Company/ WorkingMoni
Role/ Product Designer
Tools/ Figma, Trello, Placeit
Timeline/ 6 months
Intro
WorkingMoni is a real estate funding platform for hard money loans. It connects two groups: people who need money (Borrowers) and people who have money to invest (Investors).
WorkingMoni is a two-sided platform like Airbnb and Zillow, but for money. It supports both Borrowers and Investors. Sounds simple but the back-and-forth between both sides is rather complex.
The MVP was launched last year. It was responsive and worked well, but didn’t feel right. Users would sign up, poke around... and leave. In the first month, only 12 people subscribed.
That’s where I came in. I led a full UX overhaul, from onboarding to dashboard, rethinking how the platform communicated credibility, clarity, and confidence at every step. One month after the revamp, over 100 users didn’t just sign up. They subscribed! 🥳
Here’s how I made that happen!
Two Different Animals 🐅🦉
Our users are Borrowers and Investors.
Borrowers move FAST. They need quick cash to start or finish projects. They’re used to risks, and hard money loans are quick and short-term. They’re knocking on doors and making endless calls because sometimes they don’t have direct connections to lenders or investors.
Investors? Total opposite. They’re careful, steady, want solid returns, and need to feel good before putting money in.
But here’s the twist. Both groups are super hands-on. A lot of them are flippers, developers, old-school real estate folks who’d rather call or text than use a digital platform. They’ve been in the game a long time, and picking up new tech isn’t always second nature.
Honestly, I get it. I see it with my parents and uncles. No offense, but tech just isn’t their thing!
An Awkward Start
At launch, borrowers didn’t see any investor interest, so they stopped posting projects. These deals are sensitive. If no one's biting, why put them out there?
On the flip side, investors would log in, see an almost empty marketplace, and bounce. It was a cycle: No projects meant no investors, and no investors meant no new projects.
The more listings there are, the more confident other borrowers feel to join. But early on, no one really wanted to be the first to jump in.
It felt like showing up to a lake with your fishing pole… not even sure if there are any fish in there. And then, you don’t catch a thing. Yup, that was our platform in the first month... A mystery lake. 😬
Goal
After digging into the two user journeys and seeing where things fell short, the real challenge came into focus: Building one platform that worked for both sides.
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Helping Borrowers feel confident to list.
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Helping Investors feel confident to commit.
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Making it simple enough for users who’d rather call than click.
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And showing deals clearly so no one wastes time figuring things out
That was the goal:
Make it click for both sides.
Turning Friction into Flow
Both sides had blockers, and they were feeding into each other. That’s when it clicked: I need to design for momentum. One action should naturally lead to the next so no one gets stuck.
Solving UX Problem 1: Lowering Friction to Post Deals
Solving UX Problem 2: Making borrower projects digestible for investors
Remember how I said Borrowers are always in a rush? I shortened the form into two quick pages with fewer input fields. It's a win for everyone. Borrowers can list faster, and we don't have to keep answering calls or emails to do it for them. Plus, the listings go up under their name, so they have full ownership when showing projects to Investors.
Now it was time to make the borrower-listed projects look good. Like… really good. I wanted Investors to fall in love at first scroll and feel ready to take action. Kind of like a dating app for real estate. Swipe-worthy and deal-ready.
I'll be honest. I was torn during this ideation.
I wanted to go with a modern UI for clarity and speed, but I also knew many of our users are old-school real estate folks who prefer the traditional layout. In the end, I chose a design that helps cautious Investors digest information more easily, using visuals and shorter lines to build trust without overwhelming them.
It was a small risk, but a thoughtful one. Especially for those cautious investors who will need time to review all the details and information.
Solving UX Problem 3: Reducing the "mystery lake" feeling
When we launched, we focused on four things: safety, trust, freshness, and accessibility.
However, that first moment had to feel right. Which is why I revamped the homepage layout.
Right now, our hypothesis is that showing borrower-listed projects early signals momentum to Investors. It suggests deals are moving quickly and others are already taking action. This builds curiosity and encourages them to explore further.
Version 2 is now live as part of an A/B test. We are tracking its performance and monitoring support tickets to determine which version improves understanding and drives more confident user actions.
Conclusion: Turning Hypothesis into Data
Two months after launch, the results proved the theory.
'On Hold - Investor Selected’ label indicates that this borrower-listed project has been claimed by an investor. Previously, very few projects were available and rarely selected. But the new design is successfully driving engagement! By designing around behavior instead of just visuals, I was able to connect two very different user types.
This case taught me that effective UX design is not only about screens. It is about building belief, confidence, and momentum at every interaction.
What started as a quiet, uncertain marketplace turned into a growing ecosystem built on activity and trust!
Project Listings Increased by 150%!
More borrowers have joined us, with many posting multiple listings after seeing strong interest from investors. We’re seeing the numbers grow every day, and it’s clearly reflected in our admin dashboard.
Here's a recap:
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Before Redesign: 12 listings
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After 1 Month: 30 listings → 150% increase
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After 2 Months: 70 listings → 483% increase
And guess what? Now that there are more fish in the water, the fishermen are showing up more regularly, aka the investors.
Unexpected Growth Challenges
The key takeaway was that more users = new problems (happy) to solve!
As the product became more appealing, more users started signing up and actively using the platform. Borrowers were posting projects, and investors were eager to invest. This growth was a great sign of traction.
However, we did not expect projects to get snatched up so quickly. It was a good problem to have but also frustrating. When investors log in, they often find very few new listings available because most projects have already been taken. That made they feel like they were showing up late to the party. 😅
This was not just a UX problem but a product experience (PX) challenge. As Head of Product, I owned the full user journey, balancing both sides and solving bigger business issues. This is the next challenge I’m focused on solving.
Working Within Limits
Since the MVP was built entirely with a Tailwind CSS UI kit, I had to design in Figma around those constraints. My designs did not always match perfectly with what developers could build. On the bright side, I did not have to create a design system from scratch. Just reselected the main colors, fonts, and redesigned the old logo.
Startups move fast, and when I join, sometimes there’s no time to start from scratch or wait for perfect conditions. I’ve learned to adapt quickly and keep moving forward, which has taught me a lot about ownership and flexibility.
Next Challenge: Finding Balance
The idea is simple: the higher your membership rank, the faster you get access to fresh borrower leads.
This is my next big challenge to build a fair and engaging marketplace where both investors and borrowers feel they belong.
I’m currently working on designing the membership and subscription plans.
I’ll share more updates once it’s ready, including both qualitative insights and quantitative data!
Simplifying a dual-sided real estate funding platform for borrowers and investors
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