My journey as a Product Designer at Newday began with a deliberate step into the heart of London's vibrant fintech scene. Driven by a desire to craft experiences that genuinely help people, I joined the Payment Squad, a team focused on the most critical touchpoints of the customer's financial journey. Here, my work revolves around demystifying credit and designing secure, intuitive payment solutions that empower our customers and build their financial confidence.

About Newday

NewDay is one of the UK's largest specialist consumer credit providers, with a clear purpose of helping people move forward with credit. Their product portfolio includes their own direct-to-consumer brands such as the Aqua, Marbles, and Fluid credit cards, and they also power the credit solutions for some of the UK's most well-known retail partners, including John Lewis. At its heart, NewDay is dedicated to providing responsible and accessible credit options to a wide spectrum of customers across the UK. The company is committed to responsible lending, ensuring that customers are offered credit that is appropriate for their circumstances.

My Objective

My primary objective at Newday is to demystify the world of credit and make financial management less intimidating for our customers. I aim to design clear, intuitive, and empowering experiences that not only meet user needs but also build their confidence. My goal is to create products that are not just functional, but also supportive, helping users to feel in control of their financial journey.

About the Payment Squad

The Payment Squad is at the core of the customer's financial journey with NewDay. Our team is responsible for all aspects of making and managing payments, a critical function that directly impacts user trust and financial wellbeing. We handle everything from one-off payments and Direct Debit setups to designing how payment information is displayed. Our mission is to make these essential interactions as seamless, secure, and stress-free as possible, ensuring customers can manage their obligations easily and stay in control of their credit.

My Role in the Payment Squad

As a key member of the payment squad, I focus on the most critical customer-facing journeys. My responsibilities include designing and refining core payment flows, such as setting up and managing Direct Debits, and innovating on new products that help customers build their credit responsibly. I work to ensure that every interaction with our payment systems is simple, secure, and transparent, ultimately helping customers manage their repayments with ease and confidence.

Key Challenges

Designing within the fintech industry, especially in a regulated environment like the UK, presents unique challenges. A primary focus is building and maintaining user trust, which means every design decision must prioritize clarity, security, and transparency. We must communicate complex financial information in a simple, understandable way, catering to a diverse audience with varying levels of financial literacy. Furthermore, because there are a lot of undocumented legacy flows in the app, a significant part of the work focuses on first discovering and documenting these existing journeys in Figma before new design work can begin. This is a crucial challenge to ensure consistency and identify true areas for improvement.

How I Work

My design process is deeply collaborative and iterative. I work in close partnership with product managers, engineers, and security experts from the very beginning of a project.

• Discover & Define: I start by deeply understanding the problem space and the user's needs through research and discovery.

• Ideate & Prototype: I explore a wide range of solutions through sketching, wireframing, and interactive prototyping.

• Test & Iterate: I relentlessly test my assumptions with real users, gathering feedback to refine and improve my designs.

• Deliver & Support: I work hand-in-hand with engineering to ensure a high-quality implementation and continue to monitor and improve features after they launch.

Beyond my project work, I love passing my design knowledge to newer product designers. I am passionate about cultivating a culture of learning and documentation. As Newday was just starting out with getting a design system, I have been heavily involved in that process, drawing on my experience to help build a foundation for scalable and cohesive design.

Why I Design at Newday

My move to Newday was driven by a strong interest in the financial technology sector and the opportunity to work at the heart of London's thriving fintech hub. I was drawn to Newday's specific mission of providing responsible access to credit, as it aligns perfectly with my desire to work on products that have a tangible, positive impact on people's daily lives. Ultimately, my goal is to design solutions that demystify finance and genuinely empower individuals to manage their money and build a better financial future.