Within the fierce fintech competitors, saturated with new merchandise, Lipefi has not simply envisioned however executed a never-done-before idea that began with instantaneous prototyping and led to a viable enterprise that secured them rounds of funding. And all it took was solely 3 months of improvement course of.
About Lipefi
Lipefi is an organization from Brussels, Belgium creating monetary merchandise designed for startups and scale-ups.
Their mission is to assist startups handle their funds extra successfully and optimize their money flows. Certainly one of Lipefi’s most important choices is a {custom} bank card for startups and a spread of digital management and planning instruments.
Enterprise aim – buying buyers
The Lipefi group needed to create an utility for managing firm playing cards and controlling the finances.
The undertaking’s necessities have been as follows:
- making a clickable, high-level app prototype,
- bettering Lipefi’s visible identification (together with a brand new logotype),
- emphasizing finest UX practices,
- 6-7 week deadline for your complete undertaking,
- working inside a small finances.
After that, our accomplice used the appliance to take part in funding rounds and current their nice concept to potential buyers on a custom-made, working prototype. This fashion, Lipefi hoped to make an unforgettable impression on enterprise individuals who could also be prepared to put money into releasing their software program.
Our strategy to Lipefi’s fintech undertaking
- Analyzing person wants to search out the enterprise benefit
A number of monetary merchandise are round, and standing out within the crowd is more and more necessary. To confirm the viability of a fintech answer, discover solutions to those questions:
- Why do customers select your product?
- What do they wish to accomplish?
- How do they sort out the duty?
- Making data-based selections
Data is vital; with out good metrics, what you are promoting received’t attain its full development potential. It is important to repeatedly check your assumptions and be open to regulate to altering clients’ wants.
Managers or firm house owners typically proceed investing in options or merchandise with out correct person discovery. Generally, nice enterprise niches are neglected because of the neglect of steady person analysis. So discover your specialty and construct market worth on it.
- Holding it easy
Simplicity is crucial in fintech design. Within the fast-paced world, customers anticipate instant outcomes. Analysis says you’ve gotten 8-10 seconds to maintain the person’s consideration. That is particularly necessary in fintech, as folks are inclined to have much less endurance when their cash is at stake. To maintain clients relying in your product, allow them to finish duties easily and shortly.
- Taking good care of hierarchy and consistency
The consistency of interface components impacts the perceived high quality of your product, so don’t neglect about aesthetics. A structured info hierarchy and well-thought-out person stream are important. Current your choices logically and take a while to remove any lifeless ends in your product.
- Marketability
In response to IPSOS, 72% of American customers purchase merchandise based mostly on their model packaging design, so your organization must look enticing. Individuals purchase with eyes, and searching skilled is essential in a fintech atmosphere, the place customers entrust and take care of their cash. Don’t neglect about advertising belongings! You’ll want them for shows, posts on social media, and in-person conferences.
Planning part
Tight deadlines require a decent plan. To make iterations shortly, our group was in touch with the Lipefi group every day. We divided the work between three folks, initially working concurrently on the look & really feel, person flows, wireframes, and the design system.
We’ve got modified the method to offer the shopper with the best doable worth inside time and finances constraints.

We consider that well-described and deliberate work equals a well-organized scope for the longer term. Why was this so necessary?
- Clarifying each main characteristic and requirement earlier than we began engaged on it meant no wasted time or assets on one thing pointless.
- UX testing and market analysis improve the probabilities that we’re constructing a product that really can succeed.
- Holding inside finances.
Market analysis
We researched extensively to make sure the product meets startups’ distinctive wants and aligns with our shopper’s enterprise targets. This included internet hosting workshops to know our audience and their challenges, enabling us to determine startups’ particular monetary administration necessities.
Moreover, we totally analyzed enterprise necessities and performed a aggressive evaluation to make sure Lipefi’s product stands out out there. Again then, we discovered no direct competitors for Lipefi—their providing focused a distinct segment! Nonetheless, firms have been already concentrating on totally different buyer segments within the discipline, which gave us some references.
Lastly, to raised perceive finish customers, we created person journey maps outlining the interactions and touchpoints that firm house owners, managers, and staff have with the product.
Our scope of labor
Person persona
Recognizing the distinct wants and expectations of every person sort, we developed three personas representing the corporate:
An organization proprietor wants secure financing and a straightforward option to monitor spending. A excessive credit score restrict is often welcome, which frequently proves tough for startup house owners. Lipefi goals to supply increased limits because of its revolutionary machine-learning algorithm for assessing creditworthiness shortly and securely. It’s an important a part of Lipefi’s mental property.
Managers require a instrument to set limits for specific groups and individuals and monitor the division’s spending.
Workers want a seamless option to report bills and user-friendly entry to funds to meet their job obligations.
Recognizing the distinct wants and expectations of every person sort, we developed three personas representing the corporate:
After workshops, the deep understanding of person personas allowed us to align the ultimate product functionalities with their particular necessities.
Person stream

Constructing on the person journey mapping for every persona, we created person stream diagrams for example the steps and interactions concerned with Lipefi’s product. These diagrams performed a key position in guiding our ongoing work on the undertaking.
We designed the preliminary person journey step with Lipefi, specializing in the homepage and registration stream. The registration course of could seem prolonged, however we streamlined it to be considerably shorter even than typical financial institution procedures. The information offered within the registration type are used to confirm the credit-taker and decide the credit score restrict.
Upon finishing this step, the potential buyer, similar to a startup proprietor, receives a preview of Lipefi’s finance administration instrument. As soon as the credit score restrict is established, the shopper will probably be notified and might totally expertise the capabilities of Lipefi’s product.
“It [user flow] helped me set up the construction in my head”
Wireframes

