Finominal

Redesigned portfolio analysis workflows for professional investors. Built and shipped features end-to-end using Claude Code.

About the Project

Finominal is built for professional investors like Portfolio Managers, Advisors, Distributors, and Family Offices. Existing tools either oversimplify or overwhelm. Finominal tries to sit between both.

My Role

Sole Product Designer END TO END

Owned the experience from strategy to shipping. Research, IA, interaction design, and QA, with no other designer on the team.

Vibe Coded CLAUDE CODE

Skipped the usual design-to-dev handoff. Iterated directly against production data and shipped UI changes myself using Claude Code.

The Problem

When I joined, Finominal was live with paying clients and carrying significant design debt. The product had grown feature-first. Data existed but decision support didn't.

Problem 1

No information architecture

Problem 2

Every data point, equal weight

Problem 3

Comparison required five screens

The debt was not in the code. It was in the gap between what advisors needed to decide and what the screens let them see.

My Approach

AUDIT

Map every flow

I mapped every flow, screen by screen. Documented clicks, dead ends, and repeated patterns. No IA existed so building one was the first move.

SIGNAL FILTERING

Separate noise from signal

Feedback came through Slack, mostly sales demo notes. I filtered for workflow failures, not feature requests. "Can we add X?" was noise. "They opened Excel to do Y" was signal.

ITERATE

Redesign, repeat

Audit, identify root cause, redesign, repeat. Decisions made directly with the founder.

How might we make complex portfolio analysis feel effortless for professional investors, without stripping the depth they depend on?

This meant reducing friction in portfolio creation and analysis workflows, presenting data in ways that aid interpretation, and restructuring the IA so the right data surfaces at the right time.

01Fund Explorer

Users were struggling to find what they needed. Navigation complaints were coming in, and we were already moving to a new design system. That combination made a full redesign worth doing rather than patching.

The Problem

Problem 01

Filters don't scale

Problem 02

No column hierarchy

Problem 03

Tools with no entry point

The table was correct. It just could not be used.

Iteration 1

WHAT CHANGED

1.Column selector added. Users pick which columns appear, but choices reset every session.

2.Seven filters in a row. No room to add more without pushing the table down.

FEEDBACK

Column choices didn't persist. Users noticed immediately.

Iteration 2

WHAT CHANGED

1.Filters moved to sidebar. Scalable vertically, but the table lost width immediately.

2.Columns pushed off screen. Users scrolling right lost track of which fund they were on.

FEEDBACK

Sidebar helped filters. Columns pushed off screen hurt everything else.

I asked the team how they actually evaluate a fund. They move from identity to performance to risk. That sequence became the five groups.

COLUMNS
NO ORDER

Overview

Returns

Factor exposure

Div & risk

Assets

Iteration 3

WHAT CHANGED

1.Columns grouped into four tabs: Overview, Returns, Factor Exposure, Diversification and Risk.

2.Action bar appears on fund selection. Two variations tested tools flat, or collapsed behind one tap.

2b.Collapsed variant. Same tools, one fewer tap to reach them.

FEEDBACK

Team pushed back. No specific reason given.

Current

WHAT CHANGED

1.Sidebar collapses. Full table width restored when filters aren't in use.

2.First three columns fixed. Context stays while scrolling right.

3.Watchlist tab added. Same layout as Fund Explorer. One pattern, two views.

4.Actions moved above the table. Always accessible, never covering rows.

Designs

Outcome

Reduced the time advisors spent looking for what they needed by xx%. Removed 2 tools that users had stopped using entirely. Revamped 8 tools across the platform for better navigation and usability.

Learnings

Shipping code yourself means you cannot design around ambiguity. Every edge case you did not think through becomes your problem to solve. Working without a PM taught me that being right about design does not matter if it does not move what the business actually needs.