Tulix
Tulix
Streamlining Financial Management
Streamlining Financial Management
About Tulix
Tulix is a financial management and payment platform that empowers Africans—especially millennials and Gen Z—to share money, budget, and manage expenses with friends and family more easily.
Background
At the start of the project, Tulix approached me with a partially developed product. The initial design work had been started by an agency in Ukraine, but due to the war, they were unable to continue. I took on the project not only to help Tulix move forward but also as a way to give back to an agency affected by the crisis.
The Tulix team provided background documents and early design assets. My first responsibility as Senior Product Designer was to review everything, identify gaps, and chart a path forward. From there, I led the redesign and delivery of Tulix from start to finish.
The Challenge
Tulix was developed to address the need for a more convenient way for Africans to share money and manage their finances with friends and family. According to a survey conducted by Tulix, 74% of Africans worldwide are willing to share more money with friends and family if they had an easier way to make payments and handle finances. Tulix aims to empower Africans around the world by providing a simple, convenient way to share money and agree on payments for specific needs such as school fees, rent, and food, while also helping users to budget and track their spending.
Location
Kenya
Industry
Finance
Services I provided
User experience design
User Interface design
Usability testing
Target Audience
Millennials and Gen Z in Kenya and around the world who are looking for a smart, convenient way to share money and manage their finances with friends and family.
Overview
About Tulix
Tulix is a financial management and payment platform that empowers Africans—especially millennials and Gen Z—to share money, budget, and manage expenses with friends and family more easily.
Background
At the start of the project, Tulix approached me with a partially developed product. The initial design work had been started by an agency in Ukraine, but due to the war, they were unable to continue. I took on the project not only to help Tulix move forward but also as a way to give back to an agency affected by the crisis.
The Tulix team provided background documents and early design assets. My first responsibility as Senior Product Designer was to review everything, identify gaps, and chart a path forward. From there, I led the redesign and delivery of Tulix from start to finish.
The Challenge
Tulix was developed to address the need for a more convenient way for Africans to share money and manage their finances with friends and family. According to a survey conducted by Tulix, 74% of Africans worldwide are willing to share more money with friends and family if they had an easier way to make payments and handle finances. Tulix aims to empower Africans around the world by providing a simple, convenient way to share money and agree on payments for specific needs such as school fees, rent, and food, while also helping users to budget and track their spending.
The Solution
To build a financial management and payment platform that simplifies how Africans share, save, and manage money by introducing a wallet system with multiple payment methods and innovative ‘jars’—open, merchant, and goal jars—that empower users to budget, track expenses, and send purposeful support to friends and family
Research & Insight
Remote Research Aproach
Since Tulix was targeted primarily at Kenyan users, I needed local insights:
Competitive analysis of mobile money apps (M-Pesa, Chipper Cash, Sendwave, WorldRemit).
Reached out via LinkedIn to Kenyan designers who walked me through local competitors.
Conducted user interviews with Kenyan millennials to understand how they currently share expenses and manage money.
Survey Insight from Tulix:
74% of Africans worldwide said they’d share more money with friends & family if there was an easier way to make payments and manage group expenses.
Key Takeaways:
Trust & transparency are crucial when sharing money.
People want clear tracking tools for shared payments.
A “social layer” of finance resonates strongly with Gen Z & millennials.
Remote Research Approach
Since Tulix was targeted at Kenyan users, I gathered local insights through a competitive analysis of mobile money apps like M-Pesa, Chipper Cash, Sendwave, and WorldRemit, connected with Kenyan designers via LinkedIn to understand regional competitors, and conducted user interviews with Kenyan millennials to learn how they share expenses and manage money.
Sketch and initial Framework
At the very beginning of the project, I used quick sketches to explore ideas before committing time to structured wireframes or high-fidelity designs. Since Tulix was an existing but paused project, sketching gave me the flexibility to rethink flows and features rapidly while still leveraging insights from the previous agency’s assets
Design Process
Sketch and initial Framework
At the very beginning of the project, I used quick sketches to explore ideas before committing time to structured wireframes or high-fidelity designs. Since Tulix was an existing but paused project, sketching gave me the flexibility to rethink flows and features rapidly while still leveraging insights from the previous agency’s assets.
UX Strategy & User Flows
Because Tulix was designed for a unique market (Kenyans at home and abroad managing shared finances), we needed a clear UX strategy that balanced user needs, business goals, and scalability. The strategy centered on three pillars:
Trust & Simplicity – As a fintech app, Tulix needed to inspire confidence while making financial tasks feel simple and accessible.
