Meemo App

Meemo App

Client: Meemo
Year: 2019-2020
Role: UX • UI • DesignOps

Creating a playful and engaging financial experience for a San Francisco-based fintech startup.

The problem

Meemo, a startup founded in San Francisco, aimed to revolutionize personal finance by creating a digital product that would make financial operations fun and engaging. The main challenges were:

  1. Developing a user-friendly interface for complex financial operations
  2. Creating a product that stood out in the competitive fintech market
  3. Balancing creative expression with business and technology requirements
  4. Establishing design governance in a startup environment

The company viewed the design team primarily as visual creatives rather than strategic partners in product development. This perception limited the design team's involvement in crucial decision-making processes.

The process

As a Product Designer, I took on additional leadership responsibilities within a team of five designers. Our approach involved:

1. Team Structure and Collaboration:

  • Worked closely with the CEO, development team, and product owner
  • Acted as an intermediary between the design team and other stakeholders
  • Managed a diverse team of both senior and junior designers from Brazil and the US

2. Design Operations (DesignOps):

  • Organized regular team meetings (dailies, design reviews)
  • Implemented task management using Github (Kanban method)
  • Provided technical consultations for junior designers
  • Validated design directives with product and business stakeholders
  • Created action plans for the future of the design department

3. Design System Development:

  • Initiated the creation of a Design System to ensure consistency
  • Developed color tokens and component models with color and typography tokens
  • Implemented governance for UI patterns across the platform

4. Prototyping and Iteration:

  • Created user flows and wireframes for key features
  • Developed high-fidelity prototypes for stakeholder review
  • Iterated based on feedback from users, business, and technology teams

5. AI Integration:

  • Collaborated with the development team to incorporate AI-powered features for personalized rewards and insights

The results

The Meemo app successfully launched in July 2020 with the following outcomes:

1. Product Launch:

  • Secured a $10 million seed investment upon launch
  • Successfully came out of stealth mode with a fully functional AI-powered social finance app

2. App Features:

  • Implemented automatic, personalized rewards based on user activity
  • Developed a digital wallet integrated with everyday life experience
  • Created a social finance platform allowing money transfers between friends

3. Design Impact:

  • Established an initial Design System model, improving design consistency and efficiency
  • Significantly contributed to the app's user-friendly interface, balancing complex financial operations with an engaging user experience

4. Team Development:

  • Fostered the growth of junior designers, positively impacting their career trajectories
  • Elevated the role of design within the company, shifting perception from purely visual to strategic

5. Business Metrics:

  • Positively impacted performance and conversion metrics from both technology and business perspectives
  • Contributed to the company's ability to secure substantial seed funding