Disputes without the dread at Splitfare
Payment disputes were the most hated flow in Splitfare — for riders and support alike. We redesigned the resolution journey around evidence gathering and expectations, and cut resolution time by more than half.
My role
Lead product designer
Team
3 engineers, 1 PM, support lead
Shipped
Dispute centre, evidence uploader, status timeline
Outcomes
52%
Faster dispute resolution
Median time from open to resolved, Q3 vs Q1.
-31%
Support tickets per dispute
Riders self-served evidence upload instead of calling in.
71%
Disputes resolved without escalation
Up from 44% before the redesign.
Process
Sit with support for a week
ResearchTwo days listening to dispute calls and three reading tickets showed the same gap: nobody knew what came next.
Rebuild the timeline as a contract
DesignEach status became a named promise with its evidence attached. The timeline turned from a tracker into an agreement.
Test with real disputes
ValidationWe replayed 30 closed disputes through the new flow with the original parties and checked the story still held.
Roll out market by market
DeliveryDublin first, then London. Each market tuned the evidence fields to local payment behaviour.
Decisions
Decision 01
Gather evidence in the first message, not the third
Support triage was drowning in back-and-forth. The dispute opener now collects photos and order facts in one structured form.
Trade-offA longer first screen raised abandonment slightly. We saved drafts automatically so nobody restarted.
Decision 02
Show the decision rule, not just the status
Instead of In review, the timeline names what is being checked and what settles it. Expectation-setting cut reopen rate by a third.
Trade-offExposing internal rules limits how policy can change. Legal approved a wording that describes principles, not thresholds.
Decision 03
Let both sides see the same picture
Rider and customer previously saw different dispute narratives, which fuelled escalation. One shared evidence view with role-specific notes replaced both.
Trade-offShared views constrain what support can say privately. Escalation notes moved to a separate, access-controlled layer.