Dovly

My Role:

Lead Designer

Client:

Dovly

Duration

1 Year

Tools:

Figma

Deliverables:

Visual design, User research, Interaction design, PRD

Team:

2 Designers, 1 Project Manager, 1 Creative Director, Developers

Background

Dovly is helping Americans repair, build, and protect their credit. Over 1-year, I worked closely with Dovly's product team to develop strategy for the next generation of their mobile app. Together, we set out to make the experience approachable and empowering, transforming a complex process into something simple and supportive. From defining product strategy to building a scalable design system, the work laid the foundation for a more trustworthy and human credit journey.

Each user invested in their credit score has a unique credit journey with different concerns and motivators. To many young users, the US credit system is unapproachable.

Current Dovly users are navigating complex challenges, feeling insecure and hesitent. Especially users who have made the commitment to use Dovly, tend to become disengaged before even reaching halfway through the recommended journey.

Each user invested in their credit score has a unique credit journey with different concerns and motivators. To many young users, the US credit system is unapproachable.

Impact

Listening to thousands of real user stories revealed what numbers alone couldn’t. By reducing confusion, reinforcing trust, and guiding users step by step toward success, we allowed users to feel in control of their credit.

The results speak for themselves: completion rates climbed from 4% to 25%, App Store ratings rose to 4.8★

We created a product upgrade focused on building trust and guided flows to help users visualize their progress and stay engaged throughout their credit journey. Visually, we revamped the branding with a vibrant and exciting design system to better resonate with a younger target audience.

Problem

Dovly users navigating complex credit challenges often lose confidence and drop off before reaching their goals.

For many Americans today, the "American Dream" has become more accessible than ever before. Anyone can take a loan out for their dream house, car, or business. Well, almost anyone. The US relies heavily on a credit system, where only people with the top credit scores can have the best chance at obtaining a loan.

Dovly AI is shaking up the credit game by offering the first all-in-one AI Credit Engine that builds, fixes, and maintains credit, revolutionizing how Americans understand and improve their financial standing.

Over a 2-month engagement, we worked closely with Dovly's product team to develop strategy and redesign the mobile app experience. Our focus was to enhance usability, optimize user upgrades, and craft a more trustworthy and approachable visual language. From strategy to design systems, we laid the foundation for a smarter, more supportive credit journey—no matter where users start.

Audience

Behind every credit score is a personal story. Some users are just beginning to build their credit, while others are working hard to either recover from setbacks or grow their score further. Our primary focus is on users with no credit to low-700 range. Our challenge was to provide a product that could help users eager to improve their credit health but often overwhelmed by confusing systems.

Process

Empathize

To understand where users are struggling, we analyzed user feedback, App Store reviews, and competitor experiences—uncovering the emotional and functional gaps in today’s credit repair journey.

Analyzing Negative Reviews

Negative reviews frequently mentioned confusion, lack of feedback, and trust issues with credit repair. The AI power of Dovly especially felt unclear, and users weren’t sure if the app was working at all.

Analyzing Negative Reviews

User Research

We began to connect user challenges with business goals. Leveraging Dovly’s existing research and interview insights, we analyzed behavioral patterns, usability study data, and qualitative feedback to uncover where users struggled, and where the product had room to grow.

These findings helped us pinpoint key friction points in the journey and align our design strategy around opportunities that balanced user trust, clarity, and conversion goals.

Experience Audit

We performed a detailed audit of the current Dovly app through product walkthroughs and design reviews. By mapping each step of the user journey, we identified where users lost clarity or momentum and uncovered opportunities to simplify flows and improve overall usability.

Define

Defining a Guided Journey

Before sketching any screens, we needed to understand why users were getting lost. By mapping the existing user flows, we uncovered where the experience broke down, too many options, unclear direction, and no sense of progress.

Collaborating closely with stakeholders, we redefined the journey through several rounds of iteration, creating a flow that guided users step-by-step and made the path to success feel clear and achievable.

Competitor Research

To better redesign Dovly, we conducted a competitive analysis of leading credit repair and monitoring apps. By examining their onboarding flows, communication tone, and progress visualization, we identified industry best practices and gaps in emotional design.

Ideate

Moodboard

Turning Pain Points into Possibilities

Building on our research, we brainstormed solutions that could make users feel more confident and supported throughout their credit journey. By mapping ideas on an Impact Effort Matrix, we aligned around opportunities that would create the most value.

Wireframing

Exploring Structure Through Wireframes

To validate our user flow improvements, we created low-fidelity wireframes that focused on content hierarchy and task progression. Collaborating with stakeholders, we tested different dashboard layouts and onboarding patterns to ensure the experience felt both intuitive and action-oriented.

This phase allowed us to align on the core framework before refining visuals or microinteractions.

Hi-Fidelity

Signing up for a credit app can feel uncertain. To build confidence, we designed a welcoming, goal-oriented onboarding flow that shows value before commitment. By revealing a personalized “credit action plan” upfront, users could see their potential progress—transforming curiosity into motivation and sign-up anxiety into excitement.

