Aligning Design and Business to build a new phygital sales operation for financial products
My Role
Design Lead
Industry
Finance
Main Skills
Data Analysis, Service Design, Business Strategy, Market Research, Data-driven Decision Making, Stakeholder Alignment, Product Vision, Design Leadership, User Research, Phygital Experience Design
The Basics
Getting to know the company
Escale Digital is a B2B2C company that, at the time of the development of this project, was operating in the acquisition and conversion of users in Health and Home Services verticals, helping large companies in Latin America sell their products in an online environment.
Using Growth strategies and conversion funnel optimisation — from product pages to shopping carts and omnichannel automation — we were responsible for creating purchase intent, qualifying leads, and converting them into purchases, generating profit from this operation.
Challenge
Need for company expansion
For a long time, we already knew that the company had a clear vision of expanding into two specific products: Finance and Education. However, we did not have a fixed date for launching each of these new operations, only market demands and C-Level ambitions.
When the time for the Roadmap arrived, the Business team was starting to prospect clients to begin the Finance operation, but without a clear vision of where to officially start. One thing was certain: it needed to be in the sale of financial credit products.
Hacking
Starting the Design role within the Business team
At that moment, I was working on a project together with the Business team — specifically New Business — aiming to help them understand the feasibility of business ideas for the company and validate or not potential initiatives we had at that time.
It was then that, with the support of my Director, I proposed helping them to understand which financial products would be the best path for us to follow. This was a new approach for both the Business and Design teams, so it initially faced some resistance, but I made an agreement: give me a specific timeframe and I would bring them valuable information, which they could choose to use or not.
As they were just beginning conversations and negotiations with potential commercial partners, they decided to give me the chance to present my perspective on the matter.
Research
Finding possible data
Since my challenge was defined — to discover which financial product the company should begin to invest in — I needed to find the necessary data to make it happen.
To achieve this, I took advantage of a Brazilian law called the Open Data Law, which published and made available all anonymised data of financial transactions registered in the country through the Central Bank.
Research
Understanding what our product was
When I accessed the databases made available by the government, specifically the Central Bank, there were several terms, categories, and existing information that I could not initially understand, as I did not yet have the necessary knowledge about the financial credit market at that time.
So I quickly needed to study what financial credit products in Brazil were, searching for quick information on YouTube about what they could be and other necessary details to be able to map the data.
Research
Cleaning data and creating patterns
Once I understood the formats and clarified the products, another challenge emerged: a single year of data contained, on average, 60 million transactions, anonymised with tokens to ensure confidentiality.
I had to figure out how to read and create patterns from this data. Using SQL, I cleaned the dataset based on principles such as:
Excluding all credit card transactions (irrelevant to the business).
Assigning a unique decimal identifier to each record.
Ensuring the dataset was free from duplicates.
Research
Identifying patterns and insights
After cleaning the data using SQL, I obtained a more reliable database from which I could extract the necessary information. Then I needed to understand what information I could extract from this database, since the data alone did not tell me any story.
To do this, I began to analyse what categories of information existed within the data and, thinking about cross-referencing data, what information I could extract from this data — or rather, what information this data was telling me.
Research
Creating market projections
Now that I had a map of information that the data could tell me, I had a complete profile of each product, transaction history, financial issues, and location. However, I needed one important piece of information: market projections and projections for our operations.
To do this, I asked the Business team for help in understanding how this was done with the data they had and asked for help with this report. I got an overview of the market for each of the units and also a formula for projecting this data within our operations.
With this, I was able to present a vision of possible futures.
Delivery
How we defined our investments
Together with my board, I decided that it was the right time to present this data and get more support from Business to move forward with the project. However, we had an initial surprise: C-Level would also be present at this meeting.
That is how, with the presentation of products and market projections, we were able to define what our next product would be: payroll loans.
Delivery
Understading our future users
Once we had decided which product to launch first, we also needed to understand who our users were and how they purchased these products. So, I turned once again to the existing data, which enabled me to draw up a user profile for the product and also the profile I needed to interview in order to obtain the necessary information.
After 20 interviews with different profiles, I was able to create personas and their journeys, which would guide us in creating our product and also guide the teams needed to define the next steps.
Delivery
Official training at the client's premises
While conducting research with potential future users who had already purchased these products in recent months, the Business team's negotiations with future clients had already progressed, and as a result, I had the opportunity to receive training at the client's premises, as if I were a new employee responsible for selling these products.
