Netcapital
Design System | UX/UI | Web
Netcapital is an online platform that facilitates equity crowdfunding, allowing startups and small businesses to raise capital from a large number of investors. It connects entrepreneurs seeking funds with investors looking for opportunities to invest in early-stage companies.
The platform provides tools for both sides to manage their investments and funding campaigns effectively.
Problem
The lack of a Design System that ensured visual consistency and efficient functionality across platforms (for investors and issuers) at both the interface and user experience levels was one of the main issues to address.
The absence of this Design System also resulted in inconsistency and imbalance throughout the design and user journey, as well as causing constant difficulties, delays, and challenges in product development and in the integration of design and new features with the development and product teams.
Solution
The creation of a robust Design System allowed for the standardization of visual and interactive elements, promoting cohesion and efficiency in the development of consistent and intuitive interfaces, while also ensuring the scalability of the solution over time.
The Design System was also fundamental in speeding up and shortening the entire development process, both in terms of design and its integration with the product development and engineering teams.
My Role
Led the UX/UI design and implementation of a new Design System for Netcapital.
Directed all phases of design process, from ideation to prototyping, testing, and delivery.
Enhanced the overall design by addressing and correcting unbalanced and inconsistent aspects of the existing user interface and user experience.
Netcapital is an online platform that facilitates equity crowdfunding, allowing startups and small businesses to raise capital from a large number of investors. It connects entrepreneurs seeking funds with investors looking for opportunities to invest in early-stage companies.
Through Netcapital, businesses can offer equity shares to the public, while investors can browse and invest in a variety of vetted startups, typically with lower minimum investment requirements than traditional venture capital.
The platform provides tools for both sides to manage their investments and funding campaigns effectively.
Problem
The lack of a Design System that ensured visual consistency and efficient functionality across platforms (for investors and issuers) at both the interface and user experience levels was one of the main issues to address.
The absence of this Design System also resulted in inconsistency and imbalance throughout the design and user journey, as well as causing constant difficulties, delays, and challenges in product development and in the integration of design and new features with the development and product teams.
Solution
The creation of a robust Design System allowed for the standardization of visual and interactive elements, promoting cohesion and efficiency in the development of consistent and intuitive interfaces, while also ensuring the scalability of the solution over time.
The Design System was also fundamental in speeding up and shortening the entire development process, both in terms of design and its integration with the product development and engineering teams.
My Role
Led the UX/UI design and implementation of a new User Interface and Design System for Netcapital.
Directed all phases of design process, from ideation to prototyping, testing, and delivery.
Enhanced the overall design by addressing and correcting unbalanced and inconsistent aspects of the existing user interface and user experience.
Scope
10-month capstone project
My scope in the project encompassed Product Design, UX/UI Design, and the development of a comprehensive Design System for both Netcapital Investors and Issuers platforms.
The Design System
The implementation of a robust design system was essential to facilitate rapid design integration and ensure smooth communication with the engineering and product teams, leading to a more efficient and fluid development process and a cohesive user experience.
Research
User research was crucial in Netcapital’s design process.
Through comprehensive user research and data analysis, I identified the primary pain points: a cumbersome and complex KYC form, a complicated onboarding process, unintuitive navigation, and a lack of intuitive design in the user interface.
To address these issues, I undertook a complete redesign of the user flows, interface and onboarding process.
The redesigned interface aimed to be more user-friendly and intuitive, making it easier for the users to complete the onboarding process.
These changes led to a notable increase in user retention and garnered positive feedback from users.
Onboarding
The Onboarding Process involved enhancing the user experience by streamlining and modernizing the onboarding journey.
Our approach was focused on improving the existing walkthrough and introducing new elements such as in-site tooltips, wizards, empty states and notifications, ensuring a seamless experience for users as they interact with the platform for the first time.
KYC
One of the key challenges we faced was dealing with the complexity and length of the KYC (Know Your Customer) form.
Given the legal and regulatory requirements involved, the KYC process demanded a significant amount of information from users, which often resulted in frustration and abandonment during onboarding.
To overcome this challenge, we focused on simplifying and restructuring the form.
Instead of overwhelming users with lengthy forms upfront, we split the KYC process into multiple steps, presenting the information in digestible chunks. Each part of the form now only requests information when it is absolutely necessary for a specific action or feature.
For example, users are only prompted to provide detailed identification and financial information when they reach stages that require verification, such as making an investment or accessing certain account features.
We implemented a progressive disclosure approach, which helps reduce cognitive load by not showing the entire form at once. Users were given clear, contextual instructions at each step, allowing them to understand why certain information was being requested.
Additionally, we incorporated status indicators to inform users about their progress, motivating them to complete the process.
Moreover, we streamlined the user interface with autofill features for recurring information (like addresses or IDs), ensuring the form completion process was as smooth as possible. By doing this, we managed to significantly reduce the time and effort required to complete the KYC process, making it more user-friendly while still maintaining compliance with legal requirements.
In summary, through a combination of form reorganization, step-by-step information requests, and UX enhancements, we turned a complex and extensive process into a more efficient, user-centered experience.
Mobile First approach
Designing the Netcapital platform with a mobile-first approach was crucial to ensuring accessibility and ease of use for both investors and issuers.
Understanding that users are increasingly managing investments on-the-go, we prioritized a responsive, intuitive mobile experience.
