FromRebrandtoProductSystem

92%

Perceived increased security

100 users tested (50 existing, 50 new)

85%+

Trust, calmness, and simplicity

consistent across all perception dimensions

Impact

A product that felt inconsistent and a little playful became one that actually felt like a place to put your money and learn from the investment world at the same time.

92%

Perceived increased security

Validated across 100 users (50 existing clients, 50 new users)

90%

Associated with calmness & stability

Perception shifted: playful → trustworthy

85%

Perceived improved simplicity

Reduced cognitive load, new and existing users

88%

Felt increased trust & transparency

The most critical metric in a financial product

Side-by-side — misma pantalla clave, sistema anterior vs. nuevo

Context

CompanyDINN — Actinver's digital investment app for first-time investors in Mexico

TimelineH2 2022 — DINN had completed a brand redesign. The product experience had to be rebuilt.

My RoleI ran the internal audit and followed up on the external one, defined the new visual system, and coordinated implementation across the entire app and website. I was also responsible for building the governance documentation the team would use long after this project ended.

TeamUX/UI designers, illustrators, communication team, external audit vendor, product stakeholders

The Problem

The product had grown fast: more clients, more screens, a bigger team. That growth made visual consistency harder to maintain, and it showed. In a financial product, inconsistency isn't just a visual problem. It feels unsafe.

A qualitative study revealed that DINN was broadly seen as "inversión para lo diario / chiquita" — a small, everyday investment tool — regardless of how financially sophisticated users actually were. Even experienced investors used it as a side account. The approachability was working, but it was setting a ceiling.

The product as it was

"Bright colors, decorative illustrations, low visual hierarchy — playful and approachable."

Approachability was working — first-timers felt welcome

But it was setting a ceiling on how seriously users took the product

Experienced investors were using it as a side account, not a main platform

The design challenge

"Maturity without rigidity. Clear without being overwhelming."

Accessible enough for first-timers who've never invested

Substantial enough for users to grow into a main platform

Trustworthy enough that users feel safe putting their money in

Diagnosis

We ran two visual audits simultaneously. I didn't want the findings to just be my own perspective — and I didn't want them to be only an outside one either.

Internal Audit

Designed and run in-house

Mapped every UI pattern across the app — color usage, typography hierarchy, illustration style, spacing, component behavior.

Documented every point where brand guidelines were being ignored, stretched, or misapplied.

External Audit

Independent vendor

Brought in outside perspective to validate findings and catch structural gaps that internal familiarity had stopped us from seeing.

Both audits reached the same conclusion: the visual system was actively working against trust perception.

Audit findings — inconsistencias documentadas del sistema visual anterior

What I Built

The system had to work for any designer, on any screen, without needing me in the room.

Color governance

Not just which colors to use — how much of each and when. That one change alone fixed most of the visual noise.

Typography hierarchy

Clearer type scale, tighter rules for headings, body, and supporting text. Every screen needed to communicate priority clearly.

Illustration direction

Calmer, more grounded compositions. Less decoration that adds visual weight without adding meaning.

Spacing and layout

Consistent grids and spacing logic. The visual rhythm users feel but don't consciously notice.

Tone by context

Rules for how the visual tone shifts across moments: onboarding, portfolio view, alerts, educational content.

System documentation — paleta con proporciones, escala tipográfica, ilustración antes/después

Validation

Before rolling anything out, I tested the new system with 100 users (50 existing clients, 50 new users). In a financial product, you don't ship on instinct. You test first.

Participants

100

50 existing DINN clients
50 new users — no prior exposure to the product

Method

Comparative testing

Old visual system shown against the new one — same screens, same context, different system.

Result

Every key trust metric moved in the right direction

Consistently across both user groups — before a single screen shipped to production.

Pantallas nuevas del app — el sistema implementado en contexto real (post-validación)

Execution

I led the implementation across the full product.

That meant coordinating illustrators, UX/UI designers, and the communication team under one direction, making sure the system was applied consistently.

Spread del manual de gobernanza + implementación en app completa

Key Deliverables

Visual Audit Reports

Internal + External

Evidence-based diagnosis of perception and consistency gaps — not just one perspective.

Product Visual System

Color · Type · Spacing · Illustration · Imagery

The full ruleset for how the product looks, feels, and shifts tone across contexts.

Brand Governance Documentation

Still in use today

Scalable reference built for the team — with rationale, not just rules.

Full App & Website Implementation

Every screen, every touchpoint

Cohesive product experience aligned with brand maturity. Coordinated across designers, illustrators, and communications.

Outcome

The documentation is what I'm most proud of from this project because it's still being used today. It gave the team a real system to build on.

Collage "after" — pantallas representativas del sistema implementado

Reflection

Users don't process trust rationally — they feel it. Color proportions, spacing, illustration tone aren't aesthetic preferences. They're the product.

You can update the logo and the guidelines, but if the product doesn't reflect the new brand, nothing actually changes. The real work is translating brand intent into component-level decisions that hold across designers and time.

Testing with both existing and new users gave us real confidence that the changes worked — before any development started.