Hi, I'm João 👋

a Senior Product Designer who loves turning complex ideas into simple & human experiences.

I'm a product designer from Portugal, with 10 years of experience shaping digital products across fintech, banking, health, e-commerce and beyond. I combine systems thinking, visual craft, user mindset and accessibility to create experiences that work for people and scale with products.

selected work.

Get a sneak peek

Mobile App & Web

my experience.

Senior Product DesignerAlviereMay 2022 - Present

Product DesignerSantander BankMar 2021 - May 2022

Freelancer Product DesignerSeveral brands2018 - Present

UI/UX DesignerDiamond by BoldDec 2016 - Mar 2021

Digital DesignerMadde DesignMay 2016 - Nov 2016

about.

My work brings together UX/UI and product, with focus on creating intuitive experiences.

I care about the details, but I never lose sight of the bigger picture. I value clear communication, close collaboration and design decisions grounded in purpose rather than trends.

overview & role.

Alaska Airlines introduced a new banking and debit card experience, the Atmos™ Rewards Debit Card. A loyalty ecosystem, connecting everyday financial activity with travel rewards and points earnings.

As a Senior Product Designer, I collaborated with the wider design team to gather requirements, align with stakeholders and define how the product should work, translating business needs into a cohesive user experience. Together, we helped shape the product direction before moving into design execution.

I led the iOS and Android native experiences, across onboarding and KYC, banking and account management, debit card personalisation, loyalty and rewards, plans and fees, and the foundations of the design system. Accessibility was a priority throughout, with the mobile experience serving as the foundation for a broader product also available on web.

the challenge.

Making a complex financial product simple, accessible and rewarding, while letting users follow their points, their earnings from the account balance, and their progress over time.

The product needed to serve both existing Atmos Rewards members and new customers, and the challenge was to make onboarding clear and efficient without compromising KYC and fraud prevention requirements, while introducing new ways to earn points and benefits into a new banking experience.

client announced.

Alaska Airlines announced the Atmos Rewards debit card on September 29, 2026, for launch in early 2027.

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overview & role.

The Free Spirit Debit App connects everyday purchases with the Free Spirit loyalty program, allowing customers to earn points through their account balance and everyday debit card transactions, turning daily financial activity into travel rewards.

I was the lead designer responsible for the end-to-end design of the Spirit Airlines Debit App for iOS and Android, from competitor research and requirements gathering to the final user experience and UI design. I led the design process, defining the app’s structure, features and interactions in collaboration with stakeholders, with the support of the design team throughout key discussions and decisions.

I also worked with the development team to establish the design system. Accessibility and native platform conventions were central, ensuring an inclusive and intuitive experience that felt familiar to users on both iOS and Android.

the challenge.

Spirit Airlines credit card wasn’t accessible to everyone, limiting the ability of some customers to earn rewards through their everyday spending. The challenge was to create a more inclusive alternative that would allow anyone to apply for a debit card and participate in the Free Spirit loyalty program, including those who couldn’t qualify for a credit card.

By rewarding both account balances and everyday transactions, the product could expand access to rewards and create new opportunities for customer engagement.

the solution.

The solution was to create a debit card experience that makes the Free Spirit loyalty program more accessible, allowing customers to earn points through everyday purchases and the balance they maintain in their account. Designed as a fully integrated mobile experience, the app brings account management, card settings and loyalty rewards together in just one place.

The onboarding experience was designed to make account creation as smooth as possible while maintaining robust identity verification and fraud prevention. It also supported matching existing Free Spirit members to their loyalty accounts, while allowing new members to join the program as part of the process.

Once approved, customers received a physical debit card automatically and could start using their virtual card straight away.

This app brings the core banking and card experience together, prioritizing account balance, card activity and rewards progress. Customers can easily track transactions and understand how they earn points through purchases and the balance they maintain in their account. Card management and essential actions are integrated directly into the app, creating a centralized experience for everyday use.

A dedicated rewards area gives customers a clear overview of their Free Spirit points, current tier and upcoming milestones. It highlights the benefits and perks available at each tier, points earned over time and additional rewards customers can access, helping them understand the value of their participation and stay motivated to engage with the program.

The entire experience was built on a scalable design system developed in collaboration with the iOS and Android engineering teams. From foundations and design tokens to atoms, modules and reusable components, the system was designed to support the app’s full range of flows and features while enabling future improvements. Accessibility remained a core design principle throughout, with both light and dark modes supported without compromising usability, visual clarity or native platform conventions.

Top up with a debit card or bank account for everyday spending

Discover nearby participating stores where it's possible deposit cash

Enjoy dark mode without compromising consistency.

