Mar 2, 2026

Tandem

From 'who owes who' to money that finally feels shared.

FintechConsumer App

Role

Product Designer

Timeline

6 months

Team

2 engineers, founder, me

Year

2026

Tandem

the challenge

Splitting money with someone you live with should feel easy, and it felt like accounting homework. People dreaded opening the app, and plenty of couples were quietly keeping their own spreadsheets on the side.

Tandem: the challenge 1
Tandem: the challenge 2

my approach

Reframed the whole thing around the shared view instead of the ledger. A calm home screen, one clear number for where you stand, and a way to settle up that takes two taps and zero math.

Tandem: my approach 1
Tandem: my approach 2

the results

The real signal was the mood change. People went from avoiding the app to checking it together over coffee, and a few started nudging friends toward it without being asked. More trials turn into paying accounts now, and the folks who join tend to stick around past those wobbly first few months.

+41%

conversion lift

Trial → paid

−24%

first 90 days

Churn

Users invite their own circle

Word of mouth

Tandem: the results 1
Tandem: the results 2
Let's talk

Got a project, a hard problem, or just want to say hi? Send it over. I read every message.

Robin Vale

Robin Vale

Open to contract work, full-time roles, and interesting conversations about hard design problems.

1

let's make something together

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