In partnership with:
Product designer & manager
8 Months (4/2021)
12
SMBs were managing expenses through scattered tools, manual handoffs, and records that were hard to trust. CEOs needed visibility, finance teams needed control, and employees needed a faster way to submit expenses without creating more follow-up work. The product challenge was to reduce operational friction without making the system feel heavy.
We designed a simple, minimal mobile app that lets employees log their expenses on the go—right when they happen. Each entry syncs instantly to the cloud and connects with a powerful admin dashboard we built alongside it.
On the admin side, finance teams get full visibility and control. They can track every business expense in real-time, filter by date, employee, category, amount, source, or reason—everything they need, all in one place, and without the usual hassle.
The process followed the workflow, not a fixed design ritual. We started with a scrappy Design → Test → Iterate → Develop loop, then used internal finance users to validate the earliest assumptions. Once the MVP was stable, we added interviews and product signals to understand approval bottlenecks, repeated manual work, and where each role needed more decision clarity.
Most SMBs still run their finances using a mix of Excel, Google Sheets, pen and paper, and basic accounting software—tools that were never meant to work together. While these familiar solutions may have gotten them off the ground, they’re now a patchwork of manual tasks, disconnected data, and limited automation. This setup slows down collaboration, creates blind spots in financial visibility, and makes it harder for teams to act quickly or strategically when it matters most.
The core challenge was designing a smooth, intuitive experience for non-tech-savvy users, while also building a feature set that could serve both ends of the spectrum: CEOs who just want a quick, high-level financial snapshot, and finance teams who need deep control and detail.
But if I’m being real, the biggest push came from the personal side. I was still a junior designer, working solo, and was suddenly responsible for designing a full-on financial system. No backup, no safety net. I had to connect every dot, close every logic gap, and make sure what I was building wasn’t just usable—but genuinely valuable. And I had to do it all while making the experience feel effortless for the people using it.
Real-time tracking
Reduced workload
Easier audits
Clearer insights
Boosted productivity
Better error detection
PS: These numbers are hypothetical & approximate based on studies, assumptions, and user reviews before and after the alfa release.
This view is built for high-level managers like CEOs and CFOs to get live visibility into company spending—showing where every penny goes, when it’s spent, how much, and by whom.
