Zuper
Fintech | CASE STUDY | by Roberto Salodini
https://robertosalodini.com/work/zuper

A mobile app that lets people manage budgets, accounts and spending for a fintech startup. I built the design system first, then moved into Android and iOS apps, animations, marketing and social media.

Role: First designer, then lead UX/UI designer,
What I did: Led the full product design 0 to 1 of a fintech budgeting platform
Platforms: iOS, Android, web
Tools: Figma (https://www.figma.com), Sketch (https://www.sketch.com), Principle

THE PROBLEM
Zuper had a new brand and no existing product. It needed a budgeting app that worked from one dashboard, and a design system that would keep the app, website and print consistent as the team grew.

CALL 1: DECIDE WHAT TO BUILD
Before designing anything I ran competitive analyses across budgeting, fintech and digital-banking apps, plus a heuristic evaluation of our own flows. Both decided which features to adopt or drop, and caught design flaws before they reached screens.

CALL 2: KNOW THE USERS
Every new feature started from research with users and potential customers. Interviews and surveys produced primary and secondary personas. The personas shaped the marketing strategy later on.

CALL 3: MAP THE JOURNEY
Customer journey maps showed where people struggle when they connect a bank account and start budgeting, and helped spot edge cases early.

CALL 4: SKETCH EARLY
Problems were framed as questions such as "How might we make it quick and easy for users to navigate their bank accounts?", then explored in rapid sketches.

CALL 5: PROTOTYPE AND TEST
Interactive prototypes were tested with customers where possible and iterated on before we released test and production builds for iOS and Android.

CALL 6: BUILD THE SYSTEM
I built the design system.

CALL 7: SHIP ON IOS AND ANDROID
The dashboard and the onboarding for importing financial products shipped end to end on both platforms.

RESULT
- iOS and Android apps shipped end to end
- A 0-to-1 design system across app, web and print
- Led two designers
- 2019 European Startup of the Year, Grind category, at Startup Grind Europe

WHAT I LEARNED
My first time as a lead, and my first time as the first designer in a startup. It lasted 4 years and shaped my vision and my design direction.