Senior Web Designer
2024
/
Web Design
EarnIn is a financial app that empowers users to access their earned wages before payday, helping them avoid overdraft fees and financial stress. With key features like Cash Out, Early Pay, and Balance Shield, EarnIn provides greater flexibility and control over personal finances.
My role & responsibilities
As Senior Web Designer, my role was to audit the previous version of the website, understand the technical implications of using Contentful as our CMS, connect the website with the product/app experience from a brand perspective, create design concepts and explorations, and lead the design efforts. I worked closely with copywriters, the creative director, and the tech team to ensure the right implementation by running QA with engineers and the Head of Web Marketing.
The challenge
The EarnIn website serves as the entry point for many users and acts as the front door for the brand. The previous version, designed by an external agency, lacked brand alignment, making it crucial for the team to take ownership and reflect the company’s identity effectively.
Goals
Improve brand perception by creating a clean, engaging website experience. From a technical perspective, make the site scalable by developing templates, libraries, and systems that allow quick page creation and enable non-technical users to edit content via Contentful, reducing dependency on the technical team working in APAC hours.
Research & insights
We conducted an analysis of the existing website to identify pain points and inconsistencies, focusing on the homepage first. Key issues included inconsistent brand elements (colors, logotypes, typography) and misalignment with EarnIn’s Cheddar Design System used in the mobile app. We also performed a competitive analysis to understand industry patterns and brand connection strategies.
Design Direction
We aimed to incorporate bold colors and shapes from the brand while balancing them with minimalist elements to enhance storytelling. Additionally, we considered the brand as a multi-product experience, not just focusing on Cash Out but ensuring scalability.
Key Features
Standardized design tokens (spacing, grid layout, colors, type-scale, iconography, imagery) for consistency across the experience.
Mobile-first approach, optimizing for the 70%+ mobile visitors.
Creation of the Cheddar Web Design System to streamline design-development and improve coherence.
Ability to build new page implementations in record time, ensuring brand, visual and technological consistency.
Impact
Successfully implemented Contentful CMS, enabling reusable templates and reducing technical overhead.
Strengthened brand and product alignment, improving user engagement.
Took ownership of the website, enabling A/B testing and faster iterations, enhancing team collaboration.
Learnings
01
Standardized design tokens (spacing, grid layout, colors, type-scale, iconography, imagery) for consistency across the experience.
02
Mobile-first approach, optimizing for the 70%+ mobile visitors.
03
Creation of the Cheddar Web Design System to streamline design-development and improve coherence.
04
Ability to build new page implementations in record time, ensuring brand, visual and technological consistency.
For more info about this project, feel free to reach out:
hello@ricardoada.me