Building Fintech From Zero

Company: DINN — Actinver's digital investment app for first-time investors in Mexico

My role: Product & Visual Designer on the founding team for DINN 2.0. I owned the brand identity — logo, visual system, color, typography, tone of voice — and designed the first version and iterations of the product. The broader strategy and product definition were collaborative — every design decision went through business, legal, and growth before shipping.

Timeline: November 2018 – October 2020, founding phase.

The business context: Actinver's average client was 54 years old. More than half of their assets under management were held by clients over 60. The millennial segment was a real and unaddressed market opportunity — a younger audience that competitors were starting to move into. DINN was Actinver's answer to that gap.

DINN 1.0 had been live for almost two years. It had near-zero users.

The product was functional. The problem was that no one had actually asked young Mexicans why they weren't investing or how they wanted to invest.

That single insight rewrote the entire product direction.

We ran a research process that involved:

Almost every competitor in Mexico was communicating in functional territory — rates, features, security badges. Nobody had claimed the emotional and educational space. Nobody was talking to young people about their relationship with money.

What the research actually told us about the target:

1. Don't build for investors. Build for savers who don't know they can invest.

The research showed that the people we wanted to reach already had the behavior (saving). They didn't have the mental model (investing). The product had to meet them where they were.

Product thesis: Simple savings account + you earn returns. One step, no complexity, no minimum. A savings account that also makes your money grow.

2. Own the emotional territory no competitor was claiming.

Every Mexican competitor was talking about rates, features, and functionality. We positioned DINN at the intersection of simple and earning: "DINN: Simple + Your money earns."

3. Design the behavioral change, not just the product.

We used BJ Fogg's Behavior Model from Stanford's Persuasive Tech Lab as the framework for the launch strategy. For a behavior to happen, three things need to converge: Motivation, Ability, and a Trigger.

We mapped all three:

The brand and the product were designed in parallel. The visual identity had to communicate simplicity and credibility simultaneously — a difficult balance in fintech. Every element went through user testing before development started.

Play ▶

The product became the simplest in the market. You sign up, deposit, and your money is automatically invested. The process was simple and functional.

A few months later in 2019, we launched the DINN debit card so users could use their money day to day.

The pilot ran from October to December 2019 — no paid marketing.

The financial model projected a breakeven target by September 2022. DINN hit breakeven around 4 months ahead of plan. Then the economics started compounding.