SaaS
Dashboards
Startup
Growth
First design hire
Lead designer, 2018 – 2022, for iZi Soluciones Digitales
about
This Startup wanted to (help) fix a very visible problem:
A very hard-to-use national tax software
With very poor aesthetics and too much information, processes turned very complex and provided little to no feedback, which could sometimes result in errors-that meant huge fines or businesses being shut down.
our goals
Ensure our registered users carry the billing and tax registration on time and without any errors.
Provide a better tax management experience with simplified steps, softer aesthetics, and friendly interactions.
my role
As in lot of startups, initially I had to wear many hats, I worked hands-on and contributed in a lot of areas that were closely related and that, of course, included visuals.
First design projects
Branding
Style guide
Marketing material
Wordpress site for sales
the actual product
Investor pressure pushed us to quickly deliver an MVP—moving from collaborative sketches with the CTO to high-fidelity mocks and close dev collaboration.
It got us through the first investment round and into the real world, where we saw how real users interacted with the product. This helped us identify our core users and prioritize features worth pursuing from a business perspective while dropping those that weren’t.
During this time, iZi acquired 900 B2B customers, with a strong renewal rate of around 90% after the first year and 85% after the second.
can we have more features?
The company started growing, and as we acquired more customers, we realised that they had other needs*
– We like the taxing platform… but can we create quotes to our clients from here too?
– I love that I can create invoices for my customers, but what about the invoices that my vendors and providers give to me?
– Yes, the tax thing is helpful, but I need to keep an inventory of what I’m selling first
*Similar information was informally collected by Sales in calls with clients and comments from close customers.
Some people in the team (hello, Sales folk) where really interested in being able to improve our product offering, being able to solve more problems to our customers would guarantee loyalty and open the path for new customers.
hiring
As the project kept growing, I had to shift from a UX team of one to a Desing Team, and I was extremely happy about it. After some interviews, an amazing Team of 3 was created.
Aligning a team
Service maps
Data from Customer success
Diagrams
Communication with devs
Our really helpful Service mapping template.
design system
With new members on the team and new products to ideate, we wanted to be able to create new designs and try new features easily, with consistency, and with a really good collaboration with front-end devs.
It was decided to work on an Atomic Design System. Aligning on the goal wasn’t difficult as all teams recognised the value on being able to document components.
Here’s a bit of how we grew from atoms to full templates:
overall learnings and results
1
Being there from scratch
Having the opportunity to be part of a project from scratch allows for a better understanding of the business and lateral view of all other teams, as a designer I felt able to foster more user centric approaches.
2
Iterations
With a well-coordinated design team and a design system in place, the process of making iterations and improvements on the product became both organised and enjoyable.
3
How things are going
iZi reached our goal of providing an easy and user-friendly solution for tax management, fully integrated with the national tax system. It kept users informed about due dates and payments, helping them avoid fines. During this time, iZi acquired 900 B2B customers, with a strong renewal rate of around 90% after the first year and 85% after the second. The company also secured two rounds of investment in Bolivia and continued to expand its client base nationwide.