When Speed Beats Process: Lessons from Karma+
A 0-to-1 product that launched before it was ready, and the lessons it taught me.
When Speed Beats Process: Lessons from Karma+
A 0-to-1 product that launched before it was ready, and the lessons it taught me.
When Speed Beats Process: Lessons from Karma+
A 0-to-1 product that launched before it was ready, and the lessons it taught me.
My role
UX/UI Designer
Tags
0->1 · Failure & Lessons
Timeline
2022
My role
UX/UI Designer
Tags
0->1 · Failure & Lessons
Timeline
2022
UX/UI Designer
0->1 · Failure & Lessons
2022
Psst! Hey you! Want a quicker overview of what happened instead of reading the whole use-case? I got you! Click the button ->
Psst! Hey you! Want a quicker overview of what happened instead of reading the whole use-case? I got you! Click the button ->
Psst! Hey you! Want a quicker overview of what happened instead of reading the whole use-case? I got you! Click the button.
The project
Karma+ was a new financial product and app aimed at a younger audience with an interest in doing some good with their money. The idea was simple: every purchase made with the Karma+ card would have its fees and interest donated to a charity of the user's choice. In return, users would get benefits – the more they used it, the more they gave, the more they got back, hence the name.
The project
Karma+ was a new financial product and app aimed at a younger audience with an interest in doing some good with their money. The idea was simple: every purchase made with the Karma+ card would have its fees and interest donated to a charity of the user's choice. In return, users would get benefits – the more they used it, the more they gave, the more they got back, hence the name.
The project
Karma+ was a new financial product and app aimed at a younger audience with an interest in doing some good with their money. The idea was simple: every purchase made with the Karma+ card would have its fees and interest donated to a charity of the user's choice. In return, users would get benefits – the more they used it, the more they gave, the more they got back, hence the name.
What happened
This one didn't go well. Still super worth talking about it. I led the design, with a junior alongside me. The client had multiple internal teams involved, and from early on it became clear they weren't fully aligned on what the product needed to be. Different stakeholders, different expectations, different ideas about scope.
What happened
This one didn't go well. Still super worth talking about it. I led the design, with a junior alongside me. The client had multiple internal teams involved, and from early on it became clear they weren't fully aligned on what the product needed to be. Different stakeholders, different expectations, different ideas about scope.
What happened
This one didn't go well. Still super worth talking about it. I led the design, with a junior alongside me. The client had multiple internal teams involved, and from early on it became clear they weren't fully aligned on what the product needed to be. Different stakeholders, different expectations, different ideas about scope.
Designing without a floor
We kept designing. We worked with what we had, tried to find a stable version of the brief, and assumed it would get clearer as the project moved forward. It didn’t. No MVP was ever agreed on, no success metric was defined before launch. The product went live before it was ready – not out of carelessness, but because the pressure to deliver kept building and the process around it never caught up. The result? Limited adoption, discontinued shortly after.
Designing without a floor
We kept designing. We worked with what we had, tried to find a stable version of the brief, and assumed it would get clearer as the project moved forward. It didn’t. No MVP was ever agreed on, no success metric was defined before launch. The product went live before it was ready – not out of carelessness, but because the pressure to deliver kept building and the process around it never caught up. The result? Limited adoption, discontinued shortly after.
Designing without a floor
We kept designing. We worked with what we had, tried to find a stable version of the brief, and assumed it would get clearer as the project moved forward. It didn’t. No MVP was ever agreed on, no success metric was defined before launch. The product went live before it was ready – not out of carelessness, but because the pressure to deliver kept building and the process around it never caught up. The result? Limited adoption, discontinued shortly after.
IMAGE AVAILABLE SOON
IMAGE AVAILABLE SOON
IMAGE AVAILABLE SOON
A posteriori
The design work held up. The limited process we had in place kept things moving and manageable on our end. What the project was missing wasn't effort or craft, it was an earlier conversation about what success actually looked like and what the minimum viable version of the product needed to be before it could ship. That clarity never came, and without it, launching was always going to be a risk. Not that everything went wrong. It's that one foundational thing was never resolved, and it caught up with the product at the worst possible moment.
A posteriori
The design work held up. The limited process we had in place kept things moving and manageable on our end. What the project was missing wasn't effort or craft, it was an earlier conversation about what success actually looked like and what the minimum viable version of the product needed to be before it could ship. That clarity never came, and without it, launching was always going to be a risk. Not that everything went wrong. It's that one foundational thing was never resolved, and it caught up with the product at the worst possible moment.
A posteriori
The design work held up. The limited process we had in place kept things moving and manageable on our end. What the project was missing wasn't effort or craft, it was an earlier conversation about what success actually looked like and what the minimum viable version of the product needed to be before it could ship. That clarity never came, and without it, launching was always going to be a risk. Not that everything went wrong. It's that one foundational thing was never resolved, and it caught up with the product at the worst possible moment.
Step-by-step summary
Context
Discovery
PARTIAL INVOLVEMENT
We ran discovery sessions with the client, but a stable, shared direction never fully landed. Different stakeholder groups had different ideas about what the product should be, which made it hard to build on solid ground from the start.
Discovery
PARTIAL INVOLVEMENT
We ran discovery sessions with the client, but a stable, shared direction never fully landed. Different stakeholder groups had different ideas about what the product should be, which made it hard to build on solid ground from the start.
Definition
PARTIAL INVOLVEMENT
We worked to define scope and structure, but without a locked MVP or agreed success metrics, definition stayed open longer than it should have.
Definition
PARTIAL INVOLVEMENT
We worked to define scope and structure, but without a locked MVP or agreed success metrics, definition stayed open longer than it should have.
Ideation
FULL INVOLVEMENT
Despite the moving brief, we explored ideas, tested directions, and pushed the product forward. The creative work happened, it just needed firmer ground underneath it.
Ideation
FULL INVOLVEMENT
Despite the moving brief, we explored ideas, tested directions, and pushed the product forward. The creative work happened, it just needed firmer ground underneath it.
Design
FULL INVOLVEMENT
Led UX and UI design with a junior designer alongside me. We produced a considered, complete body of work. The design itself wasn't the issue but the readiness to launch around it was.
Design
FULL INVOLVEMENT
Led UX and UI design with a junior designer alongside me. We produced a considered, complete body of work. The design itself wasn't the issue but the readiness to launch around it was.
Validation
NOT INVOLVED
Formal validation didn't happen before launch. User testing and defined success criteria were meant to come, the timeline just moved faster than the process allowed for.
Validation
NOT INVOLVED
Formal validation didn't happen before launch. User testing and defined success criteria were meant to come, the timeline just moved faster than the process allowed for.
Delivery
PARTIAL INVOLVEMENT
The product launched. It wasn't the version we had planned for, or under the conditions we'd hoped for, but it shipped. Pulled from the market shortly after.
Delivery
PARTIAL INVOLVEMENT
The product launched. It wasn't the version we had planned for, or under the conditions we'd hoped for, but it shipped. Pulled from the market shortly after.
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Context
Done wtih my hands using Figma and Framer.
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Last updated: Jun 2026
Done wtih my hands using Figma and Framer.
Last updated: Jun 2026
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Done wtih my hands using Figma and Framer.
Last updated: Jun 2026
oto