Konfío: All in one Platform for SME Growth

Shaped the user experience across credit, payments, and business tools—crafting intuitive, scalable design solutions that help small businesses grow and manage their finances with confidence.

Role

Product Design Director

Industry

Fintech

Strategic Context

Following the acquisition of two companies—one specializing in electronic invoicing, the other in point-of-sale systems—Konfío was poised to evolve from a fintech lender into a comprehensive platform for small businesses across Mexico.

However, this rapid expansion introduced complexity.

Multiple teams. Disparate technologies. Divergent user interfaces. While each solution delivered value individually, together they presented a disjointed and inconsistent experience. Customers were confused. Internal alignment was strained. And the unified platform we envisioned remained out of reach.

The Design Challenge

The issue was not merely aesthetic. We were attempting to unify disparate products that had been designed in isolation.

  • Each product operated with its own design language and structural logic.

  • Our internal design team had been optimized for credit acquisition, not multifunctional tools.

  • Speed was critical, yet user reliability and experience could not be compromised.

This was not simply a UX challenge. It was a systemic product ecosystem issue. One that required a complete rethinking of priorities, structure, and execution.

Leading the Transformation

As Product Design Director I was responsible for driving the strategic design vision—not only to visually align products, but to create a coherent, user-centered ecosystem. I began with the most fundamental element: understanding our users.

1. User-Centric Discovery

We launched a comprehensive qualitative research initiative:
User interviews, empathy mapping, and on-site field observations with small business operators in high-frequency transaction environments.

The insights revealed deep behavioral patterns, role-specific needs, and gaps across workflows—offering a holistic perspective we lacked from data alone.

This enabled us to establish behavioral archetypes that directly informed product design, navigation, and feature prioritization.

2. Systematizing Design for Scale

With clarity on user behavior, we addressed our fragmented UI. We conducted a full design audit and implemented a new cross-platform design system from the ground up.

We defined foundational tokens, atomic components, interaction standards, and accessibility benchmarks.

This system enabled alignment across teams and platforms, reduced redundancies, and accelerated implementation. Design and development timelines improved by 30%.

Strategic Context

Following the acquisition of two companies—one specializing in electronic invoicing, the other in point-of-sale systems—Konfío was poised to evolve from a fintech lender into a comprehensive platform for small businesses across Mexico.

However, this rapid expansion introduced complexity.

Multiple teams. Disparate technologies. Divergent user interfaces. While each solution delivered value individually, together they presented a disjointed and inconsistent experience. Customers were confused. Internal alignment was strained. And the unified platform we envisioned remained out of reach.

The Design Challenge

The issue was not merely aesthetic. We were attempting to unify disparate products that had been designed in isolation.

  • Each product operated with its own design language and structural logic.

  • Our internal design team had been optimized for credit acquisition, not multifunctional tools.

  • Speed was critical, yet user reliability and experience could not be compromised.

This was not simply a UX challenge. It was a systemic product ecosystem issue. One that required a complete rethinking of priorities, structure, and execution.

Leading the Transformation

As Product Design Director I was responsible for driving the strategic design vision—not only to visually align products, but to create a coherent, user-centered ecosystem. I began with the most fundamental element: understanding our users.

1. User-Centric Discovery

We launched a comprehensive qualitative research initiative:
User interviews, empathy mapping, and on-site field observations with small business operators in high-frequency transaction environments.

The insights revealed deep behavioral patterns, role-specific needs, and gaps across workflows—offering a holistic perspective we lacked from data alone.

This enabled us to establish behavioral archetypes that directly informed product design, navigation, and feature prioritization.

2. Systematizing Design for Scale

With clarity on user behavior, we addressed our fragmented UI. We conducted a full design audit and implemented a new cross-platform design system from the ground up.

We defined foundational tokens, atomic components, interaction standards, and accessibility benchmarks.

This system enabled alignment across teams and platforms, reduced redundancies, and accelerated implementation. Design and development timelines improved by 30%.

3. Establishing a Unified Brand Voice

To ensure cohesion beyond visuals, we collaborated with marketing, customer experience, and product teams to craft a shared communication framework.

We developed a brand tone and messaging guide applicable across UX copy, support interactions, and transactional messaging—balancing professionalism, clarity, and empathy.

This initiative significantly improved user trust, especially in regulatory and payment-related contexts.

4. Redesigning for Contextual Utility

We restructured the primary dashboard to elevate tools most relevant to daily operations: invoicing, inventory, payment tracking and cards transactions.

On mobile, we adopted a use-case-first approach—designing for real-world, in-the-moment interactions. We prioritized clarity, rapid access, and performance stability.

The result: a responsive, intuitive interface tailored to the realities of small business owners.

Results

By project completion, we had delivered a fully integrated platform experience:

  • A cohesive UX spanning credit, payments, and operational tools

  • A centralized design system adopted across all teams

  • Increased product adoption across non-credit verticals

  • Accelerated feature delivery without compromising quality

  • Heightened user confidence and satisfaction through consistency

Final Thoughts

This initiative demonstrated that successful product design leadership extends beyond interface design. It requires cross-functional alignment, systems thinking, and a strong foundation in user research.

The most meaningful outcome? Watching business owners transition from overwhelmed to empowered—navigating a product ecosystem designed with their real needs in mind.

Other projects

Simplifying Open Finance in Brazil

How we redesigned the user experience in a regulated space—driving clarity, trust, and higher conversion for Belvo.

Unlocking product adoption with no-code

How we reduced integration time by 75% through design-led workflows—boosting adoption at Belvo with no-code solutions.

System thinking at Scale: How we built Konfío’s Design System

We broke down silos and scaled collaboration across design, product, and engineering. The design system became our foundation for speed, consistency, and growth—transforming how we build and work together at Konfío.

Less noise, more impact ✨ Rom Garcia 2025

Less noise, more impact ✨ Rom Garcia 2025

Less noise, more impact ✨ Rom Garcia 2025