Collaboration & Transparency – Users wanted to share expenses for real needs (school fees, rent, food). This drove the creation of the Jar System, which offered visibility into shared money.
Scalable Design Foundation – With fundraising and growth in mind, we built a design system that could support rapid feature expansion (QR pay, NFC pay, new jar types).
UX Strategy & User Flows
UX Strategy & User Flows
Because Tulix was designed for a unique market (Kenyans at home and abroad managing shared finances), we needed a clear UX strategy that balanced user needs, business goals, and scalability. The strategy centered on three pillars:
Trust & Simplicity – As a fintech app, Tulix needed to inspire confidence while making financial tasks feel simple and accessible.
Collaboration & Transparency – Users wanted to share expenses for real needs (school fees, rent, food). This drove the creation of the Jar System, which offered visibility into shared money.
Scalable Design Foundation – With fundraising and growth in mind, we built a design system that could support rapid feature expansion (QR pay, NFC pay, new jar types).
UX Strategy & User Flows
Because Tulix was designed for a unique market (Kenyans at home and abroad managing shared finances), we needed a clear UX strategy that balanced user needs, business goals, and scalability. The strategy centered on three pillars:
Trust & Simplicity – As a fintech app, Tulix needed to inspire confidence while making financial tasks feel simple and accessible.
Collaboration & Transparency – Users wanted to share expenses for real needs (school fees, rent, food). This drove the creation of the Jar System, which offered visibility into shared money.
Scalable Design Foundation – With fundraising and growth in mind, we built a design system that could support rapid feature expansion (QR pay, NFC pay, new jar types).
Design System
When I joined Tulix, the product already had fragmented design assets inherited from the previous agency. Screens lacked consistency in typography, spacing, and component usage, which slowed down development and made it difficult to scale new featur”es. Since Tulix was targeting a fast-growing user base across Kenya and globally, consistency and speed were critical.
we reduced design-to-development handoff time by 30%, while increasing UI consistency scores in usability reviews from 68% to 92%.
Design System
Design System
When I joined Tulix, the product already had fragmented design assets inherited from the previous agency. Screens lacked consistency in typography, spacing, and component usage, which slowed down development and made it difficult to scale new features. Since Tulix was targeting a fast-growing user base across Kenya and globally, consistency and speed were critical.
we reduced design-to-development handoff time by 30%, while increasing UI consistency scores in usability reviews from 68% to 92%.”
Mid Fidelity Wireframes
Before moving into high-fidelity screens, I created mid-fidelity wireframes to validate user flows and information architecture quickly. Since Tulix was a financial product targeting users in Kenya, it was important to test clarity, task completion, and navigation logic early—without the distraction of polished visuals.
Mid Fidelity Wireframes
Mid Fidelity Wireframes
Before moving into high-fidelity screens, I created mid-fidelity wireframes to validate user flows and information architecture quickly. Since Tulix was a financial product targeting users in Kenya, it was important to test clarity, task completion, and navigation logic early—without the distraction of polished visuals.
High Fidelity
After validating the user flows with mid-fidelity wireframes, I transitioned to high-fidelity prototypes to bring the Tulix experience closer to the final product. Since Tulix was building trust as a financial management platform, it was critical to design an interface that felt reliable, polished, and easy to use for millennials and Gen Z in Kenya and beyond.
High Fidelity
High Fidelity
After validating the user flows with mid-fidelity wireframes, I transitioned to high-fidelity prototypes to bring the Tulix experience closer to the final product. Since Tulix was building trust as a financial management platform, it was critical to design an interface that felt reliable, polished, and easy to use for millennials and Gen Z in Kenya and beyond.
High Fidelity
After validating the user flows with mid-fidelity wireframes, I transitioned to high-fidelity prototypes to bring the Tulix experience closer to the final product. Since Tulix was building trust as a financial management platform, it was critical to design an interface that felt reliable, polished, and easy to use for millennials and Gen Z in Kenya and beyond.
Testing
Testing
Testing was essential to ensure the product solved real financial pain points and built trust in a sensitive domain like money management. We used a mix of Maze testing, remote interviews, and usability sessions to validate flows and refine the experience.
