Leading brand and design at a fintech startup building a network for bankers

Scope

As VP of Design (and sole Principal Designer), I led design at True Digital — a startup building a network for bankers in the US. I worked with a fantastic team to build a first-of-its-kind network for financial institutions to discover vendors and connect with peers. I worked on all facets of the business as a design executive, from establishing the brand, to designing and building a marketing website, establishing a design system, leading the design of their network product and mobile app, and working closely with the Chief Technology Officer to implement the designs.

Note: Only a very limited amount of work is shown below due to the sensitive nature of a fintech product!

Involvement

VP of Design
Principal Designer

Date

Jun-Dec 2023

Goal-oriented design

The previous interface (to the left above) was bloated and inconsistent, featured vague calls to action, and lacked contrast and hierarchy. Cleaning up the interface, introducing a coherent design system, and providing clarity as to what the data and actions represent — helped drive a significant increase in engagement.

Increase engagement

A huge win for the company was making it easy for bankers to connect with peers. Starting with a simple 'connection request', which the receiving financial institution can simply assign to the relevant team member to connect. As a give-to-get network, this product update immediately created 1000%+ increase in engagement.

Refreshed brand and messaging

Offline, the company had a fantastic brand presence centered around a refreshingly personal approach to banking and the team wearing easily identifiable colourful hats. This strong brand didn't convert to the digital screen (as seen above-left). And so, the process of the brand refresh started with the marketing website. I re-wrote all the copy and calls to action to make it clear what True Digital is and how their target audience can connect with them. I introduced a lively, colourful palette, video, bold typography, and playful animation and illustration elements that projected the companies unique personality. This branding and marketing work formed the foundations for all the design system and product design work that followed!

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