Turning Anxiety into Empowerment

For many users, viewing their credit score can be an emotional moment—especially when it’s lower than expected. We reimagined this step to replace fear with encouragement. The new design celebrates possibility, using visual storytelling to show steady progress and achievable milestones.

By shifting the focus from how far they have to go to how much they can grow, the experience now feels hopeful, personal, and action-driven.

A Dashboard that Drives Engagement

We restructured the dashboard to serve as both a motivator and a navigator. Users now see their score, goals, and improvement metrics in one glance—alongside task-based prompts that reinforce daily engagement.

This streamlined experience aligns behavioral cues with business goals, increasing retention and encouraging consistent progress toward better credit health.

Keeping Momentum through Gamification

User data showed that early drop-offs often occurred after initial setup. To address this, we introduced a rewards system that connects real-world value with consistent engagement. Progress tracking, point accumulation, and milestone celebrations create a sense of achievement that keeps users coming back.

This system reframes credit improvement as an attainable, rewarding experience—one that feels active, not passive.

Giving Control through Transparency

One of the biggest challenges users faced was understanding how to take action on negative accounts. The redesigned dispute flow gives users instant control—allowing them to batch-select multiple items, edit dispute reasons, and view projected score improvements.
We incorporated subtle AI cues and clear success indicators to build trust, showing users that their actions have measurable impact. This approach turned what was once a confusing process into a transparent, empowering experience.

Validating Through User Testing

Using the interactive prototype, we conducted small-scale user testing sessions with both new and existing Dovly users. Participants were asked to complete key flows, such as onboarding, reviewing their action plan, and disputing a negative account.

The feedback confirmed that the redesigned experience felt clearer, faster, and more trustworthy. Users especially appreciated the guided onboarding, simplified credit overview, and transparent progress indicators, which made them feel more in control of their financial journey.

User testing with five participants revealed consistent improvements in navigation and task completion:

80% of users completed all major flows without external help
100% of users completed disputes and credit-building tasks smoothly (rating 3/3)
Early friction points centered around pre-signup clarity, offering a clear area for further refinement
Overall, these findings validated the redesign’s success in reducing cognitive load and improving user confidence across critical actions.

Prototype

See how the redesigned experience comes to life—from first impression to credit improvement. This prototype helped the team validate flows, refine microinteractions, and ensure the experience delivers clarity and confidence at every step.

Click to test the Figma prototype

Designing a system to scale

While working on improving the user flows, we simultaneously began designing a fresh look with a scalable system to last.
To stand out in a competitive fintech space and attract younger users, Dovly needed to shift away from it's old monotone design into something more fun, mondern and approachable. Grounded in our research, we presented stakeholders with a variety of moodboards to spark conversation on alignment.

Style explorations

We initially proposed 4 different design directions, from safe and conservative to bold and daring.

After 3 rounds of design iterations, we landed on a bold and modern design, that was grounded in accessibility and usability best practices. This approach would appeal towards Dovly's younger tech-savvy users without alienating older users with difficult usability challenges.

Component Library

Through designing the dashboard first, we determined the tone, energy, and character of the new style, and set out to expand the them into a comprehensive design library, compelete with different components, patterns, and interaction states. This design system provides the Dovly team a scalable visual foundation for them to continue building the product consistently after our engagement.

Results and impacts

The redesigned Dovly app transformed a complex, often intimidating credit repair process into an experience that feels approachable, supportive, and action-driven.

Through clearer guidance, visualized progress, and trust-building design patterns, we:

Increased task completion rate from 4% to 25%

within key flows.

Improved user confidence and engagement, validated through usability testing feedback.

Raised App Store rating from 4.5 to 4.8, with reviews citing “clarity,” “motivation,” and “ease of use”.

The result is a product that not only helps users repair their credit—but helps them believe they can.

While auditing the existing product, we realized that it offered users freedom of customization for their credit action plan.

That may not always be the best choice. We found that for users looking to fix and build their credit, customization during onboarding can lead to uncertainty. After all, what's the point in trusting Dovly, if you can make up a plan yourself? By providing clear authoratative suggestions, we can bring more tangible value.

The redesigned Dovly app transformed a complex, often intimidating credit repair process into an experience that feels approachable, supportive, and action-driven.

Through clearer guidance, visualized progress, and trust-building design patterns, we:

Increased task completion rate from 4% to 25%

within key flows.

Improved user confidence and engagement, validated through usability testing feedback.

Raised App Store rating from 4.5 to 4.8, with reviews citing “clarity,” “motivation,” and “ease of use”.

The result is a product that not only helps users repair their credit—but helps them believe they can.

The redesigned Dovly app transformed a complex, often intimidating credit repair process into an experience that feels approachable, supportive, and action-driven.

Through clearer guidance, visualized progress, and trust-building design patterns, we:

Increased task completion rate from 4% to 25%

within key flows.

Improved user confidence and engagement, validated through usability testing feedback.

Raised App Store rating from 4.5 to 4.8, with reviews citing “clarity,” “motivation,” and “ease of use”.

The result is a product that not only helps users repair their credit—but helps them believe they can.