader in digital payments. The result is a system with a bolder wordmark, stronger monogram, more vibrant colors, and a dynamic angle graphic that increases user perceptions of trust and innovation.
Since 1998, PayPal has become the innovator and the leader in digital payments. But over time, it started to resemble the establishment it once challenged. We conducted a comprehensive visual audit to find opportunities for improvement and jumped at the chance to design a new identity that would solve the brand’s key challenges. Our recommendations became our success criteria: better functionality for small screens (mobile); more impact and distinction in look and feel, and more extendable and flexible elements to support the logo. The new identity strengthens PayPal’s equities and prepares it to continue leading the industry. Research has revealed increased user perceptions of trust, youthfulness, innovation, and energy.
Logo Requirements
As a payment method currently primarily used on mobile devices, websites, and storefronts, PayPal needed a logo that was recognizable and easy to spot.
Identity Timeline
Before
The logo is set in a bold outline. Circa 2007.
Interim
After an internal makeover, the logo is frienhdlier and more legible, not yet ready for mobile devices. Circa 2010.
After
Two filled in Ps stacked on top of each other, is entirely geared for mobile and social media.
Logo Design
We used the Futura typeface but a modified version. There are softer edges that make the wordmark appear unique and send out the message that PayPal is now transformed to take care of today’s payment needs of people.
PayPal ‘Here’
When PayPal decided add to face-to-face transactions with the same ease and comfort of their online platform to the real world, we needed to come up with a plan.
We named it PayPal “Here” to highlight its physical presence and anywhere-anytime possibilities. We partnered with Fuseproject ID design team to work on the expression of this new experience through all interaction points, from naming to packaging, sound and device, web, and communication. The Here logo, iconography, packaging, and device follow an arrow-like form that references the physical world where payments happen one-on-one and also the virtual cloud world that enables these new forms of payments. The arrow is an ancient symbol that shows something being done in the here and now, and it became the inspiration for the shape of the product, logo, web, graphics, naming, and sound application design. In the PayPal Here experience, the arrow also represents easy payment. It expresses how each swipe sends your transaction onward to the cloud.
Experience Principles
Visualize Security
Reassure merchant (and the customer) with visual cues that a secure transaction is raking place.
Optimize Handling
Minimize user error during the card swipe.
Create a new Icon
Capitalize on the opportunity as one of PayPal’s first physical products to create an iconic flag that symbolizes a different approach from our competitors
PayPal Website
(Before and After)
View a comprehensive case study of the landingpage redesign here
Before
The old Summary page was full of links, marketing ads, and too many things competing for the customer's attention. The redesigned Summary page focused on putting Activity, balance and linked accounts in the forefront.
After
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Recognition and awards
My PayPal Here app was on the Apple Store shelves in the U.K., Japan, and the U.S.A as early as 2012. During my time at PayPal, my hires and team have been personally responsible for 28 more patent pending designs. The Javelin Strategy & Research firm said, “PayPal is the mobile wallet that users are most likely to use, with 34% of all respondents noting that they are very likely or likely to use PayPal wallet, “beating Visa’s V.me and Square. They declared PayPal’s Wallet is “best in class.” PayPal introduced the newly redesigned PayPal Consumer App that ushers in the first global digital wallet. We delivered lovingly crafted iPhone and Android apps simultaneously. Apple features the app prominently in the Financial Section. Business Insider named my PayPal app one of the “10 Apps That Made My Life Better”.
In May, Apple named my PayPal app a “Great Free App”! Coinstar kiosks just got a major upgrade — the machines now allow customers to withdraw money from their PayPal accounts and send money to other PayPal users. Additionally, Coinstar can now add cash and coins directly to PayPal, meaning there’s no need to involve credit cards or bank accounts as you ditch your physical currency. “5 million new active accounts in Q4 2012 — the most we have achieved in any quarter over the last 8 years! “Many as a result of our mobile efforts. The stock is closing in on an all-time high.