How do you design products people actually understand? Mmediong Gabriel Esu - Head of Design at Piggyvest walks us through the discipline behind simple fintech products, why shipping fast beats over-planning, and how teams win when designers learn to speak code. This episode is for product people, founders and designers who want practical ways to build clarity into their products.

In this episode of The Hungry Creative Podcast, Mo sits with Mmediong Esu - product visual & multidisciplinary design lead at Piggyvest - to unpack how good design becomes understandable, useful and trustworthy in finance products. We dig into design principles (Dieter Rams), the choice to remove friction rather than add guidance, and the culture behind Piggyvest’s ability to move quickly and build in public. Expect real talk about shipping fast, validating with real users, T-shaped creatives, and practical AI tools Mmediong uses in his workflow (Google Gemini, Claude / ChatGPT, Figma).

What you’ll learn

- Why simplicity builds trust in fintech products.

- How Piggyvest validates ideas quickly by listening to users and shipping early.

- The case for designers learning to code (or at least to prototype beyond static screens).

- Practical AI tools in a designer’s stack (how Mmediong uses Google Gemini, Claude/ChatGPT and Figma).

Chapters:

00:00 - Episode Trailer

01:00 - Introduction

03:00 - Design principles: simplicity & clarity

13:00 - Piggyvest: building in public & social trust

22:30 - Shipping fast: team, tradeoffs and validation

34:10 - Designers & code: why it matters today

44:00 - AI in the design workflow: tools & limits

53:00 - Personal journey & closing thoughts

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Follow Mmediong: @mmediong

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Working at Pentagram & Closing Dá Design | Seyi Olusanya - https://youtu.be/_FgvpPlCO0U The Art of Collaboration |

Niyi Okeowo’s Secrets to Creative Success - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu5YeaqBfiA&t=1884s

#ProductDesign #FintechDesign #UX #DesignLeadership #Piggyvest #AIForDesign #ShipFast