Utilizing the aforementioned person flows as a basis, we then developed low-fidelity wireframes to make sure the very best person expertise. We made iterations after frequent conferences with the group and the shopper. We additionally clarified some technical particulars with the backend developer at that time.
These wireframes served as a blueprint for the product, serving to us refine the format and performance earlier than transferring on to extra detailed design work. This fashion, we saved numerous assets and lowered the price of introducing modifications to the ultimate design and the prototype.
Prototype and value testing

With the wireframes finalized, we created a clickable low-fidelity prototype to check the product’s usability and collect suggestions at an early stage. It enabled us to determine and deal with any shortcomings shortly.
By testing the prototype early on, we minimized prices and potential errors down the road. We performed this usability testing with simply a few contributors, which didn’t take a lot time and allowed us to assemble beneficial insights.
In response to the article “Why You Solely Must Check with 5 Customers” by Jakob Nielsen, as few as 5 contributors spot 80% of usability issues, which is the optimum pattern dimension for qualitative usability research. Sure, THE Nielsen who’s a co-founder of Nielsen Norman Group and the creator of Nielsen’s heuristics, dubbed the king of usability.
Because of “instantaneous” prototyping, we acquired the primary person suggestions on the third day of labor!
Branding

We additionally refreshed Lipefi’s model identification as a part of our design course of. This included making a new emblem, choosing an acceptable font, and figuring out the coloration scheme.
The visible language of Lipefi’s model was rigorously crafted to align with our shopper’s values and desired market positioning. The brand new model identification displays a sublime, trendy, and reliable picture for Lipefi.
Signal-up type touchdown web page

We designed a sublime web site for Lipefi with a user-friendly sign-up type. Primarily based on the data offered within the type, the shopper is given a sure credit score restrict—the entire process is way sooner than in banks. On the finish, the shopper sees a preview of Lipefi’s utility.
Design system

The proposed design system allows the product to increase and evolve. Though an preliminary time is invested in its development, the advantages are substantial—significantly when making modifications and enhancements and adapting the design for numerous display sizes.
We neatly organized the elements into atoms, molecules, and templates to speed up the event of the functionalities.
Dashboard

The dashboard is designed to make essential info simply accessible and visually interesting. It caters to the precise wants of various customers, e.g.
- Homeowners effortlessly view total bills and credit score limits, offering a complete overview of their firm’s funds.
- Workers have a simplified view, specializing in particular person spending and remaining credit score limits, making certain a user-friendly expertise tailor-made to their wants.
Playing cards

Lipefi’s product boasts a notable characteristic— the incorporation of each digital and bodily playing cards:
- Digital playing cards are meticulously crafted for platforms like Google or LinkedIn Advertisements, assigned to staff with a delegated objective, and restricted to particular makes use of, similar to advertisements.
- Bodily playing cards present better flexibility, enabling staff to obtain a card with a predefined restrict. Spending from the cardboard will be restricted to sure classes (although it’s not obligatory). A devoted dashboard inside Lipefi’s utility empowers staff to watch their spending construction and monitor their remaining limits with just a few clicks.
Transactions & OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
The corporate proprietor has complete entry to all transactions, supported by Lipefi’s sturdy filtering choices to facilitate thorough information evaluation.
Using OCR, staff streamline the expense monitoring course of. For example, when an worker makes a purchase order (a enterprise dinner at a restaurant), they simply have to take a photograph of the receipt. The system robotically acknowledges and populates all important info required to register the fee, eliminating the need for handbook information entry. Customers promptly assessment the data for accuracy and make changes if needed, simplifying and expediting the general course of.
Absolutely purposeful prototype in 3 months!
The end result of our efforts was a completely purposeful prototype designed to showcase the product idea to potential buyers and persuade them of its viability.
The web site exudes magnificence and ease, mirroring the service Lipefi supplies.
Lipefi’s concept for prototyping was a profitable success, as they acquired buyers’ funding.
We predict extra success within the upcoming future. 🎉
An ideal instrument to persuade buyers to rain cash
Speedy prototyping is a strong instrument for convincing buyers to fund a undertaking as a tangible proof of idea and demonstration of improvement progress. Prototype helps to:
Traders can see a working mannequin or product as a substitute of simply listening to about an summary concept. This makes it simpler for them to know your idea and perceive its enterprise potential.
Traders usually tend to fund a undertaking that has demonstrated viability, and a prototype reveals that the concept is possible, which reduces the perceived danger.
Speedy prototyping permits for fast iterations based mostly on actual person suggestions—in Lipefi’s case, it solely took three days to study what customers want. This reveals buyers that the group is adaptable and centered on product-market match, making the funding extra promising.
- Reveal your dedication to the undertaking
Having a prototype reveals that the enterprise founders have already invested time, effort, and assets into the undertaking. It alerts seriousness and dedication, that are essential to constructing investor confidence.
- Guarantee investor confidence
Seeing a functioning prototype permits buyers to evaluate the potential for scalability, market impression, and future improvement. It turns an idea into one thing extra concrete, giving them confidence within the potential returns on their funding.
Like Lipefi, go from idea to capital with a strong prototype
Prepared to show your fintech imaginative and prescient right into a actuality?
At The Software program Home, we focus on prototyping, which helps you safe investor funding and stand out within the aggressive market. Whether or not you want a proof of idea or a completely purposeful MVP, our group is right here to make it occur.