Testing
Testing was essential to ensure the product solved real financial pain points and built trust in a sensitive domain like money management. We used a mix of Maze testing, remote interviews, and usability sessions to validate flows and refine the experience.
Usability testing
Maze revealed that onboarding was taking an average of 2:30 minutes, with 40% of users getting stuck at the OTP step. By redesigning the OTP flow—introducing auto-advance input fields, clearer error messages, and real-time validation—I reduced onboarding time by 45% and decreased drop-offs at the OTP stage from 40% to 12%
Problem encountered
Usability testing
Maze revealed that onboarding was taking an average of 2:30 minutes, with 40% of users getting stuck at the OTP step. By redesigning the OTP flow—introducing auto-advance input fields, clearer error messages, and real-time validation—I reduced onboarding time by 45% and decreased drop-offs at the OTP stage from 40% to 12%
According to F6S, Tulix has raised around $200K in funding from the Catalyst Fund and antler investor
Stats & Facts
Stats & Facts
According to F6S, Tulix has raised around $200K in funding from the Catalyst Fund and antler investor
0%
0%
Reduction in Onboarding
onboarding completion time after redesigning the OTP flow, with drop-offs decreasing from 40% to 12%.
0%
0%
Reduction in Onboarding
onboarding completion time after redesigning the OTP flow, with drop-offs decreasing from 40% to 12%.
0%
0%
Reduction in Onboarding
onboarding completion time after redesigning the OTP flow, with drop-offs decreasing from 40% to 12%.
0%
0%
Increase in task success
in task success rate across key flows after usability improvements.
0%
0%
Increase in task success
in task success rate across key flows after usability improvements.
0%
0%
Increase in task success
in task success rate across key flows after usability improvements.
0K
0K
in early-stage funding
(Catalyst Fund, HiiL Justice Accelerator, Antler), validating product-market fit.
0K
0K
in early-stage funding
(Catalyst Fund, HiiL Justice Accelerator, Antler), validating product-market fit.
0K
0K
in early-stage funding
(Catalyst Fund, HiiL Justice Accelerator, Antler), validating product-market fit.
Learning & Conclusion
Working on Tulix reinforced several key lessons for me as a product designer:
Designing for a market you don’t live in requires empathy and creativity – Since I wasn’t based in Kenya, I leaned heavily on remote interviews, LinkedIn outreach, and competitor analysis to understand financial behaviors. This taught me how to localize design solutions while working from another context.
Testing early saves time later – Iterative testing at the sketch, wireframe, and prototype stages exposed friction points (like OTP verification) that we solved early, preventing costly redesigns.
Trust is central in fintech UX – Every design decision, from typography to flows, needed to inspire confidence. Building a consistent design system and validating through testing proved crucial in gaining both user and investor trust.
Collaboration amplifies impact – Partnering with cross-functional teams and external stakeholders ensured we balanced user needs, technical feasibility, and business goals effectively.
Learning and Conclusion
Working on Tulix reinforced several key lessons for me as a product designer:
Designing for a market you don’t live in requires empathy and creativity – Since I wasn’t based in Kenya, I leaned heavily on remote interviews, LinkedIn outreach, and competitor analysis to understand financial behaviors. This taught me how to localize design solutions while working from another context.
Testing early saves time later – Iterative testing at the sketch, wireframe, and prototype stages exposed friction points (like OTP verification) that we solved early, preventing costly redesigns.
Trust is central in fintech UX – Every design decision, from typography to flows, needed to inspire confidence. Building a consistent design system and validating through testing proved crucial in gaining both user and investor trust.
Collaboration amplifies impact – Partnering with cross-functional teams and external stakeholders ensured we balanced user needs, technical feasibility, and business goals effectively.
Working on Tulix reinforced several key lessons for me as a product designer:
Designing for a market you don’t live in requires empathy and creativity – Since I wasn’t based in Kenya, I leaned heavily on remote interviews, LinkedIn outreach, and competitor analysis to understand financial behaviors. This taught me how to localize design solutions while working from another context.
Testing early saves time later – Iterative testing at the sketch, wireframe, and prototype stages exposed friction points (like OTP verification) that we solved early, preventing costly redesigns.
Trust is central in fintech UX – Every design decision, from typography to flows, needed to inspire confidence. Building a consistent design system and validating through testing proved crucial in gaining both user and investor trust.
Collaboration amplifies impact – Partnering with cross-functional teams and external stakeholders ensured we balanced user needs, technical feasibility, and business goals effectively.
