Ovik Finance: Supply Chain Finance Solutions
Just one month into my design career at Synoriq, I was given an incredible opportunity: to act as the sole, on-site designer for Ovik Finance, a company in the complex world of supply chain finance. This two-week sprint was a deep dive into FinTech, requiring me to translate a client's evolving vision into a polished mobile app right before their eyes.
My Role
Tools Used
Challenge
The biggest challenge was navigating the client's own evolving vision. They were often unsure of what they wanted until they saw a high-fidelity design, which meant feedback was often vague and requirements would shift mid-conversation. My job was to be patient, translate their fluctuating ideas into concrete UI, and facilitate their brainstorming in real-time. On top of that, coming from a non-finance background, I had to get up to speed on the complexities of supply chain finance very quickly. I made it a priority to understand the financial literacy of their end-users to ensure the app's language was helpful, not intimidating and full of unnecessary jargon.
Constraints
This entire project was a two-week sprint. The schedule was intense; I’d travel from my office to the client's office to sit with them all day, designing live and hashing out ideas, before heading back.
It was exhausting but also a huge vote of confidence from my team. I was the only intern chosen amongst others for on site roles even over senior designers, because the design head and vice president of the firm trusted my communication skills to handle a direct, hands-on client relationship.
Research
While the client provided a lot of initial direction, I knew I needed to hear from the people who would actually be using the app. I pushed for the opportunity and was able to interview three of their clients who were visiting the office. This was invaluable. It helped me understand their day-to-day activities, their current pain points, and the communication gaps that the app could realistically solve.
Understanding from the Client
Their number one goal was to create a seamless tool to manage their customers internal supply chain finance operations and simplify communication with their customers. But the bigger business driver was to gain a competitive edge. All their local competitors were still handling things manually. By launching a sophisticated mobile app, OVIK Finance wasn’t just improving their workflow; they were positioning themselves as a modern, tech-forward leader in their market.
Getting down to work
I was handed a set of basic, initial wireframes from my senior product designer to use as a starting point.
From there, it was my job to bring the vision to life. I built out the full high-fidelity UI, establishing a new color palette, creating a library of custom components, illustrations and other elements.
And developing an interactive prototype that directly addressed the client's requests as they evolved.
Key Iterations
The design process was highly iterative. Many changes revolved around how much data to display on the home screen and how to best structure the invoice details.
When the client worried about onboarding new users, I proposed and designed a full walkthrough sequence to explain how the app works.
I also suggested other ways for users' enhanced understanding and designed tooltips to explain the users how each section works and what it is about.
Final Deliverables
The project concluded with two main deliverables:
A comprehensive Design System to ensure consistency across the platforms.
A high-fidelity, interactive prototype of the mobile app, detailing the complete user journey from onboarding to finance management.
Takeaways & Reflection
This project was a defining moment for me. Just one month into my design career, being sent to lead a client-facing project was a huge honor. I learned a ton about FinTech, various corporate processes (like managing a timesheet for design costing! Finally understood what minutes of the meeting means XD) and how to apply my academic knowledge to a real-world product. More than anything, it sharpened my communication skills and taught me how to thrive in a fast-paced, client-driven environment.