/ Company
/ Company
Novo
Novo
/ Role
/ Role
Staff Product Designer
Staff Product Designer
/ Date
/ Date
2025-Present
2025-Present
Business
Business
Business
Business
Banking,
Banking,
Banking,
Banking,
Rethunk
Rethunk
Rethunk
Rethunk
[1]
[1]
/ About the project
/ About the project
Novo is a banking platform for small businesses. When I joined, the product had grown quickly by shipping feature after feature — but without a coherent identity underneath. In just over a year, I built the design infrastructure, defined the product philosophy, and set a vision for what Novo should become.
Novo is a banking platform for small businesses. When I joined, the product had grown quickly by shipping feature after feature — but without a coherent identity underneath. In just over a year, I built the design infrastructure, defined the product philosophy, and set a vision for what Novo should become.
Novo is a banking platform for small businesses. When I joined, the product had grown quickly by shipping feature after feature — but without a coherent identity underneath. In just over a year, I built the design infrastructure, defined the product philosophy, and set a vision for what Novo should become.
/ Getting started
/ Getting started
I began with building the organization's first design system. Its absence told a bigger story — there were opportunities for better shared infrastructure, more parity across web and mobile, and clearer direction beyond "shipping the next feature."
As I dug in, deeper problems surfaced. Related features lived in unrelated places. Users couldn't find core functionality. The product did a lot of things but didn't feel like anything, due to a history of shipping features to find product market fit.
I began with building the organization's first design system. Its absence told a bigger story — there were opportunities for better shared infrastructure, more parity across web and mobile, and clearer direction beyond "shipping the next feature."
As I dug in, deeper problems surfaced. Related features lived in unrelated places. Users couldn't find core functionality. The product did a lot of things but didn't feel like anything, due to a history of shipping features to find product market fit.
[Part 1]
[Part 1]
DISCIPLINE foundations
DISCIPLINE foundations
Building the system revealed the problems were structural. Before redesigning the product, I needed to reshape how we worked.
Building the system revealed the problems were structural. Before redesigning the product, I needed to reshape how we worked.
/ Systems
/ Systems
Beyond creating components, I designed a layered token infrastructure — primitives, aliases, and component tokens — to connect design, engineering, and AI agents. These tokens serve as the prompting language for AI coding tools, letting us generate coded components directly from the design system.
Beyond creating components, I designed a layered token infrastructure — primitives, aliases, and component tokens — to connect design, engineering, and AI agents. These tokens serve as the prompting language for AI coding tools, letting us generate coded components directly from the design system.
/ AI Adoption
/ AI Adoption
Working with our CEO/CTO, I created the job architecture framework for product design — defining levels, expectations, and growth ladders — while he built the equivalent for engineering. Together, we set the expectation that every team member integrates AI tooling into their work.
Working with our CEO/CTO, I created the job architecture framework for product design — defining levels, expectations, and growth ladders — while he built the equivalent for engineering. Together, we set the expectation that every team member integrates AI tooling into their work.
/ Product Awareness
/ Product Awareness
I vibe-coded an internal testing portal that gave every employee a structured way to use and test Novo. Building a culture where feedback comes from direct experience, not secondhand reports.
I vibe-coded an internal testing portal that gave every employee a structured way to use and test Novo. Building a culture where feedback comes from direct experience, not secondhand reports.
[Part 2]
Product identity
Product identity
/ Research
/ Research
Novo created an entire brand and marketing function and began a brand redesign. Part of that work was reevaluating the small business market and our ideal customer profile. I partnered with the brand team directly, sharing prior research and conducting my own market analysis.
That research surfaced a question we hadn't formally addressed: what kind of tool is Novo?
Novo created an entire brand and marketing function and began a brand redesign. Part of that work was reevaluating the small business market and our ideal customer profile. I partnered with the brand team directly, sharing prior research and conducting my own market analysis.
That research surfaced a question we hadn't formally addressed: what kind of tool is Novo?
Banking
tool
Banking
tool
“Where my money lives”
Storage - Balances - Transfers - Payments
Financial
insights tool
Financial
insights tool
“What my money means”
Cashflow - Patterns - Forecasting - Recommendations
Operations
tool
Operations
tool
“How I run my business”
Invoicing - Bill Pay - Payroll - Lending
/ decision
/ decision
The executive team aligned on a banking-first identity — it addressed the most fundamental user needs and leaned into our core revenue drivers: float capital, interchange, and credit.
