Mobile App

Kiva, a web-based crowdfunding platform, has driven financial inclusion and poverty alleviation for 15 years. During this time, 1.8 million lenders have lent $1.43 billion to 3.6 million borrowers in underserved communities worldwide.

As the lead designer, I spearheaded a 0-to-1 initiative to launch Kiva’s first app, enabling the organization to scale impact and better convey the borrower’s story.

Reporting to the CPO, I explored ways to evolve beyond the existing, stagnant e-commerce-like approach to lending.

Stagnant user engagement: lenders delayed re-lending until full repayment (~1 year).

Borrowers were buried in text-heavy, outdated ecommerce-style pages.

Needed modernization and experimentation to acquire users and scale impact.

Resistance to change from long-time employees and power users.

How might we improve the core lending experience and encourage relending?
How might we scale impact?

For my research, I interviewed both experienced users and our target demographic to identify potential barriers to lending. I analyzed mobile trends and nationwide usage to gain stakeholder support, including the CPO. I used engagement research to guide design decisions and conducted user testing for usability. Additionally, I collaborated with Apple for feedback on app usability and success.

Partnered with VP Product and Eng team for 3-month sprint.

Want to replace ecommerce experience.

MVP: discover, search, borrower page, checkout.

Weekly innovation sessions.

Focus on visual storytelling, making financial data accessible, and leveraging native app functionality.

Photos. Human taglines. Data viz. Modern styline. Delightful animations.
Internal usability tests.

Apple featured our app in the App Store within days of launch.

We received overwhelmingly positive user feedback, much of it praising the user-friendly loan processes, repayment tracking, and celebratory experience.

In the first week alone, we gained 1,200+ new users and facilitated $95k in loans, potentially assisting up to 3,800 borrowers.