Morpara

Designing a regulation-resilient fintech platform for international money transfers in a hyperinflation economy

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Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak

ROLE

Primary Product Designer

TEAM

2 Designers · 2 PMs

TIME & DURATION

6 months · 2023

LOCATION

Istanbul · Turkey

Morpara is a mobile fintech application offering 24/7 international money transfers, domestic and foreign currency accounts, prepaid card products, virtual POS services, co-branded cards, and corporate financial solutions.

Morpara is a mobile fintech application offering 24/7 international money transfers, domestic and foreign currency accounts, prepaid card products, virtual POS services, co-branded cards, and corporate financial solutions.

Morpara is a mobile fintech application offering 24/7 international money transfers, domestic and foreign currency accounts, prepaid card products, virtual POS services, co-branded cards, and corporate financial solutions.

Over 300,000 downloads
on IOS & Android devices

3.9/5 App Store Rating
among users

ROLE

Primary Product Designer

TEAM

2 Designers · 2 PMs

TIME & DURATION

6 months · 2023

LOCATION

Istanbul · Turkey

Introduction: Translating a fintech vision into a scalable and compliant product experience

Morpara entered the market with a clear business vision and defined performance metrics. After exploring multiple design partners, the company selected Agency Look following rounds of briefings and strategic presentations where we demonstrated how we would translate their vision into a tangible, scalable product.

At the time the project was greenlit, I was already working on multiple end-to-end projects. Despite a full schedule, I volunteered to take ownership of Morpara because of its complexity. Designing for a heavily regulated financial environment while aligning with strict performance metrics presented a challenge that demanded strategic thinking beyond interface design.

My role: Sole product designer owning strategy, UX architecture, and system design

I was assigned as the primary product designer responsible for the full product lifecycle, including:

  • Product research and competitive analysis

  • UX and product strategy definition

  • Information architecture and flow design

  • Low-fidelity concept exploration

  • Design system creation and maintenance

  • High-fidelity prototyping and iteration cycles

  • Moderating stakeholder demos and critique sessions

  • Developer documentation and structured handoff

Throughout the project, I translated business requirements and regulatory constraints into structured user flows and scalable product logic. In several key areas, I proposed alternative solutions that challenged the predefined strategy. After presenting structured arguments and prototypes to stakeholders, multiple proposals were adopted into the final product, elevating the experience beyond the original vision.

Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak

Problem framing: Designing for international transfers under constant regulatory volatility

Turkey’s economic instability and hyperinflation introduced major disruptions to international financial transactions. Government regulations around foreign currency accounts, transfer limits, and authorized fintech services were frequently updated. Several global platforms were restricted or banned, leaving individuals and businesses without reliable international transfer options.

The environment presented multiple challenges:

  • Rapidly changing compliance requirements

  • Restrictions on non-bank fintech institutions

  • Foreign currency holding limits

  • Increased documentation requirements

  • User confusion around policy changes

Morpara aimed to create a frictionless alternative in a system increasingly designed to introduce friction. The product needed to remain flexible, compliant, and transparent while shielding users from regulatory complexity.

Competitive analysis: Reverse-engineering fintech leaders without a research budget

The client did not allocate budget for user interviews or usability testing. To compensate, I conducted an extensive competitive analysis of local and global fintech platforms operating in similar domains.

Products analyzed included:

  • Wise

  • PayPal

  • Tinkoff

  • Papara

  • FUPS

The analysis focused on:

  • Information hierarchy and navigation models

  • Transaction transparency patterns

  • Risk communication strategies

  • Feature prioritization

  • Conversion optimization within onboarding flows

Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak

From these insights, I generated structured user stories to guide product decisions.

Example User Stories:

  • As a resident in Turkey facing unstable international transfer access, I want a reliable and regulation-compliant platform so I can send and receive money abroad without sudden service disruptions.

  • As a traveler, I want to use one app and one card across currencies so I don’t need separate bank accounts in each country.

  • As a parent with a child studying abroad, I want clear, step-by-step instructions to send money confidently without assistance.

  • As an independent business owner, I want secure international transfers so my funds remain protected during unexpected disruptions.

  • As a business owner, I want flexible foreign payment options to expand my international customer base.

Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak

Regulatory deep dive: Aligning product strategy with legal and governmental constraints

Beyond competitive analysis, I conducted independent research into financial regulations affecting foreign currency accounts and international transfers. To ensure compliance and reduce future risk, I scheduled meetings with Morpara’s legal and project management teams to clarify:

  • Current regulatory boundaries

  • Areas likely to change

  • Legal limitations for fintech institutions

  • Risk exposure scenarios

  • Contingency planning strategies

This collaboration allowed me to design flows that were not only compliant at launch but adaptable to future regulatory shifts.

