Noumena

Bringing freelance work and finances together

Designing all-in-one platform that brings client work, collaboration and payments into one place.

My Role
Product Designer · UX/UI · Design Systems · Prototyping
Industry
Fintech
Noumena web app home screen with a welcome header, member cards and visit statistics

A broad product scope, a tight timeline

Noumena was built to bring different parts of freelance work into one place, from client collaboration and video calls to contracts, invoicing and payments.

With a funding round underway, we had to define a realistic MVP while requirements were still evolving. The timeline was tight, especially with both web and mobile apps being developed.

Defining the MVP

We worked with the business team to define the MVP and agree on priorities. At the same time, we reviewed flows with developers to understand what was realistic within the timeline.

Whiteboard with handwritten product objectivesThree team members looking at designs on a monitor
Whiteboard with a handwritten navigation structureWhiteboard with hand-drawn wireframes

Designing the first version

I worked with the product and design team on the first version of Noumena, covering responsive web and a React Native app.

We started from scratch, building the core flows and a shared component library that could support both platforms.

Mobile sign-up screen asking for a verification codeWeb sign-up form asking for name and email
Laptop on a wooden shelf showing the account created confirmation screenFull Noumena home dashboard with members, statistics, trending Noums, announcements and a calendar

Building a shared design system

We needed a shared component library that could support different layouts and keep the experience consistent.

We defined the structure of the library and its design tokens, walked developers through the components and agreed on how to manage versions as the library changed.

Design system pages with Noum templates in an isometric viewFigma file structure of the design system next to button component properties

Figma Variables didn't exist yet, so we built our own token structure and exported it as JSON rather than depending on a third-party plugin.

Diagram of the token logic in an isometric view
Handwritten notes mapping global tokens to alias tokensPrimary and secondary colour palette with hex values

Keeping a large design system manageable

As the design system grew, we started running into Figma's memory limits and component-sync issues.

We worked with Figma support to investigate the problems and reorganised the library to reduce memory usage and make the files easier to maintain.

Figma file overview next to memory usage warnings, before and after optimisation

Spaces freelancers could make their own

Noums were customisable spaces where freelancers could present their work, collaborate with clients or build communities.

The challenge was giving people enough flexibility to make each space their own without turning the experience into a complicated website builder.

Welcome screen with Work and Learn category cardsBusiness brief text editor with attached files
Noum editor with a cover photo, section layout options and an add content area
Users could add content, change the layout of each section and edit the cover, without building a page from scratch.
Full Noum profile page with social links, score charts, projects, work experience and educationLine chart of followers, unfollowed and current followers by month
Each space also had its own activity overview, including followers and post activity over time.
Laptop on a round table showing a Noum page with colourful artwork

Contracts, invoices, and payments

We designed flows for creating contracts, sending invoices, and receiving payments. Freelancers could invoice clients inside or outside Noumena and use contract templates prepared by legal experts.

Create contract form with buyer, service provider, dates and attachmentsStatement of work preview next to the generated contract documentPhone showing the make payment screen with an amount of 1,000 dollars
Mobile balance chart with an incoming payment notificationTwo purple Noumena payment cards

Bringing Noumena to mobile

We also designed a React Native app for iOS and Android, adapting key parts of the web experience to smaller screens.

Features like messaging, video calls and payments needed layouts and interactions that worked naturally on mobile.

Mobile messages list with direct and Noum conversationsNoumena app icon in a phone dock
Two phones showing a member map and a chat conversationOutdoor poster with the Noumena logo and two payment cards

Contributors

Jarosław Maćków — Team Lead
Bartosz Maryniaczyk — Product Designer
Dawid Maroszek — Product Designer
Paweł Gryglak — UI/UX Designer
Dominika Pawlak — UI/UX Designer
Klara Siewierska — Graphic Designer