Connect payroll for automatic deposits and extra points

Generate barcodes in just a few steps, making deposits simpler and secure.

A dedicated landing page introduced the Free Spirit program, helping users explore its benefits and serving as an entry point to both the loyalty program and the mobile app.

special shoutouts.

Douglas Lemon, Creative Lead

Miguel Banhudo, Senior Product Designer

overview & role.

Santander set out to build a completely new mobile banking experience, replacing an outdated and overly complex app with a more intuitive, accessible and flexible solution.

Designed as a shared foundation for multiple European markets, the new app aimed to simplify everyday banking while adapting to the different needs, products and customer expectations of each country.

As an End-to-end Product Designer, I contributed to the design of multiple features and experiences across the app, from user research preparation and user flows to UX/UI design and design system maintenance. Midway through the project, I also took responsibility for the mobile app design team in Portugal.

the challenge.

The existing mobile banking app had become outdated, with overly complex journeys that made even simple banking operations unnecessarily difficult.

The challenge was to rethink the experience from the ground up, making everyday banking simpler and more intuitive while creating a scalable solution that could serve multiple European countries.

Each market had its own products, services and customer needs. The new app therefore needed to balance consistency across countries with the flexibility to accommodate local requirements, different customer profiles and market-specific priorities.

The key challenge was to create one cohesive banking experience without forcing every market into the same solution.

the solution.

The project combined competitive analysis of leading banking apps across the European markets where the new experience would be introduced, customer interviews to better understand users’ needs, and stakeholder collaboration to identify business requirements and product priorities. I also reviewed existing user flows to identify pain points, unnecessary complexity and opportunities to simplify everyday banking tasks.

These activities helped inform the design of a new experience that prioritised simplicity while accommodating the complexity of a multi-market banking product.

A personalised and flexible home screen became the main entry point to everyday banking, providing customers with an immediate overview of their financial information. Customers could access key information, including account balances, credit amounts and investments, with a graphical overview of their income and expenses.

The experience also supported different home screen configurations, allowing the app to adapt to different customer needs and priorities. Rather than imposing a rigid navigation structure, the app combined personalised shortcuts with a more comprehensive side menu. This approach provided a consistent underlying experience while allowing local teams to tailor the navigation to their specific requirements.

With this new app customers could make domestic and international transfers, save transfer details and set up recurring transfers or payments, making frequent tasks easier to manage, expanded the range of banking operations customers could perform independently.

Designed to communicate more proactively with customers, moving beyond a purely transactional banking experience. To support this, reusable templates were created for different types of in-app components. These could be placed in different areas of the app according to the available products, market requirements and country-specific needs.

Send money quickly and easily to people in your phone contacts list

Dedicated support section for security, customer support and other questions

Access card actions, settings and review transaction activity in one place

Pay everyday bills, household services, taxes and government payments

This flexible approach allowed the experience to present more relevant information and content without requiring every market to follow exactly the same configuration.

The new app was built on a dedicated design system developed by a separate team focused entirely on that work. My contribution included maintaining the design system as part of the product design work, helping ensure that the app's features remained consistent with the shared visual and interaction foundations.

overview & role.

Hospital Lusíadas is one of Portugal’s leading private healthcare providers. This project focused on redesigning its existing website to create a more informative, dynamic and engaging digital experience, making it easier for patients and customers to find relevant healthcare information and connect with the hospital’s services.

I collaborated with another designer throughout the project, participating in research with patients, doctors, nurses, directors and hospital administration. I was responsible for defining the information architecture, creating wireframes for all master pages, and leading the visual design of the website from concept to final delivery.

the challenge.

The challenge was to transform the website into a more informative, accessible and engaging digital destination, bringing Hospital Lusíadas closer to its patients and customers. This meant making relevant healthcare information easier to find, improving the overall user experience, and creating a more dynamic way for people to explore the hospital’s services and offerings.

the solution.

The solution was to create an entirely new digital experience for Hospital Lusíadas, built around accessibility and responsiveness. The redesigned website brought the brand closer to its patients and customers, making healthcare information easier to discover and services simpler to access.

A key part of the experience was giving users immediate access to practical information. Hospital emergency waiting times became visible directly on the website, allowing users to check waiting times at their nearest hospital unit or any other location across the country.

Finding the right specialist or healthcare service was also made significantly more intuitive. Information about medical specialties, doctors and services was reorganized to make relevant details easier to find. Advanced filters enabled users to refine their searches by region, healthcare unit, insurance agreements, appointment type, language and teleconsultation availability.

The website also introduced a simpler online appointment booking experience and direct access to the external patient portal, connecting users to essential services within a more cohesive digital journey.

