Introduction
Brazil still adds millions of first-time online shoppers every year, many of them from classes C and D and from cities outside the São Paulo–Rio axis. For them, the hard part of buying on Mercado Livre is not finding a phone case. It is trusting a seller they can't see, choosing between Pix, boleto and "12x sem juros", entering a CPF and CEP correctly, and knowing what to do if the package never arrives. MercadoLibre already uses GenAI widely: a Seller Assistant used by sellers representing nearly half of GMV, and an AI shopping assistant in testing with part of buyers. I'll design that assistant specifically for first-time buyers, covering goals, segments, pain points, the solution, AI risks and metrics.
This is a hard question because it mixes UX and AI risk. I'd tell the interviewer up front that I'll spend real time on guardrails and evaluation, not just on the chat interface.
Step 1
Clarify Questions (3 minutes)
- Why it matters: Someone new to Mercado Livre but experienced on Shopee needs a different product.
- Hypothetical answer: Users with no completed online purchase on any platform, based on onboarding answers and signals such as no saved cards and no purchase history in Mercado Pago.
- Impact: The assistant must explain basics (delivery, payment, returns), not only recommend products.
- Hypothetical answer: Conversion to a first purchase that goes well, followed by a second purchase within 60 days.
- Impact: I'll avoid designs that push a risky first order just to hit conversion.
- Hypothetical answer: It can build a cart, apply coupons and start checkout, but the user always confirms payment.
- Impact: This is light agentic commerce with a human confirmation step.
- Hypothetical answer: Mercado Ads is a big revenue line, but the assistant's recommendations should be trusted.
- Impact: I'll set clear rules for ads inside the assistant.
Propose the Goal
Help first-time Brazilian shoppers complete a first purchase on Mercado Livre that arrives as expected, so they come back for a second one.
Define the Scope
A conversational assistant ("Assistente Meli") inside the Mercado Livre app in Portuguese, with text and voice input, covering discovery, decision, checkout and post-purchase. Seller-facing tools and the web desktop experience are out of scope.
I'll pause here to confirm scope, then explain why this is worth building now.
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