This shaped everything that followed. I developed it into a comprehensive information architecture proposal covering the product ecosystem and shared it across product, engineering, design, and leadership to build shared direction.
The executive team aligned on a banking-first identity — it addressed the most fundamental user needs and leaned into our core revenue drivers: float capital, interchange, and credit.
This shaped everything that followed. I developed it into a comprehensive information architecture proposal covering the product ecosystem and shared it across product, engineering, design, and leadership to build shared direction.
/ Goals
01
Increase speed of task completion
Increase speed of task completion
Clear entry points and efficient navigation will result in quicker task completion.
02
Increase product awareness
Increase product awareness
Prioritized information and obvious labeling results in feature discovery and awareness.
03
Increase customer satisfaction
Increase customer satisfaction
Confident navigation improves product utility resulting in higher product satisfaction.
04
Decrease customer service tickets
Decrease customer service tickets
Obvious wayfinding decreases confusion resulting in less need for customer support.
05
Grow core revenue drivers
Grow core revenue drivers
Prioritized navigation steers users to intended, banking-centric, usage.
06
Better scalable infrastructure
Better scalable infrastructure
Broader IA philosophy can better ingest new features and products as the business grows.
07
Improved brand reputation
Improved brand reputation
Polished design systems and branding improve user delight and association with the brand.
[Part 3]
[Part 3]
Vision & Delivery
Vision & Delivery
With the identity and architecture defined, I established three design principles to guide every product decision. Each workstream that followed was measured against them — and the overlap is where trust compounds. I prototyped each concept and worked across teams to build alignment.
With the identity and architecture defined, I established three design principles to guide every product decision. Each workstream that followed was measured against them — and the overlap is where trust compounds. I prototyped each concept and worked across teams to build alignment.
/ Project 1 – Inbox
/ Project 1 – Inbox
The product had a growing attention problem — pop-ups, banners, tags, and alerts all competing with no hierarchy. Messages, notifications, and action items scattered across the experience.
I designed an in-app inbox to unify everything that needs a user's attention. Without a dedicated PM or engineering IC, I owned the full scope — PRD, RFC, product journey mapping, and content management in Customer.io. I also partnered with marketing to coordinate lifecycle messaging across email, push, and SMS.
The inbox also establishes infrastructure for future AI-generated insights and observations.
The product had a growing attention problem — pop-ups, banners, tags, and alerts all competing with no hierarchy. Messages, notifications, and action items scattered across the experience.
I designed an in-app inbox to unify everything that needs a user's attention. Without a dedicated PM or engineering IC, I owned the full scope — PRD, RFC, product journey mapping, and content management in Customer.io. I also partnered with marketing to coordinate lifecycle messaging across email, push, and SMS.
The inbox also establishes infrastructure for future AI-generated insights and observations.
/ Project 2 – Money movement
/ Project 2 – Money movement
This started with a specific observation: we had added bill pay to the send money flow, but the flow itself was already too long for one of the product's most primary actions.
The problems went deeper. Invoicing, adding money, and sending money had completely separate entry points despite being part of the same user mental model. Within send money alone, users chose between domestic, international, and bill pay — but bill pay was functionally identical to domestic, just with a document upload. Domestic supported ACH, wires, and checks; international used Wise and only supported wires. And recipients had to be manually assigned to each of the five payment methods.
I consolidated everything into a single "move money" entry point in the primary navigation. Fragmented entry points became one interaction. Redundant flows were merged. I drove the design, logic, and documentation end to end.
This started with a specific observation: we had added bill pay to the send money flow, but the flow itself was already too long for one of the product's most primary actions.
The problems went deeper. Invoicing, adding money, and sending money had completely separate entry points despite being part of the same user mental model. Within send money alone, users chose between domestic, international, and bill pay — but bill pay was functionally identical to domestic, just with a document upload. Domestic supported ACH, wires, and checks; international used Wise and only supported wires. And recipients had to be manually assigned to each of the five payment methods.
I consolidated everything into a single "move money" entry point in the primary navigation. Fragmented entry points became one interaction. Redundant flows were merged. I drove the design, logic, and documentation end to end.
