In the last 3 years, I have worked with 3 fintech products. I resisted at first. Saying fintech is not my jam. I wanted to do something more ‘meaningful’ (a part of this might have to do with my relationship with money)

I wanted to stay away from fintech because at worst it felt dirty and at best it felt boring. Now after working in this domain and understanding the problems people like you and me and others face, I see the value in having a healthy relationship with money.

Firstly few basics, we do live in a capitalist world, and money is the means to a good life. In a world where capitalism can get ugly and products can have dark patterns, what role does a designer have?

First and foremost, and there should not be debate about this, is caring for the user. Now, this is a designer's job in all domains. And it’s even more important when it comes to money, something that makes or breaks someone’s life and is a source of endless anxiety.

When businesses are running after targets, the real person using these products can easily be neglected, sometimes even intentionally. This is a tricky situation for a designer, but a decent compromise is always better than not even trying.

(Sadly, it’s a slow and painful process, you've got to be ready for it. Is there a support group somewhere for designers working in difficult industries?)

Money is emotional.

Designing for money means designing for reducing anxiety, increasing trust, and showcase transparency. Communicate the right information, with the right emphasis and at the right time. Where is my money? What is this extra charge? Are you withholding information? Can I click on this button without doing something undoable? These are real concerns that need to be addressed.

These become even more important for emerging instruments, like crypto. The more unknowns, the more you need to work on communicating and putting people at ease.

Financial services are full of bureaucratic crap.

This has a two-fold impact, first for people using these services. Doing anything on these platforms is painful and even when it's not, it is perceived as such. We are going to be reliving the stress of dealing with traditional banking for a while.

So you better have a great reason for someone to ‘adopt your product’, help your users understand the product’s value even before they sign up, and support that with a super smooth onboarding experience that makes it feel effortless.

The second impact is the regulations you need to design within. It’s part of your job to learn about the domain, infrastructure and institutions involved. And then deliver a design that communicates the same to the user.

Money is a figment of our shared imagination.

Our relationship with money is not a silo. Cultural and community influences are very much present and deeply impact our relationship with money. The background and the exposure someone has growing up can impact their financial literacy. And please, question your biases.

Someone in an urban area might have a sophisticated and digital financial environment. Women might just be exploring financial independence and finding ways to take more ownership. Folks from smaller towns might still more be comfortable having a real person to interact with. All of these will impact what people expect from your platform as well as how they will use it.

Make it fun, when it’s appropriate.

‘Don’t come in the way’ chant this. Of course, we want to go above and beyond to deliver a great experience. In financial services that can simply mean being clear and helpful. Delight can mean getting shit done fast, breaking down large boring chunks of content in bullet points, having a happy animation for when my money has been deposited and confirming a high-impact negative action before letting me do it.

It can take many forms that are appropriate to the context, just don’t add a slot machine animation when I’m trying to sell a stock, read the room.

There is high potential in actually helping people with their money. It has been a great opportunity to work in this industry, I have come full circle and I am honestly excited to see financial services becoming more accessible (fingers crossed).

Have you heard Money, Money, Money by Abba?