PRODUCT DESIGN
FULL CASE STUDY
2024
SoFi for Small Businesses
Created actionable data for small business owners to understand their expenses.
LONG STORY SHORT
I led the vision for a new way to support small businesses in tracking their finances
I worked for SoFi as a Contract Lead Designer and Project Manager, guiding a team of 6 design consultants to create a novel small business management platform. Several of my accomplishments included:
01
Design
Owned the design for an expense dashboard, focused on actionable data and customizability.
02
Leadership
Led a team through 40+ user interviews, designing 4 platform features, and product ecosystem integrations.
03
XFN Work
Proactively generated ideas with PMs and in-house designers, creating sprint goals for product roadmap.
💭
How might we help small business owners keep their business finances healthy and thriving?
MARKET RESEARCH
To create a novel product, I assessed what gaps existed in the market
I looked at top platforms in the expense management space and noted the lack of digestible data visualizations.
SPEAKING TO USERS
I went out and interviewed 16 small business owners in varying industries
Toy stores, small fashion boutiques, restaurants, and so many more—getting ranging perspectives was important because it led us to four main issues with expense management:
Various Management Platforms
“Having to go to multiple platforms to check business performance is annoying.”
Overstimulating Information
“There's so much information. I don’t know what to pay attention to.”
Lack of Clarity on Performance
“I’m not a math person! Calculating my own profits is confusing.”
Confusion About Loans
“Applying for a business loan is a big commitment. I need to know all options.”
OPPORTUNITIES
I guided my team to four main feature areas for the MVP
Based on the overarching themes and market research, I mapped this to several features focused on personalization:
🏠
Tailored Dashboard
My feature that housed critical business data
💰
Expense Tracking
Database of transactions and business performance
🙋
Loan Assistance
Loan form and repayment options based on business size
📈
Insight Reports
Business reports with insights and a mode to understand complex terms
EARLY DASHBOARD CONCEPT
PMs were advocating for expense widget marketplace
Similar to the style of other community-based tools, like Figma Community, I was encouraged to explore a customizable marketplace for data visualizations. After creating several iterations, I rethought about the connection between
The widget marketplace created room for choice paralysis
I communicated how our initial research didn't support this feature
DEFINING DASHBOARD FEATURES
I brainstormed three main features that would better solve the problems from research
Actionable Widgets
Take direct actions within widgets to manage expenses and customize sizing views.
AI Contextual Dashboard Helper
Connect business data to an AI agent that can communicate in human-like language. The agent also helps navigate users to different areas in the platform.
Goal Setting & Management
Set goals during onboarding on cash flow or loan payments, which can later be adjusted in the dashboard.
VISUAL LANGUAGE
When putting it together, I wanted to give the dashboard a more welcoming look and feel
🌱 First Iteration
First dashboard concept with existing design system for solo accounts
✨ Final Design
I iterated on visual styles with to make it more welcoming — dark blue banner for trust, and other onboarding goals
FINAL DESIGNS
Set financial goals, ask questions with AI, and create your tailored dashboard
Goal Setting
In onboarding, owners can select their financial goals which will be imported to their dashboard.
AI-Powered Dashboard Assistant
Chat with SoFi's AI assistant to help navigate through the platform and answer questions about financial performance.
Customizable Dashboard Widgets
Adjust widgets based on your preference to showcase larger views of your business's financial data.
PERSONAL FEEDBACK
Thank you to Rob, our client!
LEARNINGS & IMPACT
This experience sharpened my design and leadership abilities!
🖋️
Balancing an existing design system with differentiating visual language.
Knowing when to strategically diverge from the design system is critical to create more innovative designs. Divergence should be backed by research and an overarching strategy!
🗣️
Advocating for designs and aligning strategy with PMs.
By looking back to research insights, PMs were more receptive to hearing out new ideas. As designers, we are responsible for advocating for users and finding solutions that will actually benefit them.
❤️
The importance of leading a team with high empathy and mentorship.
Throughout this experience, I held workshops on UI principles and basic business finances. I learned that it's important to share knowledge with teams in order to collectively shape a product with craft and strategy.