SunFi – Case Study
Improving Energy BNPL Request management for Africans
When African consumers look to clean energy sources like solar power, they find that the upfront cost is too expensive. What's missing is a solution to address that upfront cost and make solar power affordable across the continent. I was part of an ambitious project to improve energy BNPL request management for Africans with SunFi, one of the pioneers of clean energy BNPL solutions based in Nigeria.
Role
Product Designer, DFS/CFS payment plan requests
Team
2 designers, 2 PMs, UX writer, multi-team engineering
Timeline
Went live September 2022
The problem
Simplifying a complex process
Processing the energy and financial data needed to make BNPL financing decisions is complex. An intuitive platform is required to manage consumer payment plans, energy requests, repayment schedules and energy providers, all in one place.
High-level feature goals
Faster decisions
Return decisions for consumer requests and payment plans as fast as possible.
Smoother management
Smoother management of payment plans and repayment schedules across the lifecycle.
Role-based control
Let User Services and Finance admin personnel effectively manage information peculiar to their role in the approval process.
My role
I designed the payment plan requests from DFS–CFS consumers, collaborating with two other designers to complete the full enterprise project. I worked alongside 2 product managers, a UX writer, and multiple developers across User management, Provider management, Credit Variables and the DEP Product Library.
Stage 01
Research: understanding how admins actually work
I ran 3–4 semi-structured qualitative interviews with the target group about how and why they use alternative energy.
Two clear insights emerged: collecting and processing energy data with the current toolset takes too long, admins need a streamlined workflow to close requests faster. And tracking consumer repayment across multiple tools increases the error rate significantly.
Stage 02
Redefine: consolidating the toolset
One dynamic admin portal serving each team by role in the consumer lifecycle, replacing the myriad of tools User Services, Finance and Super Admin previously used.
The solution
01
Consolidating existing tools into a platform
One dynamic admin portal serving each team by role in the consumer lifecycle, replacing the myriad of tools User Services, Finance and Super Admin previously used.
02
Streamlining admin process for faster approval
Optimize approval processes, eliminate repetition, and fix the unintuitive Finance Admin flow along with the third-party and offline workarounds.
Stage 03
Redesign: streamlining approval for faster decisions
I optimised approval processes, eliminated repetition, and fixed the unintuitive Finance Admin flow along with the third-party and offline workarounds.
Stage 04
Restructure: a shared component library for every team
As part of the design system for the SunFi admin platform, I created a component library that gave every consuming team a cohesive base to build on, the same visual and interaction language across every role and screen.
Impact
Design impact, learnings and future thinking
The consolidated admin platform cut approval time significantly, reduced input errors, and gave every role the tooling they actually needed, with a shared design system underneath.
25%
increase in admin efficiency across approval, tracking and monitoring
30%
decrease in training costs and onboarding time
~7%
reduction in input error rate
80%
of staff reported higher morale after switching
Future thinking and learnings
What this project surfaced and where it can go next.
Role-based design pays off
Designing around each admin role, not one generic dashboard, was the single biggest efficiency win.
Shared component library
Investing in a library early meant every consuming team shipped faster and more consistently.
Data as a design material
Repayment and request data should drive UI decisions, surface risk and status, don't bury it.
Automation next
Rules-based approvals for low-risk requests would free admins further for high-value decisions.
