I am Maryam, an energetic yet focus
UX Designer
Creating a Seamless Digital Journey for Business Customers
As part of the pitch team, I joined as UX Lead, responsible for guiding the full experience — from discovery through to packaged prototype and launch.
+26%
Increase in business Product Leads
+26%
Growth in SME Customer Acquisition
+15%
Uplift in Cross-sell between
funding and Insurance products
Through strategic discovery and stakeholder insight, we uncovered a clear opportunity —
Small and medium businesses were ready for digital support, but the platform simply wasn’t built for them.
We started with Research
SMEs wanted tools to manage operations, funding options to grow, and insurance to protect what they were building
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We reviewed past initiatives and strategic decks to understand the business goals.
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We interviewed stakeholders across departments to unpack complexity early.
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We analyzed the SME customer segment, backed by third-party research and internal data.
"The challenge is finding a balance between flexibility and compliance. We have to support business needs without compromising on legal requirements"
— Legal and Risk Officer
"We don’t just want another page on the site. We need a structured, scalable experience that can grow with our business customers"
— Head of Strategy
"Business owners don’t have time to figure things out. They need clear paths, relevant tools, and quick answers."
— Customer Experience Lead
We created clear
data-informed personas
First-time founders to seasoned business owners —
Designing for the Many, Not the Few
Design principles and prioritised content guided the concept designs and helped with team decision-making.
Needs Based Information Architecture​​
Segmentation of content and functionality according to user needs, not business structure.
Simplify complex
structures​
Simplify the presentation of useful data to be consumable and actionable
Engaging Visuals
& Content​
Use of quality and relatable visuals and interaction design with African flair to enhance engagement
Coaching & Support​​
Support customers in achieving their goals through advisory focus
Segmentation of content and functionality according to user needs, not business structure.
Needs based Information Architecture
Design Principles
Persona & Scenarios
Concept Design
We identified five key themes that guided our design thinking.
How these themes translated into designs ....
Landing Page
Needs based
Start your business
Social Proofing
Run your business
Customization
Contextually appropriate information
Present contextually appropriate articles, tools, calculators and guided startup workbench.
Personalization for targeted offers
User and business data profiling for personalization and targeted offers.
Final outcome
Our end-to-end UX approach led to a seamless, scalable digital experience tailored for small and medium business customers. By combining user research, stakeholder alignment, and needs-based design, we delivered a platform that empowered SMEs to start, run, and grow their businesses with confidence.
Key Learnings
Stakeholder Co-Creation Reduces Friction Early
Engaging cross-functional stakeholders (legal, risk, CX, strategy) in discovery and ideation helped align constraints with opportunity, accelerating buy-in and delivery.
Visual Design Should Reflect the Customer Base
We used locally relevant visuals, inclusive tone, and African design accents to create trust, relatability, and cultural connection with our SME audience.
🪞 Final Reflections