Delivery
Team training and knowledge alignment
With all the data in place and the client ready to start our operation, we had six months to make our first sale. So, at that point, we put together a beta team consisting of a tech lead, product manager, design lead (me) and operations manager. The idea was to set up the operation, launch the product, and make the first sale in order to officially roll out a new business unit.
I was then responsible for training the team, where I prepared a two-day immersion with these new people, teaching them about the product, who the personas were, what the current journey was, and what the client's technical requirements were for our integrations.
Workflow
Creating the product ecosystem
Although we were responsible for acquiring and converting our leads into an omnichannel journey, our product was complex and had three main lead inputs: the customer's own lead funnel, integration into the customer's official websites, and also our own lead acquisition.
Our product was complex, so my first challenge was to understand with the client and the teams responsible the best way to start our operation. To do this, I designed our product ecosystem to guide our discussions.
This image was not only a macro view of all our products and operations in that business unit, but also a view of the company's products as a whole, across all its operations and processes.
Workflow
Blueprint design for the new operation
As Design Lead responsible for designing the company's phygital and omnichannel service, I was also responsible for conducting conversations and downloading all the information acquired from the different areas into a future blueprint, which would make it clear which products needed to be adapted, created, and also integrated for our operation to function.
Workflow
Performance of our products
As a result of our performance, it was also necessary for me to design the features and adaptations needed for our product in order to start our mini operation at that time. So, in addition to planning the experience strategy for that operation, I was also responsible for designing the first version of those products within that experimental Squad.
Setup
Start of sales operations
As we were growing and reporting information every two weeks to C-Level to ensure we were on the right track, we obtained a budget to allocate a mini operations team via telephone, also in this experimental format.
With that, we started a small operation that, in its first month of beta testing, managed to make three sales. We formalised the contract with the customer and also formalised the creation of our business unit.
Setup
Making our business unit official
Now that the official work of the Business, Ops, and leadership teams was done, it was time to officially pass the baton so that the company could develop the new business unit and grow as needed.
Initially, a two-sales-team operation was set up, and two new technology squads started what became, after two years, the company's most profitable business unit.
Results
Profits of R$800,000 in the first year
All my research and service strategy design work, together with the work of the dedicated team, resulted in the creation of a business vertical that generated R$800,000 in its first year of operation.
Results
+ 3 new products in 1 year
Both the company and its first client recognised the profitability of the new vertical, thus enabling greater investment and the implementation of a new client and three new financial products in 1 year of operation.
Results
18% growth from year 1 onwards
From the first year of operation of the new business unit, this vertical grew by an average of 18% in subsequent years, thus increasing the number of products, operations, employees and sales made through our operation.
Next Project
Design Sprint and Product Strategy: increasing acquisition by over 50% and repurchase by 32% with the help of Design
Through the adapted Design Sprint methodology, I was able to promote a unified understanding of the product, define paths and product strategy, and generate more than 50% new leads for our main portal.
Let's work together?
Let’s build, learn, and create something meaningful together
Aligning Design and Business to build a new phygital sales operation for financial products
My Role
Design Lead
Industry
Finance
Main Skills
Data Analysis, Service Design, Business Strategy, Market Research, Data-driven Decision Making, Stakeholder Alignment, Product Vision, Design Leadership, User Research, Phygital Experience Design
The Basics
Getting to know the company
Escale Digital is a B2B2C company that, at the time of the development of this project, was operating in the acquisition and conversion of users in Health and Home Services verticals, helping large companies in Latin America sell their products in an online environment.
Using Growth strategies and conversion funnel optimisation — from product pages to shopping carts and omnichannel automation — we were responsible for creating purchase intent, qualifying leads, and converting them into purchases, generating profit from this operation.
Challenge
Need for company expansion
For a long time, we already knew that the company had a clear vision of expanding into two specific products: Finance and Education. However, we did not have a fixed date for launching each of these new operations, only market demands and C-Level ambitions.
When the time for the Roadmap arrived, the Business team was starting to prospect clients to begin the Finance operation, but without a clear vision of where to officially start. One thing was certain: it needed to be in the sale of financial credit products.
Hacking
Starting the Design role within the Business team
At that moment, I was working on a project together with the Business team — specifically New Business — aiming to help them understand the feasibility of business ideas for the company and validate or not potential initiatives we had at that time.
It was then that, with the support of my Director, I proposed helping them to understand which financial products would be the best path for us to follow. This was a new approach for both the Business and Design teams, so it initially faced some resistance, but I made an agreement: give me a specific timeframe and I would bring them valuable information, which they could choose to use or not.
As they were just beginning conversations and negotiations with potential commercial partners, they decided to give me the chance to present my perspective on the matter.
