How have I built a 0-1 product experience for investment advisory?

How have I built a 0-1 product experience?

Git in touch

Total Screens:

100+

Project

Under Development

Focused on

Investment Advisory Application

Role

Product Designer

Team

1 Designer, 2 Product Managers and Development team of 5

Timeline

6 months

The Challenge

The investment advisory space is notoriously complex and often intimidating for everyday users. My core challenge with Advisor Alpha was to cut through that complexity and design an application that wasn't just functional, but genuinely empowering. My mission was to create an end-to-end experience for a product with over 100 screens, all built to demystify investments and give users a clear, confident path to financial growth.

This project was a tight, 6-month sprint with a lean team—myself as the sole designer, two Product Managers, and five developers. Our goal was ambitious: to build a product that would soon be ready for a global audience on the Play Store.

Regulations and User Emotions

Working in the investment advisory space required a dual-focused approach. On one hand, I had to deeply understand the strict regulatory landscape that governs every action and piece of information presented to a user. This wasn't just a constraint; it was a non-negotiable layer of trust that had to be woven into every design decision.

On the other hand, I had to be a student of human emotion. Financial decisions are often driven by fear, ambition, and a lack of confidence. My design had to act as a trusted advisor—clear, calm, and reassuring—to help users make informed decisions without feeling overwhelmed. The challenge was in balancing the rigid requirements of compliance with a human-centered design that built confidence and transparency.

The Process

Given our tight timeline and the scale of the project, my process was built for speed and efficiency without sacrificing depth. I began by collaborating with the Product Managers to define all user flows, user scenarios, and flow maps for the entire 100+ screen application. This foundational work was essential for creating a logical, seamless experience from the start.

To accelerate our research and validation loops, I leveraged AI for research and testing, a method that significantly reduced both our time-to-insight and user testing costs. By simulating user behavior with AI-driven personas and analyzing data trends, I was able to rapidly test design hypotheses and gather insights. This innovative approach allowed us to move at a breakneck pace.

With a clear strategic direction and validated concepts, I built a complete, centralized Design System. This was a critical step for maintaining consistency across over 100 screens and ensuring a smooth handoff to our development team. It was the single source of truth for our entire product, allowing us to build faster and smarter.

The Results

At the end of our 6-month timeline, we delivered a complete, user-centric product with over 100 screens. The application successfully simplified complex investment journeys into clear, actionable steps, and our rigorous process ensured it met both regulatory requirements and a high standard of user experience. The product is now finalized and poised to go live on the Play Store, a testament to the team's focused effort and the strategic use of our design process

Learning and Future Steps

My biggest learning from this project was discovering how to navigate the complex intersection of financial regulations and user psychology. It taught me that building trust is the most critical design principle in FinTech. I also learned to harness the power of AI to supercharge a lean design process, proving that strategic innovation can drastically reduce costs and accelerate delivery.

Moving forward, I'm eager to analyze post-launch user data from the live product, which will inform our next steps and allow us to iterate on the experience with real-world feedback. The goal is to continuously refine Advisor Alpha, ensuring it remains the most trusted and intuitive investment tool on the market.