/ Project 3 – AI Chat
/ Project 3 – AI Chat
An engineer was building a chatbot for customer support. I proposed expanding it into an in-product partner — something that could answer questions like "What bills am I paying?" with contextual, synthesized responses instead of navigation links.
I designed the prompt architecture, safety constraints, and rollout plan. The system can analyze spending data and answer product questions, but can't cross into financial advice. We're shipping in four phases — dogfooding, closed beta (current), open beta, and GA — each gated on guardrail performance before advancing.
The harder design question is how confident the AI should sound when real money is involved, and where the line is between helpful and presumptuous.
An engineer was building a chatbot for customer support. I proposed expanding it into an in-product partner — something that could answer questions like "What bills am I paying?" with contextual, synthesized responses instead of navigation links.
I designed the prompt architecture, safety constraints, and rollout plan. The system can analyze spending data and answer product questions, but can't cross into financial advice. We're shipping in four phases — dogfooding, closed beta (current), open beta, and GA — each gated on guardrail performance before advancing.
The harder design question is how confident the AI should sound when real money is involved, and where the line is between helpful and presumptuous.
/ prompt engineering
/ Project 4 [planned] - Account Centricity
/ Project 4 [planned] - Account Centricity
Currently, checking, credit card, external, integration, and lending accounts all live in separate places despite all being financial accounts. I'm scoping a unified dashboard where all accounts roll up into an aggregate view of financial health.
Right now, the dashboard tries to show a little of everything and communicates nothing. A banking-centric dashboard surfaces the complete financial picture and lets features like cashflow insights and reserves emerge in context.
Currently, checking, credit card, external, integration, and lending accounts all live in separate places despite all being financial accounts. I'm scoping a unified dashboard where all accounts roll up into an aggregate view of financial health.
Right now, the dashboard tries to show a little of everything and communicates nothing. A banking-centric dashboard surfaces the complete financial picture and lets features like cashflow insights and reserves emerge in context.
/ Curent model
/ PROPOSED MODEL
/ Future state
These layouts apply the banking-first philosophy to every core page — grounding users in their financial data, then layering in insights and actions. A clear, systematic hierarchy builds trust over time and gives Novo a foundation to grow into best-in-class banking without rearchitecting every time we ship something new.
These layouts apply the banking-first philosophy to every core page — grounding users in their financial data, then layering in insights and actions. A clear, systematic hierarchy builds trust over time and gives Novo a foundation to grow into best-in-class banking without rearchitecting every time we ship something new.
/ Status
/ Status
The design system, testing portal, inbox, and money movement restructuring have shipped. AI chat and dashboard restructure are in active development. A brand redesign is underway, and we're leveraging the design system for efficient transition.
I'm coaching designers to prompt component updates directly in VS Code and evaluating workflows like Claude-to-Figma export to make code the source of truth.
The design system, testing portal, inbox, and money movement restructuring have shipped. AI chat and dashboard restructure are in active development. A brand redesign is underway, and we're leveraging the design system for efficient transition.
I'm coaching designers to prompt component updates directly in VS Code and evaluating workflows like Claude-to-Figma export to make code the source of truth.
/ Reflection
/ Reflection
The most important thing I did at Novo was resist the temptation to redesign screens. The problems were structural — in the architecture, in the process, in the team's relationship to its own product. Building the design system first, then the testing culture, then the IA vision, then the workstreams — each layer made the next one possible.
I've learned that prototypes create momentum in a way that documents don't. When I walked leadership through the unified money movement flow, the conversation shifted from "should we do this?" to "when can we ship this?"
And a conversational interface is only as trustworthy as the architecture behind it. Without a structured system underneath, you're just putting a chat bubble on chaos.
The most important thing I did at Novo was resist the temptation to redesign screens. The problems were structural — in the architecture, in the process, in the team's relationship to its own product. Building the design system first, then the testing culture, then the IA vision, then the workstreams — each layer made the next one possible.
I've learned that prototypes create momentum in a way that documents don't. When I walked leadership through the unified money movement flow, the conversation shifted from "should we do this?" to "when can we ship this?"
And a conversational interface is only as trustworthy as the architecture behind it. Without a structured system underneath, you're just putting a chat bubble on chaos.
