During my time working in-house for ZenBusiness, a startup dedicated to assisting individuals in starting their businesses, my team and I engaged in a variety of projects and initiatives. From shaping a robust design system to taking the lead on the mobile app and refining user flows, my work made a positive impact across the entire platform. In this case study, I'll delve into some of the notable work I undertook during my tenure at ZenBusiness, the challenges encountered in solving design problems, and the results of my efforts.
Expanding and refining the ZenBusiness design system posed several challenges. A significant hurdle was ensuring widespread adoption and correct usage of the documentation by the entire design team. Given the diverse projects and platforms, maintaining consistency across different teams working simultaneously on the web and mobile app required careful coordination. Additionally, the design system had to evolve in parallel with ongoing branding changes.
My aim for the design system was to enhance workflows, promoting consistency, and facilitating more efficient iteration. The initial step involved restructuring numerous library files and creating useful documentation.
I enhanced the design system by introducing new components and refining existing ones. I engaged in regular updates and collaborative discussions, creating an adaptable framework for the team.
As ZenBusiness was taking steps towards its product vision as a one-stop-shop for all of a user's business needs, I played a key role in leading the design efforts to conceptualize and implement new fintech functionality in the mobile app. A notable challenge was navigating a tight timeline with limited access to user testing and feedback. Furthermore, much of the functionality necessitated presentation-ready motion prototypes for stakeholder approval and user testing. Thankfully, I could draw upon established patterns and successful functionalities already present in the app. This enabled me and the team to iterate and prototype with higher fidelity.
Note:
Many of my designs show the Expenses page in the app as a focus mode. This was because the ZenBusiness app was initially designed to launch separate pages from a chat UI. It was later changed to a more traditional bottom navigation with a dedicated Expenses tab.
In our initial user interviews, we found business owners asking for fintech features that lead to a more meaningful reason to use the app.
We created personas based on interviews and prior research done at ZenBusiness. This allowed us to accurately target our audience and create experience maps.
Based on user interviews and personas, the initial functionality was to revolve around business expense tracking and management. This included features like linking external bank accounts, uploading business receipts, and more.
The first step in our designs was the Expenses list view. This would act as the hub for all of proposed functionality. Here, users can get a quick summary of their business expenses. We made sure to account for as many states and views as possible to set the devs up for success.
For bank account linking, we opted to use the third party service Plaid. In doing so, we had to design around an external iframe experience, as well as allow users to easily remove accounts.
Prototypes were made to demonstrate how a user could review their expenses. Common swiping patterns were used to allow for approving or archiving.
Editing capabilities were added in case a user's bank miscategorized an expense or if a user wanted to manually update the information or add notes.
Allowing users to upload receipts was crucial for tax and accounting purposes. Multiple upload options were provided to achieve this.
After the final flows and high fidelity designs were approved, I worked directly with development until the service was launched. The functionality succeeded by increasing user engagement on the mobile app.