To make the experience more engaging and relevant, the website incorporated news and editorial content tailored to the section users were exploring and the healthcare unit they were viewing. This helped surface relevant information in context while creating a more dynamic and informative experience.

Together, these improvements transformed the website from a limited information resource into a comprehensive digital touchpoint, helping patients and customers navigate healthcare services, find relevant information and access the support they need.

overview & role.

Sushi at Home is a multi-platform e-commerce experience spanning native iOS and Android apps and a website, designed to make ordering sushi as seamless and enjoyable as the food itself.

The project focused on transforming an existing digital experience into a modern, personalised and visually engaging ordering platform. As Lead Designer, I led the design transformation across mobile and web, combining a comprehensive UX overhaul with a major visual redesign to better reflect the quality of the brand's service and food.

the challenge.

The existing website and mobile experience made ordering sushi unnecessarily complicated. The purchasing journey was fragmented, the checkout process involved too many steps, and the overall experience failed to reflect the quality and convenience customers expected from Sushi at Home.

Recognising an opportunity to improve both the customer experience and the brand's digital positioning, I partnered with the Project Manager to present the client with a vision for a complete e-commerce transformation.

The goal was to create a more intuitive, personalised and efficient ordering experience, with one particularly ambitious challenge: reducing checkout to just three clicks for returning customers, while keeping the process only slightly longer for new customers.

Coming soon

This case study is still being finished. Check back soon to see how Sushi at Home came to life.

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the solution.

The vision was to make ordering sushi online as effortless and enjoyable as the food itself. Rather than simply redesigning the existing platforms, we rethought the entire e-commerce experience around customer habits, convenience and simplicity.

Personalisation became a key part of this approach. Customers could select their preferred store, usual delivery location and ordering method, whether delivery or takeaway. By using these preferences to tailor subsequent visits, the experience could immediately display the relevant menu, product availability and estimated waiting times. This reduced repetitive decisions and made the journey feel more personal, relevant and convenient from the moment customers opened the app or website.

Simplifying the purchasing journey was equally important. The existing checkout involved too many steps, creating unnecessary friction at the most critical point of the experience. The client challenged us to reduce the process to just three clicks for returning customers, with only a few additional steps for new customers. This became a central design objective, driving us to rethink the flow and remove unnecessary complexity. We also introduced a streamlined reordering experience, allowing customers to select a previous order and confirm their payment method. Familiar orders could then be completed in as little as two clicks, making repeat purchases significantly more straightforward.

Product discovery was another important consideration. We redesigned the menu to feature more visual, realistic product imagery, helping customers understand exactly what they could expect to receive at home. This made browsing more engaging while bringing the online experience closer to the quality and appeal of the actual food. To provide greater transparency after checkout, we also introduced order tracking, allowing customers to check the status of their orders throughout the process.

Alongside these functional improvements, I led a comprehensive visual redesign across the iOS and Android apps and the e-commerce website. This visual transformation was a fundamental part of the project, ensuring that the improved usability was supported by a stronger and more consistent digital identity across platforms.

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The transformation contributed to Sushi at Home becoming one of the leading names in sushi home delivery in the country, building a strong digital experience around convenience, quality and customer loyalty. Its continued presence among the top players in the market today reflects the lasting relevance of the brand and the importance of delivering an experience that meets customers' expectations beyond the food itself.

Today, Sushi at Home remains one of Portugal’s leading sushi delivery brands, showing how a better digital experience can support a brand’s growth and help it stay relevant to its customers.

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Hi, I'm João 👋 a Senior Product Designer who loves turning complex ideas into simple & human experiences.

selected work.

Alaska Airlines - Bringing banking and travel rewards together.

Spirit Airlines - A debit card that takes you further

Santander Banking App - Your bank, always in your hands

Lusíadas Hospital - A more connected healthcare experience

my experience.

about.

work.

Alaska Airlines - Bringing banking and travel rewards together.

Spirit Airlines - A debit card that takes you further

Santander Banking App - Your bank, always in your hands

Lusíadas Hospital - A more connected healthcare experience

Bringing Bernardo Silva to the digital world

Sushi at Home - Because sushi feels better at home

Hi!

Skills

Tools

Brands

overview & role.

the challenge.

client announced.

Get a sneak peek

the solution.

more than an app.

special shoutouts.

overview & role.

the challenge.

the solution.

special shoutouts.

overview & role.

the challenge.

the solution.

overview & role.

the challenge.

the solution.

overview & role.

the challenge.

Coming soon

the solution.

overview & role.

the challenge.

Coming soon

Hi, I'm João 👋

a Senior Product Designer who loves turning complex ideas into simple & human experiences.