In the fast-evolving world of digital finance, the experience of using a product starts with one crucial part: onboarding. For users around the globe, the initial experience of joining a service can make or break its impression in their minds.

This makes any onboarding journey a crucial one, and at the heart of crafting these experiences are product designers. Gifted product designer and systems thinker Adewunmi Aladenusi, who has spent the last six years designing digital products, knows about the intricacies of such a role. From merchant onboarding at Flutterwave to consumer onboarding at Ladder Africa and loan applications at Bongalow, his work has consistently shown how thoughtful design can unlock growth, reduce friction, and build trust.

We sat down with Adewunmi to discuss the art and science of onboarding, the nuances of designing across continents, and why research-driven design is more than just good practice.

Adewunmi, you’ve spent years designing for fintech users across Africa, and more recently, for markets in Europe. What makes the onboarding journey so important for you as a designer?

Onboarding is often the very first touchpoint between a user and a product. That first impression is far beyond the aesthetic, it’s more about ease, trust, and speed. If a customer struggles to open an account or complete verification, they may never return. It’s important that they feel comfortable sharing their information as well. To me, onboarding is like building the bridge into the product. If that bridge is shaky or intimidating, everything else becomes irrelevant.

Africa and Europe have very different user expectations and regulatory landscapes. How do you navigate those differences when designing onboarding flows?

They’re two very distinct worlds. In Africa, many users are mobile-first and may have onboarded on fewer products or services, so clarity and simplicity are critical. In Europe, users are more accustomed to digital finance, but compliance requirements are stricter, which can add layers of complexity. The challenge is balancing those regulations with smooth, human-centered flows. For instance, in Europe, identity checks might be unavoidable, but the design can make them feel less like hurdles and more like steps toward empowerment.

You designed the onboarding flow for Send App in Europe, helping to activate more users in that region. What was your thought process concerning that?

We looked closely at the user journeys and saw where they dropped off. We had to align our user journey with European regulations and use copy to explain what each step requires. So we broke down the flow into clearer steps and provided better explanations. Those important considerations activated over 250,000 users. For me, it reinforced the idea that design is about building confidence at every step.

How much does research play into those kinds of decisions?

Research is everything. Without it, you’re just taking shots in the dark. Talking to users, watching where they stumble, or even analyzing support tickets tells you what’s broken. At Ladder Africa, research showed us that users wanted a simple way to save for specific goals; especially as a first time user,  which led to the holiday savings challenge. That single insight ended up boosting deposits by 40% in a few months. Research turns design from guesswork into a business lever.

When onboarding flows get longer, especially with compliance-heavy products, how do you keep users engaged?

Transparency is key. If users understand why a step exists, they’re more likely to complete it. We use microcopy, tooltips, or progress bars to show the journey ahead. Breaking tasks into smaller chunks also reduces cognitive load. It’s about turning what feels like bureaucracy into a guided experience.

How would you describe the differences between African and European users?

Trust is fragile everywhere, but in Africa, people are often cautious because of past experiences with unreliable services and information theft. That means a single failed transaction can undo months of effort. In Europe, users may be more trusting of established systems, but they’re quick to switch if the experience isn’t seamless. What is common, though, is that reliability and transparency are the real currency of trust.

You’ve mentioned before that design is a team sport. How does that play out in onboarding projects?

Onboarding is too complex to be solved by designers alone. It goes beyond that into compliance officers to explain regulations, engineers to ensure performance, marketers to align messaging, and product managers to tie it all back to business goals. My role is to translate all those inputs into an experience that feels natural for the user.

Can you share an example where a small design change had an outsized business impact?

At Bongalow, we introduced clearer status tracking for loan applications. It seemed minor, but it reduced support tickets by 27% because users no longer felt lost in the process. That also freed up the support team to focus on higher-value issues. Sometimes the simplest fixes have the most profound effects.

Finally, what excites you most about the future of fintech across Africa and Europe?

I’m excited about how technology is reducing barriers to entry. AI and biometrics can simplify verification, while better design patterns are making finance more inclusive. But what excites me most is the idea that the onboarding process can evolve from being just a process into an introduction and an opportunity to show users that finance can be reliable, empowering, and even delightful.