PayPal - Privacy Center Redesign

PayPal wanted to strengthen trust in the Privacy Center.

Goal: Redesign PayPal’s Privacy Center to build user trust before a global rollout to 300M+ users.

Outcome: 10% increase in internal trust scores by conducting foundational research that shaped design changes

The team planned to measure success - I proposed we understand users first:

When I joined, the team had already redesigned the Privacy Center based on internal assumptions, planning to validate success only through post-launch trust score surveys.


Given the extended timeline for making changes to our Privacy Policy (over 1 year), I recommended a more comprehensive research approach, so that we gained a deep understanding of user needs before measuring outcomes.


Research questions I proposed:

  • What builds or undermines trust in a privacy experience?

  • Where do users struggle?

  • How well do users understand what’s presented?

This shift led to a mixed-method research plan focused on understanding user behavior, rather than measuring sentiment.

I proposed a two-phase, mixed-method approach:

  • Phase 1 – Qual Interviews (12 participants)
    To uncover trust drivers, confusion points, and design reactions

  • Phase 2 – Quant Survey
    To validate findings at scale and assess shifts in trust metrics


Trust is influenced by subtle factors (language, layout, transparency) — interviews gave us the “why” behind user sentiment that surveys alone would miss.

First, I had to align the team on why we needed qualitative research.

Some stakeholders preferred surveys or A/B tests for their perceived objectivity and scale. I made the case for starting with interviews because:


  • Surveys and A/B tests show what’s happening, but not why. Interviews surface the reasons behind user behavior and trust issues.

  • Trust is subjective. Language and design choices influence it in ways that are difficult to quantify without first understanding them qualitatively.

  • Early insights reduce risk and cost. We avoid validating a live solution that might not align with user needs.

Then, I led 12 interviews to uncover what drives or breaks trust.

  • Participants: 12 PayPal users with varying privacy attitudes

  • Format: Natural exploration + task scenarios + think-aloud feedback

To keep momentum:

  • Held daily mini share-outs with design + PM to build confidence in qualitative interviews and keep stakeholders engaged

    • Stakeholders who observed the interviews live captured insights live in Miro using a color-coded note-taking system to differentiate user quotes, behaviors, pain points.

    • In these mini-shareouts, I led discussions around around:

      • What surprised us?

      • What confirmed our hypotheses?

      • What new questions emerged?

      • What are the immediate design implications and opportunities?

We found gaps between what users expected and what they saw:

Unclear data protection messaging eroded trust


Protection of personal and financial information is important for PayPal customers. Users wanted clear confirmation their financial info wasn’t sold or shared.


Change: Added explicit statements like “We never share your full financial information” near sensitive points.

Example of highlighting the protection of financial information

Vague terms like "data" reduced trust


Users were unsure if “data” included personal info, financial info, or both. They wanted more specific definitions of what information is collected, how it is used, and who has access to it.


Change: Defined personal vs. financial data clearly using concise language and real-world examples.

Clear and upfront definitions of common terms

High clarity examples of what data is shared, when you use PayPal

Hidden privacy controls felt deceptive


Users perceived privacy settings as concealed, undermining trust.


Change: Redesigned navigation to make privacy controls more visible and accessible, adding a new section called “How you can manage your privacy settings.”


New section: 'How you can manage your privacy settings'

Lastly, I validated insights at scale and our changes increased trust by 10%.

I designed the survey in partnership with a senior quantitative UXR, leveraging PayPal’s internal benchmarking framework to ensure the trust metrics were consistent and comparable to prior measurements.


The survey validated qualitative insights across a larger user base, measuring trust-related metrics including comfort with data sharing and perceived company transparency.

Survey results showed:

  • A 10% increase in internal trust metrics.

  • More frequent recognition of trust-building content and fewer negative perceptions compared to the old Privacy Center.

My takeaways:

  • Ask better questions, not just measure outcomes
    Understanding why users trust (or don’t) led to impactful design changes that wouldn’t have surfaced from surveys alone.


  • Involve stakeholders early and often
    Daily sessions helped translate insights into real design decisions and kept stakeholders engaged, resulting in my insights being used to guide the redesign.


  • Connect trust to business outcomes (next time)
    Though improving trust scores was what mattered to our leaders, the strength of our impact would be stronger if I linked trust more strongly to behavior: customer support calls, product adoption, or retention.