The product experience is key to Pleo’s success, focusing on Spenders, the end users of payments, rather than just Admin users. This approach was groundbreaking when Pleo launched in 2015.
However, with new investments, Pleo aimed to serve both SMBs and medium-sized businesses, shifting focus to Admin users and tactical feature parity. This change fragmented the once-simple experience, making Spender experience an afterthought.
My role was to bring great holistic design back and I approached this by:
- Strengthening design leadership through support and new hires and by integrating them into product leadership.
- Updating the product team archetype to include senior designers in decision-making and fostering co-design among designers.
- Introducing the concept of UX targets.
- Shaping the roadmap for accessibility compliance with upcoming EU laws and leading the RFP process for an external accessibility partner.
- Modernising the Design System.
- Bringing a sense of appreciation, urgency and pride back in the Product Designers.
I also started a long-needed redesign project of a key interface of the product.