Information architecture: Building transparency, error prevention, and adaptability into the core

Based on research and constraints, I defined core strategic principles that shaped the product architecture:

  • Radical transparency in all transaction states

  • Dedicated space for regulatory updates, guides, and announcements

  • Clear, jargon-free microcopy for users with varying financial literacy

  • Immediate access to all money transfer actions

  • Fragmentation of complex processes into smaller, manageable steps

  • Flexible automation logic to support regulatory adaptation

  • Friction layers in high-risk areas for error prevention

  • Support for multiple transaction modes, including card usage and online payments

Once these principles were defined, I constructed the full flow architecture and information hierarchy before moving into conceptual design.

Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak
Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak

Concept exploration: Validating structure before visual commitment

With flows established, I created low-fidelity wireframes to visualize page structure, functionality, and interaction patterns. These wireframes were presented to Morpara stakeholders for validation and critique.

After incorporating structured feedback, I refined and finalized the interaction model before transitioning to high-fidelity designs.

Design system: Building a scalable foundation for Morpara’s expanding ecosystem

Morpara required a custom-built design system that could support long-term scaling and future product releases.

Key considerations included:

  • Alignment with existing brand identity

  • Component-based architecture using advanced property structures

  • Consistency across iOS and Android despite unavailable official UI kits at the time

  • Documentation enabling developer independence after agency handoff

I collaborated closely with external developers to clarify native component behavior and ensure implementation accuracy. The final system served not only the launch product but also future releases and ecosystem expansion.

Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak
Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak
Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak
Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak
Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak
Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak
Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak
Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak
Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak

Personal contribution: Creating a global money transfer super menu

Money transfers were the product’s most critical feature. The initial proposal placed transfer options on the homepage above the fold. However, this conflicted with three essential homepage elements:

  • Account balance overview

  • Informational stories and updates

  • Transaction history list

Adding another section risked diminishing visibility of core financial information.

I proposed detaching money transfers from the homepage and introducing a dedicated bottom navigation entry that opened a global overlay containing all transfer options.

This solution:

  • Enabled single-tap access from any primary screen

  • Reduced scroll-based friction

  • Simplified future feature expansion

  • Decreased long-term architectural complexity

Although it introduced additional development effort during the alpha stage, the measurable usability and scalability benefits convinced stakeholders to adopt the change.

Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak

Personal contribution: Automating regulatory compliance for foreign currency accounts

Frequent regulation changes required users to convert foreign currencies within specific timeframes. Expecting users to track these policies manually created financial risk and user frustration.

I designed a time-based automation system that:

  • Automatically converted foreign currency holdings after the legally defined period

  • Sent scheduled in-app and email notifications

  • Increased notification frequency as deadlines approached

  • Allowed manual intervention before automated conversion

This approach balanced compliance, transparency, and user protection while minimizing future redevelopment costs caused by regulatory updates.

Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak

Personal contribution: Introducing tiered verification to reduce onboarding friction

Regulations required different documentation levels depending on transaction type. A single onboarding path would have introduced unnecessary friction for users performing only basic transactions.

I introduced a three-tier profile system:

  • Unverified customers

  • Verified customers

  • Contracted corporate customers

Users began at the lowest tier and upgraded only when required.

This structure:

  • Reduced initial onboarding time from days to approximately 10 minutes

  • Increased conversion rates by minimizing early friction

  • Structured complex compliance processes into progressive stages

Tech stack: Supporting strategy, collaboration, and production

To execute the project efficiently, the following tools were used:

  • Slack for internal communication

  • Jira for sprint and task management

  • Microsoft Teams for stakeholder presentations

  • Miro for flow diagrams, sitemaps, and ideation

  • Figma for wireframing, prototyping, and system design

  • Photoshop and Illustrator for asset creation

Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak

Results: Scaling adoption while reducing compliance friction

Since launch, Morpara has achieved:

  • 300,000+ downloads

  • A 3.9/5 App Store rating in a highly regulated domain

Additional long-term impact included:

  • Automation logic reducing repeated development cycles caused by regulatory shifts

  • A scalable design system accelerating new feature releases

  • Reduced onboarding friction and improved conversion

Morpara demonstrates how thoughtful product architecture, regulatory awareness, and strategic UX decisions can transform complexity into a structured and scalable financial experience.

Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak
Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak
Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak
Portrait of Etkin Ucbudak