Lead Product Designer (UX/UI)
Techreo
Company: Techreo
Role: Lead Product & UX/UI Designer
Duration: Aug 2022 – Mar 2024
Platform: Mobile App (Android & iOS)
Business Type: B2B2C Fintech
Techreo is a Mexican fintech that provides white-label mobile banking solutions to emerging financial institutions across Latin America. Their flagship mobile app allows users to manage their money, apply for loans, access credit cards, and create shared accounts.Techreo’s value lies in serving companies that want to compete with platforms like NU or Mercado Pago but lack the internal tech and design capabilities to build scalable digital products. These companies such as CAME (Mexico), IDEPRO (Bolivia), and Pagaqui (Mexico) require customizable, user-friendly, and robust financial apps to serve their own end users.When I joined Techreo, there was no UX team in place.
I joined as the first UX hire to lead the complete redesign of the mobile app and build the UX team from scratch. I implemented a scalable design process focused on user needs, adaptable to the different end-user profiles of each client (e.g., CAME, Pagaqui, IDEPRO), since every company purchasing the app had a distinct customer base
My initial responsibility was to prepare the app’s foundation to evolve into a scalable white-label product that could serve multiple financial institutions with very different user needs.
When I joined Techreo, the mobile app was still in its early stages designed as a single solution for one client without scalability in mind. There was no UX team, and product decisions were made mainly by product managers and developers. My initial responsibility was to prepare the app’s foundation to evolve into a scalable white-label product that could serve multiple financial institutions with very different user needs. As business requirements increased, so did the complexity and I quickly discovered the experience was fragile, inconsistent, and full of usability issues.
Key challenges i identified:
No UX foundation or design system
The product had no consistent design patterns or scalable components. Every new feature required reinventing flows, causing inefficiencies and design debt.
Multiple user bases, one shared product
While initially designed for one institution, the vision was to expand the app to serve various fintech clients from urban professionals to underserved rural communities all within a single flexible framework.
Usability issues undermining business growth
Early client feedback (like from CAME) revealed user frustration during critical tasks like onboarding or applying for financial products. These problems threatened the success of future partnerships.
Lack of structured user research
Decisions were based on assumptions or internal opinions. There was no structured research process, user journey documentation, or usability testing in place.
Before diving into design solutions, I leveraged the Double Diamond methodology to structure our discovery and definition phases. My first step was a series of workshops and interviews with key stakeholders product owners, business managers, and support leaders. These sessions helped us clarify the big picture:
What are our business goals and desired outcomes?
What problems do we need to solve for both the business and our users?
Where are the main pain points or blockers in the current journey?
What would an ideal solution look like for all parties?
This alignment made it possible to focus our research where it mattered most.
Customer Journey Hypothesis
Rather than limiting our analysis to the in-app experience, I started by mapping the decision-making journey users take before ever downloading Techreo/CAME. The goal was to understand how and why users decide to adopt (or avoid) a digital financial app in the first place.
Mapping Decision Patterns
I segmented potential users into distinct groups, each with different motivations, barriers, and digital behaviors. For each, I created a hypothesis journey mapping their thought process from initial need to app adoption:
Key steps in the decision journey:
Trigger Event:
A financial need arises (e.g., loan required, need for easier money management).
Consideration & Trust:
Weighing pros/cons, checking reviews, or relying on word-of-mouth to assess trust.
Information Search:
Users compare solutions researching online, asking friends/family, or visiting branches.
Decision Point:
Choosing to try Techreo/CAME’s app, stick with another solution, or do nothing.
Decision Point:
Choosing to try Techreo/CAME’s app, stick with another solution, or do nothing.First Interaction: Download, register, or request support.
First Interaction:
Download, register, or request support.
Proto-Personas & Interview Planning
Using these hypothesis journeys and personas, I designed a targeted interview strategy. My goal was to validate (or challenge) our assumptions and uncover pain points that matter most.
With these proto-personas and journey maps, I built a structured interview guide (shared with the team) to ensure our research was repeatable and scalable as we onboarded new clients and user groups.