Designing a B2B Payment & Invoicing Experience (confidential)

Foundational workflow design in an early-stage SaaE startup.

Selected visuals and details have been simplified or adapted to respect confidentiality

INTRODUCTION

I joined an early-stage B2B startup during MVP definition, contributing to the foundational workflows that enable businesses to set up accounts, configure payments, manage customers, and generate invoices. The product sits within the SaaS category but is pioneering a new model called SaaE (Software-as-an-Employee) — where the platform doesn't just provide tools, it actively does the work

MY ROLE

As the UX designer responsible for core product workflows, I structured the platform’s end-to-end operational systems to support scalable MVP development.

My work spanned:

  • Business profile setup

  • Payment method configuration

  • Customer management

  • Invoice generation

  • Dashboard structure

  • Name check and domain registration exploration

[Project Scope]

Founder + 5 engineers + 1 UX

[Role]

UX Designer . Core Product Workflows

[Timeline]

November 2025 - present

INTRODUCTION

I joined an early-stage B2B SaaS startup during MVP definition, contributing to the foundational workflows that enable businesses to set up accounts, configure payments, manage customers, and generate invoices.

THE PROBLEM

Starting a new business means juggling a dozen different tools

A website builder. A payment processor. An invoicing app. A CRM. A domain registrar. Each one has its own login, its own learning curve, and its own monthly fee. Before you've made your first dollar, you're already managing a small IT department.

How might we design a single platform that guides a new business owner through everything they need -- from setting up their online presence to getting paid -- without the overwhelm of switching between disconnected tools?

That question shaped every design decision in this prroduct.

PRODUCT CONTEXT

Designing Across the Business Lifecycle

This product was designed to support businsses from day one, starting from setting up their online presence to managing ongoing operations.Rather than focusing on a single feature, the product experience was designed as an interconnected system supporting both initial setup and long-term retention.

My work contributed across these core systems; however, due to confidentiality considerations, the following sections focus on the invoice generation workflow as a representative example.

Case study focus

Acquisition

Establish Presence

Identity validation

Online presence setup

Retention

Manage Ongoing Operations

Payment Setup

Customer Management

Account setup

Invoice Generation

Dashboard

THE PROBLEM

Starting a new business means juggling a dozen different tools

A website builder. A payment processor. An invoicing app. A CRM. A domain registrar. Each one has its own login, its own learning curve, and its own monthly fee. Before you've made your first dollar, you're already managing a small IT department.

How might we design a single platform that guides a new business owner through everything they need -- from setting up their online presence to getting paid -- without the overwhelm of switching between disconnected tools?

That question shaped every design decision in this prroduct.

Case study focus

Retention

Manage Ongoing Operations

Payment Setup

Customer Management

Account setup

Invoice Generation

Dashboard

PRODUCT CONTEXT

Designing Across the Business Lifecycle

This product was designed to support businsses from day one, starting from setting up their online presence to managing ongoing operations.Rather than focusing on a single feature, the product experience was designed as an interconnected system supporting both initial setup and long-term retention.

My work contributed across these core systems; however, due to confidentiality considerations, the following sections focus on the invoice generation workflow as a representative example.

Case study focus

Retention

Manage Ongoing Operations

Payment Setup

Customer Management

Account setup

Invoice Generation

Dashboard

Acquisition

Establish Presence

Identity validation

Online presence setup

Retention

Manage Ongoing Operations

Payment Setup

Customer Management

Account setup

Dashboard

Invoice Generation

Case study focus

THE PROBLEM

Starting a new business means juggling a dozen different tools

A website builder. A payment processor. An invoicing app. A CRM. A domain registrar. Each one has its own login, its own learning curve, and its own monthly fee. Before you've made your first dollar, you're already managing a small IT department.

How might we design a single platform that guides a new business owner through everything they need -- from setting up their online presence to getting paid -- without the overwhelm of switching between disconnected tools?

That question shaped every design decision in this product.

Our Solution

One platform, zero overwhelm

Complex workflows become manageable when they are broken into clear, guided steps.

  • Progressive disclosure -- complex information revealed step by step to reduce overwhelm

  • Web-first layout -- designed for desktop with full responsive mobile support

  • Contextual guidance -- inline tooltips and smart defaults reduce decision fatigue

  • Consistent step structure -- same navigation pattern across all workflows for learnability

PRODUCT CONTEXT

Designing Across the Business Lifecycle

This product was designed to support businesses from day one, starting from setting up their online presence to managing ongoing operations. Rather than focusing on a single feature, the product experience was designed as an interconnected system supporting both initial setup and long-term retention.