Research
Finding possible data
Since my challenge was defined — to discover which financial product the company should begin to invest in — I needed to find the necessary data to make it happen.
To achieve this, I took advantage of a Brazilian law called the Open Data Law, which published and made available all anonymised data of financial transactions registered in the country through the Central Bank.
Research
Understanding what our product was
When I accessed the databases made available by the government, specifically the Central Bank, there were several terms, categories, and existing information that I could not initially understand, as I did not yet have the necessary knowledge about the financial credit market at that time.
So I quickly needed to study what financial credit products in Brazil were, searching for quick information on YouTube about what they could be and other necessary details to be able to map the data.
Research
Cleaning data and creating patterns
Once I understood the formats and clarified the products, another challenge emerged: a single year of data contained, on average, 60 million transactions, anonymised with tokens to ensure confidentiality.
I had to figure out how to read and create patterns from this data. Using SQL, I cleaned the dataset based on principles such as:
Excluding all credit card transactions (irrelevant to the business).
Assigning a unique decimal identifier to each record.
Ensuring the dataset was free from duplicates.
Research
Identifying patterns and insights
After cleaning the data using SQL, I obtained a more reliable database from which I could extract the necessary information. Then I needed to understand what information I could extract from this database, since the data alone did not tell me any story.
To do this, I began to analyse what categories of information existed within the data and, thinking about cross-referencing data, what information I could extract from this data — or rather, what information this data was telling me.
Research
Creating market projections
Now that I had a map of information that the data could tell me, I had a complete profile of each product, transaction history, financial issues, and location. However, I needed one important piece of information: market projections and projections for our operations.
To do this, I asked the Business team for help in understanding how this was done with the data they had and asked for help with this report. I got an overview of the market for each of the units and also a formula for projecting this data within our operations.
With this, I was able to present a vision of possible futures.
Delivery
How we defined our investments
Together with my board, I decided that it was the right time to present this data and get more support from Business to move forward with the project. However, we had an initial surprise: C-Level would also be present at this meeting.
That is how, with the presentation of products and market projections, we were able to define what our next product would be: payroll loans.
Delivery
Understading our future users
Once we had decided which product to launch first, we also needed to understand who our users were and how they purchased these products. So, I turned once again to the existing data, which enabled me to draw up a user profile for the product and also the profile I needed to interview in order to obtain the necessary information.
After 20 interviews with different profiles, I was able to create personas and their journeys, which would guide us in creating our product and also guide the teams needed to define the next steps.
Delivery
Official training at the client's premises
While conducting research with potential future users who had already purchased these products in recent months, the Business team's negotiations with future clients had already progressed, and as a result, I had the opportunity to receive training at the client's premises, as if I were a new employee responsible for selling these products.
Delivery
Team training and knowledge alignment
With all the data in place and the client ready to start our operation, we had six months to make our first sale. So, at that point, we put together a beta team consisting of a tech lead, product manager, design lead (me) and operations manager. The idea was to set up the operation, launch the product, and make the first sale in order to officially roll out a new business unit.
I was then responsible for training the team, where I prepared a two-day immersion with these new people, teaching them about the product, who the personas were, what the current journey was, and what the client's technical requirements were for our integrations.
Workflow
Creating the product ecosystem
Although we were responsible for acquiring and converting our leads into an omnichannel journey, our product was complex and had three main lead inputs: the customer's own lead funnel, integration into the customer's official websites, and also our own lead acquisition.
Our product was complex, so my first challenge was to understand with the client and the teams responsible the best way to start our operation. To do this, I designed our product ecosystem to guide our discussions.
This image was not only a macro view of all our products and operations in that business unit, but also a view of the company's products as a whole, across all its operations and processes.
Workflow
Blueprint design for the new operation
As Design Lead responsible for designing the company's phygital and omnichannel service, I was also responsible for conducting conversations and downloading all the information acquired from the different areas into a future blueprint, which would make it clear which products needed to be adapted, created, and also integrated for our operation to function.
Workflow
Performance of our products
As a result of our performance, it was also necessary for me to design the features and adaptations needed for our product in order to start our mini operation at that time. So, in addition to planning the experience strategy for that operation, I was also responsible for designing the first version of those products within that experimental Squad.
Setup
Start of sales operations
As we were growing and reporting information every two weeks to C-Level to ensure we were on the right track, we obtained a budget to allocate a mini operations team via telephone, also in this experimental format.
With that, we started a small operation that, in its first month of beta testing, managed to make three sales. We formalised the contract with the customer and also formalised the creation of our business unit.
