Turning a complex product into something users actually understand

Context

Bonsai already offered a mobile feature that allowed users to track their income and expenses and assign them to categories.

The feature worked well on mobile, where usage was focused, datasets were smaller, and interactions were naturally constrained by the screen.

The next step was to bring this feature to the web, and take advantage of what a desktop environment enables: larger datasets, more context, and more powerful ways to explore and manage financial data.

The real challenge

This wasn’t a simple port from mobile to desktop.

Moving the feature to the web introduced new questions and risks:

how to handle much larger amounts of data
how to support searching, filtering, and sorting without overwhelming users
how to keep the experience clear while adding flexibility

What worked on mobile didn’t automatically scale to desktop.

The challenge was to expand the feature’s capabilities without losing clarity or confidence.

My role

I was responsible for designing and building the desktop experience for this income and expense tracking feature.

My role included:

UX and interaction design
defining structure and hierarchy for larger datasets
translating mobile concepts into desktop-first interactions
implementing the interface in close collaboration with the development team

The goal was not to replicate the mobile UI, but to design a web experience that felt natural, powerful, and easy to understand.

What I focused on

Instead of starting from the existing mobile screens, I focused on how users would work with their data on desktop.

Key areas of focus:

creating a clear hierarchy between data, controls, and actions
making search, filters, and sorting easy to discover and safe to use
ensuring users always understood what data they were looking at
designing interactions that encouraged exploration without fear of “breaking” anything

Every decision was made with both usability and technical feasibility in mind.

What changed

The web feature evolved into a calm but powerful environment for managing financial data.

Users could:

scan and explore larger datasets without losing context
quickly find what they were looking for using search and filters
confidently adjust views, knowing exactly what would change
work with their income and expenses more efficiently than on mobile

The result was a feature that felt at home on desktop, not like a stretched mobile screen.

Why this approach worked

By treating the web version as a new context, rather than a copy of the mobile experience, the interface could fully use the strengths of desktop interaction.

Clarity and structure came first.

Advanced functionality followed naturally, without increasing cognitive load.

Because design and implementation were closely aligned, what was designed is exactly what users experienced.

Takeaway

Scaling a feature from mobile to desktop isn’t about adding more controls.

It’s about rethinking structure, hierarchy, and interaction for a different way of working so users feel confident, not overwhelmed.