PEAK6 / Zogo Finance

Skill completion up 36%.

I redesigned how Zogo teaches, from lesson structure to rewards, and extended the same system to partners through an embeddable SDK.

RoleStaff Product Designer
Timeframe2023 – 2026
PlatformsiOS, Android, web, SDK
Scale3M+ users

Zogo app screens: a two-day streak, a completed skill badge, and a gift card redemption

The complexity

One product, many brands.

Zogo is a white-label app. The same product reaches millions of consumers and re-skins itself with each partner bank or credit union's logo and colors.

LearnersA simple, motivating app that builds a habit.
PartnersTheir own brand, inside their own apps and websites.
SalesSomething real to show prospective partners before it ships.
EngineeringOne codebase and one design system to maintain.

How I untangled it

I made brand and features configuration instead of custom work. One design system re-skins itself for each partner, and a configuration tool lets partners choose features without engineering help. Learners still get one consistent product, and working prototypes let sales demo the SDK to prospective partners.

Key decisions

What I changed.

01
One system, any brand

I scaled a single design system across products that adapts to each partner's brand, so design and engineering could move faster without forking the product.
02
Make learning a habit

I reworked lesson structure, user flows and rewards so every session ends with visible progress: streaks, skill badges and redeemable rewards.
03
Embed it anywhere

I led end-to-end design of a turnkey SDK and a configuration tool partners use without technical help. My working prototypes doubled as sales demos.

The tradeoff

Short onboarding, or a smarter one?

Option A

Keep it short

The usual best practice: fewer steps and less drop-off, but generic lessons, thin partner data, and identity checks left to interrupt gift card redemption.

Option B · Chosen

Ask more up front

Personalization questions and identity verification at the start, then straight into a first lesson. More steps, but each one pays off later.

Why

A/B tests showed the extra steps didn't hurt conversion. It went up 10%. We got richer data for partner reporting, a more personal experience, and gift card redemption turned from a friction point into a moment of delight.

Shipped

The work, up close.

The SDK inside a sample partner's online banking: Zogo lessons in the bank's own product and brand.

Zogo news summaries: short key takeaways for a finance story, with related lessons — Zogo's first AI feature: daily finance news distilled into 3–7 takeaways, linked to related lessons.+27% lesson starts from news

Zogo onboarding sequence: personalization questions leading into a first lesson — Onboarding: A/B tests showed more setup steps didn't hurt conversion, so I added personalization and dropped users straight into a first lesson.+10% conversion

How we worked

Fixing the release rhythm.

Soon after joining, I saw our release process was costing the whole company time. Every three-week sprint ended with 20+ people in two to three hours of QA, and many showed up without really taking part.

BeforeThree-week sprints, then one long QA session for 20+ people.
What changedTwo-week sprints, with design QA first and team QA after.
ResultI land UI/UX fixes a day or two early, so team QA is shorter and more focused: fewer people, better feedback.

Impact

What moved.

+36%Skill completion
+25%Retention, year over year
+27%Lesson starts from news
+10%Onboarding conversion

For partner banks and credit unions, engagement is the ROI: better-informed customers tend to pay bills on time and use more of their institution's tools and services.

These are team results from product analytics and A/B tests. I led the design work behind them with product, content and engineering partners.