Setup
Making our business unit official
Now that the official work of the Business, Ops, and leadership teams was done, it was time to officially pass the baton so that the company could develop the new business unit and grow as needed.
Initially, a two-sales-team operation was set up, and two new technology squads started what became, after two years, the company's most profitable business unit.
Results
Profits of R$800,000 in the first year
All my research and service strategy design work, together with the work of the dedicated team, resulted in the creation of a business vertical that generated R$800,000 in its first year of operation.
Results
+ 3 new products in 1 year
Both the company and its first client recognised the profitability of the new vertical, thus enabling greater investment and the implementation of a new client and three new financial products in 1 year of operation.
Results
18% growth from year 1 onwards
From the first year of operation of the new business unit, this vertical grew by an average of 18% in subsequent years, thus increasing the number of products, operations, employees and sales made through our operation.
Next Project
Design Sprint and Product Strategy: increasing acquisition by over 50% and repurchase by 32% with the help of Design
Through the adapted Design Sprint methodology, I was able to promote a unified understanding of the product, define paths and product strategy, and generate more than 50% new leads for our main portal.
Next Project
Design Sprint and Product Strategy: increasing acquisition by over 50% and repurchase by 32% with the help of Design
Through the adapted Design Sprint methodology, I was able to promote a unified understanding of the product, define paths and product strategy, and generate more than 50% new leads for our main portal.
Let's work together?
Let’s build, learn, and create something meaningful together
Let's work together?
Let’s build, learn, and create something meaningful together
Aligning Design and Business to build a new phygital sales operation for financial products
My Role
Design Lead
Main Skills
Data Analysis, Service Design, Business Strategy, Market Research, Data-driven Decision Making, Stakeholder Alignment, Product Vision, Design Leadership, User Research, Phygital Experience Design
Industry
Finance
The Basics
Getting to know the company
Escale Digital is a B2B2C company that, at the time of the development of this project, was operating in the acquisition and conversion of users in Health and Home Services verticals, helping large companies in Latin America sell their products in an online environment.
Using Growth strategies and conversion funnel optimisation — from product pages to shopping carts and omnichannel automation — we were responsible for creating purchase intent, qualifying leads, and converting them into purchases, generating profit from this operation.
Challenge
Need for company expansion
For a long time, we already knew that the company had a clear vision of expanding into two specific products: Finance and Education. However, we did not have a fixed date for launching each of these new operations, only market demands and C-Level ambitions.
When the time for the Roadmap arrived, the Business team was starting to prospect clients to begin the Finance operation, but without a clear vision of where to officially start. One thing was certain: it needed to be in the sale of financial credit products.
Hacking
Starting the Design role within the Business team
At that moment, I was working on a project together with the Business team — specifically New Business — aiming to help them understand the feasibility of business ideas for the company and validate or not potential initiatives we had at that time.
It was then that, with the support of my Director, I proposed helping them to understand which financial products would be the best path for us to follow. This was a new approach for both the Business and Design teams, so it initially faced some resistance, but I made an agreement: give me a specific timeframe and I would bring them valuable information, which they could choose to use or not.
As they were just beginning conversations and negotiations with potential commercial partners, they decided to give me the chance to present my perspective on the matter.
Research
Finding possible data
Since my challenge was defined — to discover which financial product the company should begin to invest in — I needed to find the necessary data to make it happen.
To achieve this, I took advantage of a Brazilian law called the Open Data Law, which published and made available all anonymised data of financial transactions registered in the country through the Central Bank.
Research
Understanding what our product was
When I accessed the databases made available by the government, specifically the Central Bank, there were several terms, categories, and existing information that I could not initially understand, as I did not yet have the necessary knowledge about the financial credit market at that time.
So I quickly needed to study what financial credit products in Brazil were, searching for quick information on YouTube about what they could be and other necessary details to be able to map the data.
Research
Cleaning data and creating patterns
Once I understood the formats and clarified the products, another challenge emerged: a single year of data contained, on average, 60 million transactions, anonymised with tokens to ensure confidentiality.
I had to figure out how to read and create patterns from this data. Using SQL, I cleaned the dataset based on principles such as:
Excluding all credit card transactions (irrelevant to the business).
Assigning a unique decimal identifier to each record.
Ensuring the dataset was free from duplicates.
Research
Identifying patterns and insights
After cleaning the data using SQL, I obtained a more reliable database from which I could extract the necessary information. Then I needed to understand what information I could extract from this database, since the data alone did not tell me any story.
To do this, I began to analyse what categories of information existed within the data and, thinking about cross-referencing data, what information I could extract from this data — or rather, what information this data was telling me.
