2023-24
Upside*
Designed UI explorations and onboarding flows for Upside, a mobile-first fintech platform at NewCo: An IAC Incubator, helping fans invest in music royalties while creating a cohesive visual identity across the product and social channels.
App Design
Brand Design
Project Details
Role
Product Designer
Team
3 Designers, 2 Co-CEOs, 1 Product Manager, 1 Marketing Lead, 5+ Software Engineers
Tools Used
Figma, FigJam, Jira, Notion
Experience Gained
Designed UI explorations and the end-to-end onboarding flow for a mobile-first fintech product, translating an unfamiliar investment model into an experience a general audience could understand and trust. Balanced financial credibility with cultural relevance, and extended the work into a visual identity system spanning both product and social channels.
Intro
The Mission
Empowering Users & Driving Engagement.
Designed a mobile-first platform that makes investing in music royalties accessible and engaging, letting fans buy and sell shares of their favorite artists and bridging music culture with fintech.
Key Challenges
Unfamiliar investment model
Fintech trust vs. music culture
Mobile onboarding friction
The experience needed to make music royalty investing simple and approachable, while remaining credible, secure, and fast on mobile and reflecting the energy of music culture.
The Solution
Crafting the Experience.
We designed a mobile experience that made music royalty investing intuitive and engaging.
Simplified onboarding and clear UI patterns helped users understand the platform quickly, while a cohesive visual identity reinforced credibility and connection to music culture.
Research
Understanding The Value We Bring.
We built a mobile experience that made music royalty investing feel approachable rather than technical, with clear onboarding and a cohesive visual identity linking financial credibility to music culture.
Architecture
Creating The Structure.
For Upside, a clear information architecture kept the experience seamless for fans and investors while leaving room for scale and future growth.
Accessibility & Finance
Making Finance Feel Friendly.
Light and dark modes improved accessibility, while clear, organized design helped users track investments, make informed decisions, and navigate confidently.
Branding
Consistency Drives Trust.
Brand guidelines kept the visual identity consistent across the platform and social channels, strengthening recognition and user trust.
Final Designs & Impact
Designs That Speak Volumes.
The final designs for Upside combined straightforward onboarding, clear investment tracking, and a cohesive visual identity. Though it never launched, the project delivered polished UI, thoughtful workflows, and hard-won insight into designing complex fintech experiences for culturally rich spaces.