My work contributed across these core systems; however, due to confidentiality considerations, the following sections focus on the invoice generation workflow as a representative example.

Case study focus

Hook

Establish Online Presence

Identity validation

Online presence setup

Retention

Manage Ongoing Operations

Payment Setup

Customer Management

Account setup

Invoice Generation

Dashboard

The challenge

Designing an invoice workflow that remains intuitive across devices while operating within real-world constraints.

Although invoice creation seems straightforward, the workflow requires handling dynamic form states, multiple line items, and flexible payment terms. As users entered information, parts of the form would shift and update, adding layers of complexity beneath what needed to feel like a simple task.

Because the experience is within a long, multi-step form, there was a real risk of overwhelm before completion. The challenge was to structure the information in a way that felt guided and manageable, while still supporting efficiency, edge cases, and consistent performance across desktop and mobile.

Structuring the Experience

Refining the workflow

When I joined the team, the invoice flow had already been structured into five steps:

Select customer

Invoice details

Add invoice items

Select payment

Invoice preview

Structuring the Experience

Refining the workflow

When I joined the team, the invoice flow had already been structured into five steps:

Select customer

Invoice details

Add invoice items

Select payment

Invoice preview

While each step of the invoice generator felt organised, I identified that separating payment selection into its own step was unnecessary within this flow. I suggested relocating payment options into the broader business setup settings. Users are unlikely to change their bank or payment details frequently, making it more of a recurring interruption than a meaningful step within the workflow.

Another advantage was that, because invoice creation is already a long-form task, reducing an extra step helped keep the experience intuitive and manageable. This reduced the workflow from five steps to four and kept invoice creation focused on transaction-specific inputs.

Select customer

Invoice details

Add invoice items

Invoice preview

Payment setup relocated to business settings to reduce task interruption and improve flow momentum.

Optimising the end of the flow

Beyond restructuring the steps, I also focused on how the workflow concluded.

I proposed adding a direct email option within the final preview step, alongside share and PDF download functionality. Instead of simply generating an invoice, users could now complete the full task within the same flow — whether sending immediately, sharing externally, or downloading for later use. I also introduced a “Create another invoice” option at this stage, allowing users to begin a new invoice without breaking momentum.

Generated invoices were saved to the dashboard by default, giving users flexibility to return and manage them according to their workflow. This flexibility was important, as different businesses operate differently.

Reducing friction in the most time intensive step

While simplifying the step structure improved overall flow, the most time-intensive part of invoice remained within the adding line item section.

Through informal user conversations and early walkthroughs, it became clear that manually entering line items is time consuming. I spoke with several small business owners within my network to understand how they typically invoice, and many described repeatedly charging for the same services — such as plumbing call out fees, lessons, or standardised service packages.

In the initial version, line items were entered manually for each invoice. To reduce repetitive input and better support recurring workflows, I introduced the ability for users to save frequently invoiced items. This allowed them to quickly select saved services instead of having to enter details each time.

Structuring the Experience

Refining the workflow

When I joined the team, the invoice flow had already been structured into five steps:

Select customer

Invoice details

Add invoice items

Select payment

Invoice preview

While each step of the invoice generator felt organised, I identified that separating payment selection into its own step was unnecessary within this flow. I suggested relocating payment options into the broader business setup settings. Users are unlikely to change their bank or payment details frequently, making it more of a recurring interruption than a meaningful step within the workflow.

Another advantage was that, because invoice creation is already a long-form task, reducing an extra step helped keep the experience intuitive and manageable. This reduced the workflow from five steps to four and kept invoice creation focused on transaction-specific inputs.

Select customer

Invoice details

Add invoice items

Invoice preview

Select customer

Invoice details

Add invoice items

Invoice preview

Payment setup relocated to business settings to reduce task interruption and improve flow momentum.

Optimising the end of the flow

Beyond restructuring the steps, I also focused on how the workflow concluded.

I proposed adding a direct email option within the final preview step, alongside share and PDF download functionality. Instead of simply generating an invoice, users could now complete the full task within the same flow — whether sending immediately, sharing externally, or downloading for later use. I also introduced a “Create another invoice” option at this stage, allowing users to begin a new invoice without breaking momentum.

