Yida Tan - Senior Product Designer | UX/UI, Brand, Illustration

SAY HELLO

WEB 3 EXPLORATIONS

From May 2021 to April 2022, I was embedded in Zip’s product team via We Discover, serving as the sole product designer across the core Zip Pay and Zip Money products during a period of rapid growth and a company-wide rebrand. Operating fully remotely due to COVID lockdowns, I worked across multiple squads and led end-to-end design for repayments, mobile app updates, marketing assets, and exploratory work on new product verticals.

The success of the engagement led to multiple contract extensions and culminated in early work on Zip Business, which later evolved into a separate initiative delivered in partnership with Visa.

Client

Zip Co.

Year

2021 - 2022

Problem / Context

Zip was in a phase of accelerated growth and launching a new brand identity at the same time. Design resources were stretched thin, and I was brought in to fill the gap left by a departing designer, with minimal handover and onboarding.

My primary responsibility was to own and evolve the design for Zip Pay and Zip Money (two of their core BNPL products) while aligning with rapidly evolving brand guidelines, collaborating with product and engineering teams, and maintaining delivery velocity across multiple concurrent tracks.

A key priority was improving the repayment experience to drive better user outcomes and support Zip’s broader strategy of increasing repayment rates and engagement.

Problem / Context

A key priority was improving the repayment experience to drive better user outcomes and support Zip’s broader strategy of increasing repayment rates and engagement.

Approach

I had to learn quickly — joining standups, design reviews, planning sessions, and adapting to their fast-paced release cadence and workflows. I took full ownership of the design process, including:

Leading remote workshops to gather insights and align stakeholders
Writing my own research plans, scripts, and hypotheses
Conducting user interviews and usability testing
Producing high-fidelity concepts and prototypes at speed
Collaborating closely with PMs and engineers to align on priorities and ensure smooth implementation
Advocating for user needs and behavioural best practices under tight delivery pressures

I had to learn quickly — joining standups, design reviews, planning sessions, and adapting to their fast-paced release cadence and workflows. I took full ownership of the design process, including:

Leading remote workshops to gather insights and align stakeholders
Writing my own research plans, scripts, and hypotheses
Conducting user interviews and usability testing
Producing high-fidelity concepts and prototypes at speed
Collaborating closely with PMs and engineers to align on priorities and ensure smooth implementation
Advocating for user needs and behavioural best practices under tight delivery pressures

Approach

I had to learn quickly — joining standups, design reviews, planning sessions, and adapting to their fast-paced release cadence and workflows. I took full ownership of the design process, including:

Leading remote workshops to gather insights and align stakeholders
Writing my own research plans, scripts, and hypotheses
Conducting user interviews and usability testing
Producing high-fidelity concepts and prototypes at speed
Collaborating closely with PMs and engineers to align on priorities and ensure smooth implementation
Advocating for user needs and behavioural best practices under tight delivery pressures

Key Work & Outcomes

Repayments

Redesigning the repayments flow with clearer hierarchy and visual feedback through workshops, multiple rounds of user testing and design reviews.

Introducing smart payment schedules aligned with user pay cycles
Adding micro-interactions to subtly nudge users toward additional repayments
Refreshed repayment-focused EDMs that supported Zip’s communication strategy
Contributed to campaign-specific product flows (e.g. travel offers, JB Hi-Fi promotions) aimed at driving short-term usage spikes

Mobile UI & Design System Updates

As part of the rebrand, I uplifted Zip Pay and Zip Money screens across their native iOS app. This required working within a new and evolving design system, and coordinating across multiple teams to maintain consistency, and at the same time adhering to iOS guidelines.

New Verticals

I supported internal concept work for new product verticals, and designed instant checkout flows with the payments team to help drive Zip’s push into fast, low-friction payments.

Zip Business (Visa Partnership)

At the end of my engagement, I contributed early design concepts for Zip Business, a B2B initiative that later evolved into a separate project with Visa and We Discover, building on the trust and momentum from my earlier work.

Repayments

Redesigning the repayments flow with clearer hierarchy and visual feedback through workshops, multiple rounds of user testing and design reviews.

Introducing smart payment schedules aligned with user pay cycles
Adding micro-interactions to subtly nudge users toward additional repayments
Refreshed repayment-focused EDMs that supported Zip’s communication strategy
Contributed to campaign-specific product flows (e.g. travel offers, JB Hi-Fi promotions) aimed at driving short-term usage spikes

Mobile UI & Design System Updates

New Verticals

I supported internal concept work for new product verticals, and designed instant checkout flows with the payments team to help drive Zip’s push into fast, low-friction payments.

Zip Business (Visa Partnership)

Key Work & Outcomes

Repayments

Redesigning the repayments flow with clearer hierarchy and visual feedback through workshops, multiple rounds of user testing and design reviews.

Introducing smart payment schedules aligned with user pay cycles
Adding micro-interactions to subtly nudge users toward additional repayments
Refreshed repayment-focused EDMs that supported Zip’s communication strategy
Contributed to campaign-specific product flows (e.g. travel offers, JB Hi-Fi promotions) aimed at driving short-term usage spikes

Mobile UI & Design System Updates

New Verticals

I supported internal concept work for new product verticals, and designed instant checkout flows with the payments team to help drive Zip’s push into fast, low-friction payments.

Zip Business (Visa Partnership)

Impact

Enabled multiple contract extensions through consistent execution and strong relationships
Helped maintain design velocity and quality during a period of rebrand, restructure, and rapid scaling
Got everyone on the same page and made sure the team had what they needed to keep things moving (proper documentation) after I wrapped up

Enabled multiple contract extensions through consistent execution and strong relationships
Helped maintain design velocity and quality during a period of rebrand, restructure, and rapid scaling
Got everyone on the same page and made sure the team had what they needed to keep things moving (proper documentation) after I wrapped up

Impact

Enabled multiple contract extensions through consistent execution and strong relationships
Helped maintain design velocity and quality during a period of rebrand, restructure, and rapid scaling
Got everyone on the same page and made sure the team had what they needed to keep things moving (proper documentation) after I wrapped up

Reflections

This was my first time fully owning design in a fast-moving, product-led environment. Working across teams and with multiple stakeholders, I had to stay sharp and adaptable, especially during the repayments work where I took things from concept to testing and delivery under time pressure.

What I learned:

Clear documentation and communication are a must when working remotely across squads
You can move fast and learn — lean research still surfaces real insight
Building good relationships is just as important as the design work — things move faster when there’s trust and collaboration.

What I learned:

Clear documentation and communication are a must when working remotely across squads
You can move fast and learn — lean research still surfaces real insight
Building good relationships is just as important as the design work — things move faster when there’s trust and collaboration.

Reflections

What I learned:

Clear documentation and communication are a must when working remotely across squads
You can move fast and learn — lean research still surfaces real insight
Building good relationships is just as important as the design work — things move faster when there’s trust and collaboration.