Research
Creating market projections
Now that I had a map of information that the data could tell me, I had a complete profile of each product, transaction history, financial issues, and location. However, I needed one important piece of information: market projections and projections for our operations.
To do this, I asked the Business team for help in understanding how this was done with the data they had and asked for help with this report. I got an overview of the market for each of the units and also a formula for projecting this data within our operations.
With this, I was able to present a vision of possible futures.
Delivery
How we defined our investments
Together with my board, I decided that it was the right time to present this data and get more support from Business to move forward with the project. However, we had an initial surprise: C-Level would also be present at this meeting.
That is how, with the presentation of products and market projections, we were able to define what our next product would be: payroll loans.
Delivery
Understading our future users
Once we had decided which product to launch first, we also needed to understand who our users were and how they purchased these products. So, I turned once again to the existing data, which enabled me to draw up a user profile for the product and also the profile I needed to interview in order to obtain the necessary information.
After 20 interviews with different profiles, I was able to create personas and their journeys, which would guide us in creating our product and also guide the teams needed to define the next steps.
Delivery
Official training at the client's premises
While conducting research with potential future users who had already purchased these products in recent months, the Business team's negotiations with future clients had already progressed, and as a result, I had the opportunity to receive training at the client's premises, as if I were a new employee responsible for selling these products.
Delivery
Team training and knowledge alignment
With all the data in place and the client ready to start our operation, we had six months to make our first sale. So, at that point, we put together a beta team consisting of a tech lead, product manager, design lead (me) and operations manager. The idea was to set up the operation, launch the product, and make the first sale in order to officially roll out a new business unit.
I was then responsible for training the team, where I prepared a two-day immersion with these new people, teaching them about the product, who the personas were, what the current journey was, and what the client's technical requirements were for our integrations.
Workflow
Creating the product ecosystem
Although we were responsible for acquiring and converting our leads into an omnichannel journey, our product was complex and had three main lead inputs: the customer's own lead funnel, integration into the customer's official websites, and also our own lead acquisition.
Our product was complex, so my first challenge was to understand with the client and the teams responsible the best way to start our operation. To do this, I designed our product ecosystem to guide our discussions.
This image was not only a macro view of all our products and operations in that business unit, but also a view of the company's products as a whole, across all its operations and processes.
Workflow
Blueprint design for the new operation
As Design Lead responsible for designing the company's phygital and omnichannel service, I was also responsible for conducting conversations and downloading all the information acquired from the different areas into a future blueprint, which would make it clear which products needed to be adapted, created, and also integrated for our operation to function.
Workflow
Performance of our products
As a result of our performance, it was also necessary for me to design the features and adaptations needed for our product in order to start our mini operation at that time. So, in addition to planning the experience strategy for that operation, I was also responsible for designing the first version of those products within that experimental Squad.
Setup
Start of sales operations
As we were growing and reporting information every two weeks to C-Level to ensure we were on the right track, we obtained a budget to allocate a mini operations team via telephone, also in this experimental format.
With that, we started a small operation that, in its first month of beta testing, managed to make three sales. We formalised the contract with the customer and also formalised the creation of our business unit.
Setup
Making our business unit official
Now that the official work of the Business, Ops, and leadership teams was done, it was time to officially pass the baton so that the company could develop the new business unit and grow as needed.
Initially, a two-sales-team operation was set up, and two new technology squads started what became, after two years, the company's most profitable business unit.
Results
Profits of R$800,000 in the first year
All my research and service strategy design work, together with the work of the dedicated team, resulted in the creation of a business vertical that generated R$800,000 in its first year of operation.
Results
+ 3 new products in 1 year
Both the company and its first client recognised the profitability of the new vertical, thus enabling greater investment and the implementation of a new client and three new financial products in 1 year of operation.
Results
18% growth from year 1 onwards
From the first year of operation of the new business unit, this vertical grew by an average of 18% in subsequent years, thus increasing the number of products, operations, employees and sales made through our operation.
Next Project
Design Sprint and Product Strategy: increasing acquisition by over 50% and repurchase by 32% with the help of Design
Through the adapted Design Sprint methodology, I was able to promote a unified understanding of the product, define paths and product strategy, and generate more than 50% new leads for our main portal.
Next Project
Design Sprint and Product Strategy: increasing acquisition by over 50% and repurchase by 32% with the help of Design
Through the adapted Design Sprint methodology, I was able to promote a unified understanding of the product, define paths and product strategy, and generate more than 50% new leads for our main portal.
Let's work together?
Let’s build, learn, and create something meaningful together
Let's work together?
Let’s build, learn, and create something meaningful together