Revolutionizing the Credit Card Experience as a Design Lead
#Fintech #Startup #0->1 #Productdesign #Businessinnovation #Consultant
Company Overview
Flybits is a global FinTech company that enables banks to deliver hyper-personalized, data-driven experiences to their customers through innovative digital platforms. By integrating contextual engagement solutions into mobile apps and websites, Flybits empowers banks to connect with their audiences in meaningful and relevant ways.
I joined Flybits Product team in 2018 where I honed my skills in product design and leadership. Later, I transitioned to the Solutions team, where I took on the role of Design Consultant Lead and built a design consulting practice from the ground up, driving strategic design initiatives that bridged user needs with business goals.
Project Overview
In 2019, Flybits partnered with Mastercard as a key enabler of the Mastercard Contextual Engagement Solution, empowering issuers and merchants to engage consumers with personalized, timely, and relevant content. To maximize the value of this partnership, I led an initiative to revamp the business model, strategy, and product, resulting in $10M in prospective projects within 3 months.
This project was executed entirely remotely in 2020, showcasing adaptability and resilience in a challenging environment.
Outcomes
Generated $10M in prospective projects within 3 months.
Delivered a revamped business model, strategy, and product that addressed pain points for cardholders, issuers, and Mastercard.
Established a repeatable framework for rapid innovation and cross-functional collaboration.
Process
To better showcase the process, I organized the work into linear steps, though it was highly iterative and fluid in practice: Discovery → Ideation → Creation → Delivery → Validation
Timeline
Completed in 2 months to enable fast, iterative experimentation.
Team
Product Marketing Manager, Product Manager, Partnership Advisor, Sales Executive.
My Role
Design Strategy Lead. I led the end-to-end design strategy, ensuring alignment between user needs, business goals, and technical feasibility.
Discovery
Discovery Workshop
I initiated the project with a series discovery workshop, bringing together key stakeholders to align on the problem space and define success collaboratively.
Outcomes
Achieved alignment among stakeholders on the problem space and project goals.
Identified key players in the ecosystem and their pain points, creating a shared understanding of challenges.
Established a foundation for efficient and transparent collaboration throughout the project.
Challenges & Opportunities
Cardholders: Disjointed digital experiences due to fragmented Mastercard products.—>HMW create a seamless and unified digital payment experience across all Mastercard products to enhance convenience and satisfaction for cardholders?
Issuers: Time-consuming and costly development processes to integrate Mastercard APIs.—>HWM simplify and accelerate the integration of Mastercard APIs to reduce development time, lower costs, and enable issuers to bring innovative solutions to market faster?
Mastercard: Inefficient issuer development processes, creating operational and sales challenges.—>HMW optimize issuer development processes to improve operational efficiency, strengthen partnerships, and drive better sales outcomes?
Business Interview
I conducted semi-structured interviews with the CEO, partnership advisor, and sales executives to uncover strategic insights.
Outcomes:
Identified the business vision and innovation opportunities for both Flybits and Mastercard.
Defined success metrics and KPIs to measure the impact of the project.
Gained a deep understanding of strategic goals to ensure alignment across teams.
Competitive Analysis
I collaborated with the product marketing manager to analyze direct, indirect, and potential competitors.
Outcomes:
Provided a 360° view of the market landscape, informing critical business and design decisions.
Identified market gaps and opportunities for differentiation.
Supported concept ideation with actionable insights
Key Insights:
Most banking apps offer only basic personalization due to limited data sources.
Banks leverage only 20-30% of credit card offerings on average.
Large tech companies pose a threat with their data and consumer base advantages.
Ideation
Once we had a good understanding of the problem space, I conducted an ideation workshop with the team where I facilitated the divergent and convergent thinking process and generated a list of key product experiences.
Outcomes:
Developed actionable solutions to address challenges identified during discovery.
Prioritized key product experiences based on user and business needs.
Built alignment across the team through collaborative decision-making.
Creation
Leveraging the insights from discovery and ideation, I created a proof of concept and a journey-based prototype in Figma.
Outcomes:
Demonstrated different consumer journeys and scenarios to stakeholders.
Enabled concept validation through interactive prototypes, ensuring feasibility and alignment.
Supported sales pitches and stakeholder communication with clear, visual storytelling.
Delivery
Operation Blueprint
I applied a Service Design framework to map out the operational model.
Outcomes:
Created clarity and transparency on the customer journey and internal operations.
Highlighted tasks, relationships, and dependencies for different parties.
Identified potential risks and gaps, enabling proactive problem-solving.
Go-To-Market Strategy
I collaborated with product marketing in developing a phased GTM approach, value propositions, and integration options.
Outcomes:
Clarified goals, audience, and launch plans for the new product and service.
Provided a blueprint for market delivery, ensuring alignment across teams.
Created a clear path to market success with actionable steps and timelines.
Validation
We conducted consumer interviews, concept testing, and pitched the idea to 10+ global banks to validate the concept.
Outcomes:
Validated consumer and business needs, ensuring the solution addressed real pain points.
Identified early-stage problems and refined the concept iteratively.
Uncovered new opportunities to enhance the product and strategy.
Results
Generated $10M in Prospective Projects: Within three months, the revamped business model and product strategy unlocked significant revenue opportunities.
Delivered a Holistic Solution: Addressed key pain points for cardholders (disjointed experiences), issuers (costly integrations), and Mastercard (inefficient processes).
Established a Repeatable Framework: Created a scalable process for rapid innovation and cross-functional collaboration, enabling future projects to build on this foundation.
Validated with Real-World Feedback: Conducted consumer interviews and pitched the concept to 10+ global banks, refining the solution iteratively based on feedback.
Lessons learned
1. Systems Thinking: Navigating Complexity
For large-scale, complex projects, systems thinking is essential. By mapping out the ecosystem—from front-stage customer experiences to back-stage operations—I gained a holistic understanding of interconnected challenges. Tools like the Service Blueprint helped align stakeholders on strategic goals and design solutions that addressed the entire system.
2. Stakeholder Management: Building a Shared Vision
Managing differing visions among senior leaders was a significant challenge. I shifted my role to problem-solving facilitator, designing collaborative workshops to align on shared goals. Regular alignment checkpoints ensured we reassessed priorities, reduced friction, and built trust across the team.
3. Strategic Problem-Solving: Turning Challenges into Opportunities
This project reinforced the importance of strategic thinking and user-centered design. By focusing on the needs of cardholders, issuers, and Mastercard, we created a solution that delivered value for the entire ecosystem.
Reflection
This project showcased the power of collaboration, adaptability, and strategic design. By bringing together diverse perspectives, navigating complexity, and staying focused on the WHY, we transformed a fragmented credit card experience into a seamless, personalized journey.
As the design lead, my role was not just to design a product but to create value for users, businesses, and the broader ecosystem. This experience has shaped my approach to leadership, emphasizing systems thinking, stakeholder alignment, and a relentless focus on delivering meaningful outcomes.
Design, at its core, is about creating value—not just for users, but for the entire ecosystem.
Thanks for reading!