Sparrow
A credit card, enabled by a best-in-class digital experience, for subprime financially stressed consumers.
B2C Mobile and Web App
B2B Saas Web App
Problem
Millions of U.S. adults with limited or damaged credit histories are underserved by today’s financial products. These consumers, often financially stressed, face credit card options that are predatory, opaque, and outdated. Current offerings are not designed with their realities in mind:
They hide critical information in fine print
They punish mistakes with high APRs and penalties
And they rarely offer paths to financial growth or improved credit scores
Purpose
Sparrow was created to grant credit to the undeserved and overlooked, help eliminate the financial burden of having less than perfect credit, and improve their credit health.
Target Audience
Sparrow targets U.S. adults with credit scores between 500 and 640. Our typical customer has either a limited or damaged credit history, due to circumstances such as bankruptcy, divorce, prior financial hardship, or new to credit.
My role
I worked on Sparrow as part of a 2-designer team during Sparrow’s initial launch, contributing to core user flows, visual design, and experience strategy. Post-launch, I became the sole designer, leading all product design efforts. I collaborated closely with product, engineering, and marketing teams to ensure Sparrow wasn’t just functional, but lovable.
Research
Our research included:
Review of client-conducted surveys and behavioral studies : We analyzed findings from previously conducted user research, which included insights into the behaviors, motivations, and struggles of non-prime credit users.
Competitive benchmarking : We evaluated the digital experiences and offerings of leading credit products in the subprime and near-prime segments. This helped identify industry gaps, usability patterns, and areas where Sparrow could stand out with more clarity, transparency, and trust.
Expert-led UX insights : We had access to domain veterans -professionals with 30+ years of experience managing large-scale credit portfolios. Their input helped shape our understanding of user anxieties, regulatory constraints, and financial behaviours.
Persona
Competitor analysis
Ideation
We then identified the major features the app would offer, putting them into meaningful categories, followed by a frequency vs. criticality mapping exercise. This strategic groundwork shaped the evolution of our navigation flow, which we then translated into wireframes for early validation and iteration.
Categorizing and prioritzing features
Navigation flow
Wireframes
Visual design research & initial explorations
We kicked off the visual design process by gathering inspiration, both broad and context-specific, guided by the brand’s defined personality and tone.
Moodboarding
Exploration on the visual language
Some selected concepts
Card design
We began the Sparrow credit card design by researching distinctive card designs across the fintech landscape. Through multiple iterations, we refined these to align with Sparrow’s identity and user appeal.
Design system
We developed the Dollar design system as a unified foundation for all Sparrow products, ensuring consistency, scalability, and efficiency across web and mobile platforms.
Mascot
To embody Sparrow’s friendly tone, we created a mascot designed to guide users and bring a sense of liveliness to their financial journey.
My initial mascot version
With the magic of Visual Design team
Final mascot
Illustrations
We worked with the Visual Design team to create unique, playful illustrations for our app. My role was to create an illustration strategy for the app, defining concepts, sketching and collecting visual references that could help the illustrators.
Conceptualization
Some rough ideas I painted in Procreate
Home screen
Make a payment
Manage card
Credit health
Profile
Notifications
In 12 months
200k
Users onboarded
610k
Payments processed
<10%
First payment default rate
“…The app blows all others out of the water. Truly awesome!”
In addition to the mobile app, I also designed Sparrow’s internal web portal, called the Support Center. This platform empowered Sparrow’s support team to:
View and manage user accounts and their cards
Take actions on behalf of users (e.g., freeze/unfreeze cards, update details)
Monitor transactions and card activity
Control the credit card lifecycle
…and more
From crafting intuitive flows to shaping a friendly brand identity, this project challenged me to balance utility with emotion, logic with delight. This case study captures a chapter of deep collaboration and continuous learning. I'm proud of the foundation we built, and even more excited by how Sparrow can grow from here.
Dribbble