In partnership with:
Product designer & manager
8 Months (4/2021)
12
Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) often find it tough to stay on top of their finances. Whether it’s the CEO, CFO, or the finance team, they’re constantly battling scattered tools, manual processes, and systems that just aren’t built for their scale. That leads to messy records, poor visibility, and a lot of wasted time. And in fast-moving environments—where every penny and every minute counts—that kind of friction makes it harder to make smart, timely decisions.
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.
Given the challenges we were dealing with, the whole process had to be customized to fit both the goal and the context. That meant tweaking everything—from the design process itself, to the tools we used, the way we did research, even the roles within the team. Nothing was off the shelf.
We kicked things off with a simple, scrappy flow: Design → Test → Iterate → Develop. To validate our early ideas, we shared a pre-alpha version with a few internal users—an accountant, an account manager, and a couple of branch managers. Their feedback gave us the first real sense of direction.
Once the MVP was locked in, we shifted gears into discovery mode. We added tracking tools, started running user interviews, and tested new ideas as we built—keeping the process flexible and grounded in actual user needs, not assumptions.
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.
