Overview
Shipping a Neo-Banking and DeFi Product in 72 Hours.
One day before the hackathon, IKIGAI asked me to turn its vision for neo-banking, payments, and synthetic assets on TON into a clear, demo-ready product.
This project wasn’t about a full UX process. It's about rapid product decisions, real-time engineering alignment, and delivering a working experience for launch.
CLIENT
IKIGAI
YEAR
2024
ROLE
Product/UX Designer
KEY outcome
#3 in DeFi Innovation at London Hackers League
Challnege
No time for full research or validation cycles
Product vision still evolving
Needed to design for both Web2 familiarity and DeFi core
Everything had to be clear, demo-able within seconds
Goal
Define core product experience fast
Design key flows that communicate value immediately
Support the team in pitching a strong, cohesive story
Discovery
I worked directly with the founder, who was also the head of engineer, so feedback, feasibility checks, and product decisions happened in real time.
The snapshots show how ideas were quickly translated, adjusted, and validated during the build:
Approach: built for speed
I focused on execution over process. I referenced neo-bank and DeFi patterns, moved straight into high-fidelity with flows, and validated decisions in real time with the founder.
High-Fidelity Design
Connecting the core experience for launch.
I designed the full experience across sending, receiving, saving, and exchange, then walked through everything live with the founder. With only 72 hours, we made decisions and adjustments in real time instead of relying on formal annotations.
Micro-interactions
Making the demo feel like a working product. I added smooth transitions and clear feedback to the two key flows:
Send money:
Confirm → Processing → Success → Notify recipient
Receive money:
Sign up → Processing → Success
Outcome
Shipped in 72 hours and placed #3 in DeFi Innovation.
We turned an early product vision into a connected, working demo in time for judging. IKIGAI placed third in DeFi Innovation, showing how clear priorities, real-time alignment, and focused execution can deliver under extreme constraints.
Other projects
