Crew already fixed overspending.
Pockets, paychecks auto-split, budgeting that lives before the card even moves — it’s a genuinely new idea about money. But the app under it still reads like a budgeting tool, not the calm, premium bank that idea deserves. The part you haven’t designed.
I’m Carl. I run Sunday, product design for fintech, ex-Swedbank. I kept opening Crew wishing it felt as confident as the thinking behind it — so I redesigned it. It’s live, just below.
The concept, running
It’s live. Trigger the guard, open a pocket.
How I’d make Crew feel inevitable.
The pre-spend idea is the whole moat — money divided before it’s spent, a guard that catches you at the register. But in the app today that guard is a silent declined card, and the rest reads like every other budgeting tool. The fix isn’t a new app. It’s four moves on surfaces you already have: home, the register, pockets, and automations.
Four decisions, and why:
Whole FoodsGroceries · tap to pay$82.00Groceries is $36 short — cover from Buffer?
The decline, turned into a save
Catching people before they overspend is the whole promise — but today it’s a silent failed transaction with no explanation, the one real complaint in your reviews. I made it the hero moment: at the register Crew sees the shop would blow Groceries, offers to cover the $36 from Buffer, and you walk out having stayed on plan. The decline becomes a save.
$1,237.40
One number for “am I okay?”
Open the app and the first thing you see is the only thing that matters — what’s truly free after bills and goals are protected. Not a balance that lies. One calm, confident number that answers the anxious question every single time.
Groceries$374 of $420 spent$46
BufferYour safety net$300Money divided before it’s spent
Pre-spend is the moat — money split before the card moves. I made it legible: Spending you can touch, Protected set aside first, the two clearly separated. The idea that makes Crew different, finally visible on screen instead of buried in a list.
When my paycheck lands, fill Bills first, then split the rest 50 / 30 / 20
A rules engine, in plain words
You came from Divvy, so the instinct is a powerful rules engine. I rewrote it as plain language: “When my paycheck lands, fill Bills first, then split the rest 50 / 30 / 20.” Same power, zero spreadsheet — automations a normal person would actually set up.
Any bank can decline a card. The work is making it feel like Crew caught you.
A bit about me.
I’m Carl. I run Sunday, a product-design studio for fintech. Before this, Swedbank, one of the Nordics’ largest banks. I work embedded, like part of the team, from first research to the final interface. No handoffs.
I built this from the outside, on your app and your positioning alone — no brief, no access. You’ve clearly got product thinking in your DNA, so take it as a conversation-starter, not a critique. With your real data behind it, it gets a lot sharper.
“He champions user-centered design without ever losing sight of how it drives real business outcomes. That balance is rare.”
Joackim Zwahlen — UX Lead, Swedbank
That’s the idea.
I made this because the problem stuck with me. If it’s useful, grab 30 minutes below and I’ll walk you through where I’d take it next. If you want it real, a two-week sprint makes the pre-spend layer production-ready in your app. If not, no hard feelings — I’ll be watching what you build either way.