Behind the Design: Lu De Pasquale on Transforming Finance through UX Design

How does Arta approach design and user experience in the complex world of finance?

Lu De Pasquale shares her insights about crafting a platform that blends sophistication and functionality. Lu covers the principles behind Arta’s meticulous design choices, the challenges of simplifying (traditionally) complicated financial products, and how every detail is crafted to elevate the user experience. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the design strategies that set Arta apart in the finance industry.

You and many members on the UX and design team worked in big tech environments before joining Arta. How does the team’s past experience influence the way you approach user experience here?

I spent a long time at Google and other places where we were building products used by millions of people. The UX teams were massive because every single interaction had to be perfectly crafted, and they made sure to bring in the best minds in the industry. It takes a lot of skill and thoughtfulness to create something truly intuitive.

At Arta, we carry that same level of care and precision into everything we design for our members. We’re constantly iterating on features—sometimes working on a single feature to make sure it’s the best it can be. But UX isn’t just about product design. It’s about every touchpoint a user has with our brand—from customer service to email communications to how we present ourselves in marketing.

What makes Arta special is that we’re all committed to delivering an amazing user experience. It’s not just the UX team; in a way, everyone here is a UXer. We never compromise on that, and we take member feedback seriously, always striving to improve.

Can you walk us through the early stages of developing Arta’s user experience? How did you approach solving the pain points you identified?

When we first started Arta, we recognized a common pain point that many of us had experienced—not just within the company but also among colleagues at places like Google and other companies. From that, we needed to break down the most critical issues: Why is this a problem? How are financial services falling short? What are traditional banks and institutions failing to address?

Rather than starting with a product idea, we focused on solving this core pain point. In the beginning, there wasn’t a clear picture of what the product would be. But as we dug deeper, we began visualizing solutions and built early prototypes to test. We quickly moved into an iterative process, and that’s where the team really excels—we don’t wait for a fully formed product idea before we start building and experimenting.

That iterative approach has been key because it’s the only way to truly understand if a product works from a functional perspective. Over the past three years, we’ve made countless changes—not just to the user experience but to the product’s functionality as well. Once we brought in our first clients, their feedback became invaluable. We listened to what resonated with them, what didn’t, and continually adapted.

From a UX perspective, we rely heavily on both quantitative and qualitative data. We look at how users interact with the product, where they might get stuck, and gather insights from their feedback. This combination serves as our North Star, guiding every decision we make.

How does user feedback shape the way you design the product? Can you walk us through an example?

We listen very carefully to everything our membership team hears from clients. It’s important to us that this feedback is incorporated into our product decisions. However, there are also pain points that people don’t explicitly ask for but that we know exist—especially in private banking, where certain processes have always been done a certain way. No one takes the time to imagine a better solution.

Take private market investments, for example, which is one of our core offerings. Typically, these investments are not self-service. Clients are usually walked through why an investment is a good opportunity, then handed a massive PDF full of hundreds of pages and fine print, making it difficult to truly understand the pricing and details. We've heard from users that the traditional approach to managing finances feels like it requires a full-time job just to stay on top of things. Alternatively, if you want to invest wisely, you need a banker you absolutely trust to ensure transparency—someone who won’t hide fees or obscure how things work.

At Arta, we put a lot of effort into simplifying this in a way that members are comfortable and confident exploring opportunities on their own before needing or wanting to speak with an expert (if they choose to). We aim to turn complicated, overwhelming information into something digestible for users who are plenty smart for certain but don’t have the time to dive deeply into the details of their finances. 

This is our commitment: to go the extra mile to ensure your experience is not just functional, but enjoyable. And when I say that, I don’t mean just making sure the 'buy' button is big and easy to click. I mean taking complex financial processes and making them as transparent, easy to understand, and seamless as possible—so it doesn’t feel like a chore.

How does the team make complex investment products easier to understand?

If you look at some of the materials we’ve created to explain how our investment products work, you’ll see that we never simplify things to the point where important details are lost. Quite the opposite—we focus on visualizing complex concepts to make them clearer.

For example, private market investments often offer great potential returns, but their time horizons differ greatly from public market investments. Many of our users, especially those new to private investments, may not fully understand how these time horizons work. So, we create visual tools to help them grasp what it means to invest over a 10-year period. We explain concepts like capital calls, which don’t all happen in the first year but are spread across different points in time. This information is often buried in dense, intricate documents, so we go the extra mile to make these details interactive. Users can simulate how these investments would affect their finances, giving them a clearer understanding of their potential outcomes.

The same goes for returns and how they play out with a specific opportunity. We aim to help users better understand the details of investments through visuals like simulations and timelines, rather than relying solely on traditional explanations, which often require face-to-face interactions with experts.

That said, we still believe personal interactions are crucial—our membership team plays a key role in building trust. But we also want to give users the tools to manage things on their own. We build trust by anticipating what they might need, staying one step ahead, and being transparent about the entire process. Whether it’s explaining what to expect during an investment or proactively addressing potential pain points, we always try to get in front of the things that could cause stress if they were handled solo by providing the right information at the right time so there is no stress.

How does Arta help new users get started when they’re unsure where to begin?

Every user is different and has a different relationship with money. That’s why there’s not one specific user journey at Arta. Many have said, "This is great - where should I start?” Many don’t want to talk to a financial advisor (or any other human!), they want to start by exploring on their own….but they will want some guidance.

So, one of the things we did was focus on improving the onboarding process to help guide users toward the best starting point for them. That’s where the idea of a personalized first-time user experience came in. We wanted to tailor the onboarding to each user’s specific needs.

To do this, we identified common pain points. For example, many of our users come from Big Tech and are often over-concentrated in employer stock. Others are looking to take advantage of high-interest environments or want better returns from their private credit portfolios. We took these common concerns and created 'starter packs' of resources.

After users answer a few simple questions, we match them with the opportunities that best align with their pain points. This helps them discover products that solve the issues they care about most. It doesn’t mean they have to invest right away, but at least they’re being guided in a direction that resonates with their needs.

How does the Singapore audience differ regarding financial education and engagement?

The Singapore audience is highly financially literate, largely because it’s a financial hub where many people work in the industry and are familiar with sophisticated financial concepts. Compared to other countries, like those in Europe or America, money is much less of a taboo topic here. People are more comfortable discussing it openly.

Having lived and worked in several countries, I can confidently say that Singaporeans are the savviest population when it comes to finance. The country's small size and the significant role the financial sector plays in its economy contribute to this. A large percentage of the GDP comes from the financial industry, so financial knowledge is widespread.

Whether someone has a lot of money or not, the overall level of financial savviness is remarkably high across the population. People here know how to manage their money well, regardless of their financial standing. That said, we’re excited to meet this audience where they’re at and jump right into the specifics and details they want.

Finance should be inspirational—especially when you're building wealth. At Arta, part of the magic lies in using UX design to transform everyday tasks into something extraordinary.