Building a
Consumer Bank

01
RESPONSIBILITIES
Zero → One
Design Leadership
Trading Experience
DELIVERABLES

iOS & Android App

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Context

Unleashed Capital, a Berlin-based startup, wanted to build a digital bank that combined everyday banking with investing and wealth management, all in one app. I joined as founding Product Design Lead, owning UX and UI across iOS and Android from first concept to production-ready delivery. We built the entire experience from zero to one over two years, reaching a fully developed, production-ready app.

Key Objectives

  • Set the vision for a regulated digital bank.

  • Make banking, trading, and wealth feel like one product.

  • Design for trust without adding friction.

  • Validate the core journeys before scaling.

Outcome

  • Delivered a production-ready iOS and Android app.

  • Validated onboarding, card ordering, trading, and strategy flows.

  • Took the product from concept to internal release.

  • Launch was blocked later by funding and regulatory approval.

Delivered product experience — Finances overview, Spending visualization, Goal-based Savings (Pools), Send Money

Delivered product experience — Finances overview, Spending visualization, Goal-based Savings (Pools), Send Money

Delivered product experience — Finances overview, Spending visualization, Goal-based Savings (Pools), Send Money

What we learned

We used focus groups and usability sessions to understand how users approached banking, trading, and financial planning. Three themes stood out.

Trust comes before interest

Security and transparency mattered more than features.

One product, not three

Separate experiences broke the sense of one bank.

Complexity kills confidence

Technical, form-heavy flows made users hesitate or quit.

Illustrative participant voices from internal Mass Affluent research
Illustrative participant voices from internal Mass Affluent research
MVP Scope

The first release had to do more than look complete. It had to make banking, trading, and planning feel credible on top of legal, security, and operational foundations that users would never see. With limited resources, I helped guide the team toward the basics that mattered most.

A focused MVP on the surface depended on banking-grade foundations underneath.
A focused MVP on the surface depended on banking-grade foundations underneath.
Principles

Insights from research and early testing shaped how we defined HAVE: a credible consumer bank that still felt calm and easy to use. The principles below kept the product focused on the basics that mattered most.

Native over novel

Use platform patterns to keep the experience familiar and fast.

Complexity in layers

Reveal detail only when it helps users move forward.

One system, not three

Keep banking, trading, and planning connected.

Core flows

I kept the work focused on the moments that shaped the full journey. While HAVE was still taking form, we refined the onboarding and core flows so the product felt clear, credible, and quick to use.

Partial data collection keeps onboarding quick by asking only for what’s needed now.
Partial data collection keeps onboarding quick by asking only for what’s needed now.
Four connected views brought everyday banking, movement, investing, and planning into one experience.
Four connected views brought everyday banking, movement, investing, and planning into one experience.
Card management balanced easy access to details with immediate controls for protection.
Card management balanced easy access to details with immediate controls for protection.
Trading controls introduced more advanced order types without turning the experience into a terminal.
Trading controls introduced more advanced order types without turning the experience into a terminal.
A shared visual system kept product, cards, and campaign work recognizably HAVE.
A shared visual system kept product, cards, and campaign work recognizably HAVE.
What this project reinforced

Building a bank takes patience

The product only improved when we stayed disciplined about the basics.

Good work is collaborative

Progress came from design, product, and execution moving together.

Momentum comes from clarity

The more aligned the team was, the easier the work became.