Clarity in Proposal

MRV

At MRV, the purchase proposal is one of the most critical steps in the customer journey — a moment when values are presented and negotiation begins. Despite its importance, it was also one of the most misunderstood screens by both customers and sales agents. The interface created frequent confusion, reduced trust, and even generated legal risks. Agents often avoided showing the screen to clients due to the difficulty in explaining the financial values or the fear of harming a deal. In some cases, misunderstandings escalated to the legal department, resulting in contractual disputes. “Evito mostrar essa tela para o cliente, porque ele faz perguntas que nem eu sei responder.” This initial diagnosis raised a clear hypothesis: the proposal stage lacked transparency and clarity, limiting user autonomy and trust.

Client:

MRV

Role:

Product Designer

Year:

2023

Research & Insights

To validate this hypothesis and better understand the user experience, I led a qualitative and quantitative research initiative. It included five-second testing, structured usability sessions, and surveys with customers and internal stakeholders. The goal was to identify the key blockers in how people interpreted financial terms, CTAs, and displayed values. The results were conclusive. Out of six participants in the five-second test, none correctly described the purpose of the proposal screen. The responses varied from “financing simulation” to “credit offer result” — and even “a party announcement”. When asked “What is the total value of the property?”, only one person selected the correct option, and several interpreted partial values or unrelated numbers as the final price. When asked “How much will you pay in the first month?”, all users either answered incorrectly or expressed uncertainty. The lack of date context and overlapping fields (e.g., entry + installment) made it hard to identify the actual disbursement amount. Similar issues appeared when users were asked about the entry amount. Many confused it with the down payment, others could not locate the correct value, and conflicting data across cards and pages only amplified the problem. These findings confirmed that users struggled to understand the most basic elements of the proposal, including the total cost, monthly commitment, and even what the screen represented. Layout hierarchy, unclear language, redundant CTAs, and lack of contextual support were all contributing factors.

Strategy & Execution

With the insights in hand, I led the design of a solution roadmap focused on three priorities: clarity of values, communication, and interface hierarchy. We reorganized information based on mental models common in e-commerce, highlighted essential values like total cost and entry, and added contextual support using tooltips and FAQs. The visual hierarchy was completely restructured to simplify reading flow, reduce noise, and avoid conflicting elements. All findings were synthesized into visual reports and shared with the product team and stakeholders. I conducted a walkthrough of the proposed solution using a high-fidelity prototype, making the changes tangible and easy to evaluate. After aligning with the team, we validated the new flow through internal testing and stakeholder reviews. I also monitored the post-launch outcomes to ensure improvements in usability and internal adoption.

  • • Results & Business Impact

  • • Results & Business Impact

- Clear improvement in proposal understanding for clients, brokers, and internal teams; - Reduction in recurring doubts related to technical terms and value composition; - Increase in broker confidence, especially among new agents, who felt more prepared to explain proposals and suggest alternatives; - Decrease in legal escalations caused by contractual misunderstanding or miscommunication; Beyond immediate results, the project also unlocked broader strategic developments. The insights revealed new opportunities to improve the negotiation experience and increase broker autonomy, while also laying the groundwork for more complex initiatives that would have required far more effort without this foundation.