ONMO
Spearheading a full digital transformation for a fintech startup — from concept to launch.
OVERVIEW
When I joined Onmo as the first in-house designer, the company was still in its early start-up phase — exciting, ambitious, and finding its footing. Onmo, an early-stage fintech building a mobile-first credit card for UK customers, had a live website and a basic app that handled simple account tasks, but much of the design, product direction, and operational foundations were still taking shape.
In my first few weeks, I focused on understanding the full landscape — from the existing product experience to the FCA's regulatory requirements, customer pain points, and the internal processes that shaped how things were built.
Initial Assessment
Across my first few weeks, I noticed a few areas where design maturity could be strengthened:
- The design system was still emerging, and the team had been moving fast with multiple freelancers — resulting in natural inconsistencies between the website and app.
- Processes around design alignment, documentation, and cross-team collaboration were light, which is typical for a team at this stage of growth.
- Regulatory expectations (especially around Consumer Duty) hadn't been fully embedded in design workflows.
- Customer feedback highlighted opportunities to make key information clearer and reduce friction across core tasks.
None of this was unusual — it was exactly the kind of early-stage environment where good design practices can create disproportionate impact. And that's where I stepped in: to help shape the foundations, introduce structure, and elevate the user experience across every touchpoint.
Examples from the legacy products
The app had been created by multiple freelancers over time, which meant it lacked a cohesive design direction. The result was an unclear information architecture, stylistic inconsistencies, higher cognitive load, and a user experience that could be made far more intuitive and engaging.
The website faced similar challenges — relying heavily on generic graphics and stock imagery, which made it difficult for the brand to stand out. The positioning wasn't yet clearly tied to the product's unique value, leaving an opportunity to sharpen the narrative and visual identity.
Meanwhile, the executive team had a long list of roadmap items they wanted to add to the app — but without fixing the foundation, every new feature would only make the problem worse.
So instead of simply executing new feature requests, I proposed a reset — asking for two weeks and a small budget to design a concept that would show where we were, and where we could be with a unified design system and a more delightful design language.
The CEO was immediately on board and asked me to present the concept to our investors to secure the time and funding needed.
That moment became the turning point — setting the stage for a complete brand revamp, a redesigned app and digital ecosystem, and the introduction of structured design processes and a culture built around creating experiences for happy customers.
The following sections highlight some of the key work I delivered during my two and a half years at Onmo. There's much more I haven't included here to keep this case study focused and digestible — but if you'd like to dive deeper into any part of the process, feel free to get in touch!