PROJECTS
Worldpay
Client:
Worldpay
Date:
Aug 13, 2018
Location:
Global - Austin, TX — Atlanta, GA
Service:
User Experience, Portal Design, Testing, and Iteration
Project Overview
Worldpay needed a scalable, rebrandable platform to unify payment portals after multiple mergers.
Worldpay was preparing for a merger by standing up a robust product team and modernizing its payments platform to align with a broader rebrand. The design work added value across two eventual mergers totaling $45B, driven by market consolidation in financial technology.
Led UX and product strategy for a scalable payments platform, built to adapt across brands and accelerate enterprise rebrands during banking consolidation.
Scaling a financial credit institution through product and UX leadership. Led product and UX teams in Austin to redesign a payments platform with microservices and rebrandable UX, positioning Worldpay for a $45B acquisition by FIS. Our challenge was to define a visual narrative that elevated the brand’s voice, energized its presence in the payments market, and could adapt across portal, mobile, and enterprise product experiences.
Objective
Deliver a modular, enterprise-wide UX system that accelerated post-merger product integration.
Worldpay was trapped in old banking mindsets that prevented growth. Given the consolidation happening across credit and payments, a major digital design refresh was needed to align the product with updated marketing and branding. The technology was aging, migration to microservices was underway, and those teams were just ramping up. Enter design innovation.
Scope of Work
UX direction, system design, and leadership of remote Austin and Atlanta teams over 18 months.
Reported to the Atlanta VP of Product, VP of Innovation and Design, and VP of UX
Led a group of four UX designers across newly formed teams using microservices to dramatically improve and modernize legacy payments technology
Hired to apply new branding to Worldpay’s Payment Portal and Mobile Applications
Initiated a user testing program for teams in Atlanta and Austin
Managed all aspects of Austin team interfacing with Atlanta
Worked as part of a rapid Lean Agile, three-legged structure, sitting physically back-to-back
Led cross-functional teams and mapped the creative vision to front-end and back-end development
Global team cooperation and leadership
The story and climate in the banking and credit card world had been defined by consolidation. The notes, early UX explorations, and mobile and web design tests shown here became the groundwork for a platform built to compete in that environment—research and iteration aimed at making the product itself a reason to stay, not just a system to migrate away from. It worked well enough that Vantiv acquired the company for its customers and technology, validating that the foundation we built had real, acquirable value.
The Vantiv acquisition—captured here alongside the news coverage that marked the moment—was the first of three ownership changes the platform would weather. As Worldpay moved from Vantiv to FIS and ultimately back under the Worldpay name, the branded experience and updated technology stack we built remained the connective tissue, giving each transition a sense of continuity rather than disruption. The work was not tied to any single corporate identity; it was strong enough to carry forward through every restructuring, proving its value outlasted any one ownership chapter.
“Patrick’s UX leadership modernized our payments platform and created a scalable foundation that positioned us for a merger with Vantiv and the fast-growing payments and credit market—ultimately valuing Worldpay at $45B.”
Outcome
Worldpay, a global banking giant, had a growing brand but a dated customer portal. It acquired an Austin payments development company that was reengineering its system around microservices, and it needed a modern, well-designed dashboard that could serve different roles without sacrificing clarity. For customers, the portal needed to feel less intimidating, less technical, fast, visual, and flexible.
Results
Rebrandable portal UX that supported post-merger transitions
5x engagement with modern reporting tools; +50% increase in time spent on dashboard
Aligned to the marketing brand and enabled faster role-based onboarding
Supported a $10B merger with Vantiv and a $24B merger that further enabled trillion-dollar transaction volume
Takeaway
Congruent design across touchpoints positions organizations for massive success by ensuring the brand is packaged to play.
40%
Faster Navigation Across Core Payment Workflows
Thanks to modernized IA and streamlined product architecture.
6 Weeks
Rebrand-Ready
The modular design system enabled rapid re-skinning for the acquiring bank.
55%
Reduction in UI Inconsistencies Across Modules
Design ops + component library standardization.
$45B
Platform Sold in Acquisition
Your UX foundation and product modernization contributed to the readiness and valuation.
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