Nine25’s mission is to help young Australians do money better. Customers can sign up and start spending within minutes, then send money, earn rewards, borrow and invest all in one functional and delightful‑to‑use mobile app.
Over more than 2 years, the app went from 600 users to 16,500+ accounts created, which made Nine25 one of the top 25 financial apps on the Australian App Store in mid‑2023. Nine25 was featured in multiple media outlets and has proven to have found its product‑market fit.
Building the product from the ground up means I never stepped away from being hands‑on, not that I ever mind it. This also allows the product to have a strong foundation as business scales.
We also developed the design team and its processes from scratch alongside the product, which required me to manage not just the design team but also internal and external stakeholders.
Weekly one‑on‑ones were essential to keep more junior team members motivated and aligned. On the other hand, design feedback was given contextually so problems could be addressed early on.
We validated the product by using various research methods, such as user interviews and surveys, as well as relying on quantitative data to optimise our offerings.
One of the most crucial design artefacts is the UI flow, which lays out the whole experience, helping not just the product team but also the engineering team keep track of the evolution of the app and its experience.
Aiming at Gen Z and young millennials, the brand’s language must reflect and attract this audience. Inspired by the 1990s and early 2000s aesthetics while promoting a futuristic and minimalistic feel, we incorporated a neo-retro gradient as a primary visual element along with custom-made illustrations by inspired video games made during this era.
Nine25’s design system evolved slowly but surely. By allowing the app to adapt to business requirements initially without being boxed into a system, we could change the product with a high level of flexibility until it was mature enough to necessitate reusable components. Once set up, the engineering team developed their own version, massively reducing the time to design and ship new features.
By continuously shipping products, we learned and iterated based on direct feedback from customers. The marketing website was treated as a product by its own merits to ensure the workflow was streamlined.
To speed up releases, the website was built with Webflow. By leveraging Webflow’s capabilities, the product team maintained a high quality and high-performing website without the need for a dedicated web developer.
The mobile app is shipped on both the App Store and Play Store simultaneously by utilising React Native as a part of the tech stack.
I acknowledge & pay respect to the people of Wangal of the Eora Nation on whose land I live & work.
I acknowledge & pay respect to the people of Wangal of the Eora Nation on whose land I live & work.