Projects · Journey at smallcase
Leading 0-1 design initiates at smallcase Gateway
TL DR
This read covers my experiences at smallcase Gateway over the past 3 years as a design generalist. It highlights the learning & work I’ve done with various stakeholders to enhance user experience & drive better business outcomes.
Before we start
What is smallcase Gateway?
In my own words… smallcase Gateway is where all the experimentation begins. The business follows a B2B2C model, meaning that the products developed here can be externalized and used by other businesses, similar to Razorpay or Juspay
Gateway started with the idea of "adding an Invest button to the internet"
Later, we expanded this idea beyond just onboard & transact for Indian equities to one stop solution for financial apps:
Onboard: Login & signup for stocks/ETFs, MFs, and U.S. stocks
Transact: Buy or sell stocks/ETFs, MFs, smallcase, and U.S. stocks
Import: Import stock/ETF and MFs holdings
Lend: Get loans against mutual funds and personal loans
My journey
As a design generalist
I worked with various stakeholders to improve business outcomes. My role extended beyond just product design at smallcase Gateway.
Business team
After feature development, we created pitch decks and monthly newsletters to engage existing clients and attract new leads. As we knew increase in engagement = increase in conversions.
Brainstorming & collaborating with product manager & analytics
As a designer creating solutions in 0-1 environment, we had to ask every question possible.
To help both product & design better frame the problem
Scope & prioritize things are the starting itself
Understanding both the direct and indirect impact of a feature before prioritizing it is crucial. You can read more in an article I wrote on revenue forecasting.
Hiring designers
At smallcase Gateway, I had the opportunity to hire interns and junior product designers for my team. Candidate evaluation was based on two key aspects: soft skills and hard skills.
Understanding your own work environment and identifying non-negotiables is critical.
A designer who is a great fit for a large company may not necessarily thrive in a smaller one. This is why understanding the company’s ins and outs is crucial before selecting the right candidate.
Collaborating with stakeholders
Stakeholder do context switching a lot but these folks can give you really valuable feedback as they know what's important what's not from a zoomed out perspective.
Hence giving background context & your rationale behind each & every small decision before asking for feedback is really important.
Work with engineers
Engineers tend to focus on the feasibility, functionality, and technical implementation of a design.
To get a finesse outcome you should be proactively communicating to engineers on which direction we are going ahead before sharing the final solution
Apart from it there
We created a lot of features to make smallcase Gateway to make it what it is today. Like broker account creation, broker based login & mutual funds/stocks holdings import.
Wanna learn more?
Sure! I am definitely excited to share the details as well. Above is just a brief overview of the problems I solved & responsibilities I took.
I’d love to dive into the process, constraints, learnings, and future enhancements we scoped out while in each of the project above. Let's discuss the details!
©2024 Vaibhav – The story continues