Generated invoices were saved to the dashboard by default, giving users flexibility to return and manage them according to their workflow. This flexibility was important, as different businesses operate differently.

Reducing friction in the most time intensive step

While simplifying the step structure improved overall flow, the most time-intensive part of invoice remained within the adding line item section.

Through informal user conversations and early walkthroughs, it became clear that manually entering line items is time consuming. I spoke with several small business owners within my network to understand how they typically invoice, and many described repeatedly charging for the same services — such as plumbing call out fees, lessons, or standardised service packages.

In the initial version, line items were entered manually for each invoice. To reduce repetitive input and better support recurring workflows, I introduced the ability for users to save frequently invoiced items. This allowed them to quickly select saved services instead of having to enter details each time.

Working with constraints

The best product decisions are not always about adding features, but knowning when to simplify

Because the invoice form relied on real-time calculations and dynamic updates, certain interactions needed to be simplified to maintain performance across desktop and mobile. In particular, the line item section required careful structuring to avoid lag or unnecessary system complexity.

These trade-offs required close collaboration with engineering to ensure the workflow remained responsive while still meeting user needs.

Optimising the end of the flow

Beyond restructuring the steps, I also focused on how the workflow concluded.

I proposed adding a direct email option within the final preview step, alongside share and PDF download functionality. Instead of simply generating an invoice, users could now complete the full task within the same flow — whether sending immediately, sharing externally, or downloading for later use. I also introduced a “Create another invoice” option at this stage, allowing users to begin a new invoice without breaking momentum.

Generated invoices were saved to the dashboard by default, giving users flexibility to return and manage them according to their workflow. This flexibility was important, as different businesses operate differently.

DESIGN SYSTEM

Building the foundation for a consistent experience

Our design system is currently in active development. I established a core token library covering colour, typography, spacing and component patterns to ensure consistency across the platform as it scales.

Accessibility was a key consideration from the start. The primary Inideck blue meets WCAG AA contrast standards, ensuring the platform is usable for people with visual impairments -- an important baseline for any product built for a broad business audience.

Key learnings

Designing within real-world constraints

Working within an early-stage product environment strengthened my ability to make confident trade-offs, prioritise effectively, and design for implementation rather than idealised solutions.

  • Small structural changes can significantly improve task momentum and completion.

  • System elements do not need to stay where they were originally placed if relocating them better supports user behaviour.

  • Even informal conversations with real users can uncover valuable insights that meaningfully reduce friction.

  • Good design requires balancing user experience with technical feasibility and performance realities.


Reducing friction in the most time intensive step

While simplifying the step structure improved overall flow, the most time-intensive part of invoice remained within the adding invoice item section.

Through informal user conversations and early walkthroughs, it became clear that manually entering line items is time-consuming. I spoke with several small business owners within my network to understand how they typically invoice, and many described repeatedly charging for the same services — such as plumbing call-out fees, lessons, or standardised service packages.

In the initial version, line items were entered manually for each invoice. To reduce repetitive input and better support recurring workflows, I introduced the ability for users to save frequently invoiced items. This allowed them to quickly select saved services instead of having to enter details each time.

Working with constraints

The best product decisions are not always about adding features, but knowing when to simplify

Because the invoice form relied on real-time calculations and dynamic updates, certain interactions needed to be simplified to maintain performance across desktop and mobile. In particular, the line item section required careful structuring to avoid lag or unnecessary system complexity.

These trade-offs required close collaboration with engineering to ensure the workflow remained responsive while still meeting user needs.

DESIGN SYSTEM

Building the foundation for a consistent experience

Our design system is currently in active development. I established a core token library covering colour, typography, spacing and component patterns to ensure consistency across the platform as it scales.

Accessibility was a key consideration from the start. The primary Inideck blue meets WCAG AA contrast standards, ensuring the platform is usable for people with visual impairments -- an important baseline for any product built for a broad business audience.

Key learnings

Designing within real-world constraints

Working within an early-stage product environment strengthened my ability to make confident trade-offs, prioritise effectively, and design for implementation rather than idealised solutions.

  • Small structural changes can significantly improve task momentum and completion.

  • System elements do not need to stay where they were originally placed if relocating them better supports user behaviour.

  • Even informal conversations with real users can uncover valuable insights that meaningfully reduce friction.

  • Good design requires balancing user experience with technical feasibility and performance realities.


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