Zé Monteiro

Open to senior roles and fintech freelance

I design complex tools: from strategy to shipped screens

Specialised in fintech. Most recently, I was working on trading and payments platforms at Société Générale CIB. I map the whole flow first, prototype early in code and work side by side with developers.

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Worked with

Société Générale CIBMontes e ValesMintelThe Dinner ProjectUnderPinnedOne GiantByAgilTom PointerMichael Driver

Selected work

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Trading · Société Générale CIB

Trading OMS: designing a tool for professional traders

Discovery with traders across regions, an MVP scoped around what they actually use, and a modular pattern system each new phase plugs into.

0 to 1

Lead product designer

1.5 years

Timeline

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Trading OMS case study cards

Payments · Société Générale CIB

Killing the Excel monster: pattern-level payment rejection management

A request to rebuild an internal operations tool became a workflow redesign: teams resolve groups of cases at once, with past fixes one click away.

3 months

Timeline

Lead

Scoping, UX and UI

Password on request →

Sketch of the rejection management screen

In progress

Montes e Vales: self-led treasure hunts, built with AI

Follow the build

How I work

Before screens

I map the whole flow first

The biggest wins are usually in the workflow, not the UI.

Speed

Rough prototypes, early

A rough prototype on Tuesday often beats a perfect one on Friday. Sometimes it’s in code.

Scope

Scope is a design decision

Agreeing what not to build makes every later screen simpler.

Team

Close to POs and developers

You know what I’ll deliver and when. If it slips, you hear it from me first.

“

It’s been a unique and thought-provoking UX design journey which has really tickled users. It’s also been a constant quest for structure, and what we’ve established with you is a solid foundation for what’s to come.

Colleague, Trading OMS · Société Générale CIB

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Side quests

Why I make things

CHIMPAN zine

Self-published, screen-printed and sold.

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Atomic

A quick habit-app prototype for a startup.

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ModuLine

A modular mix-and-match illustration system.

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DSGNR

A pin for designers in London.

Writing

All posts

  • Why Notion is my platform of choice

    I want a second brain: one place for notes, half-formed ideas, doctor’s appointments notes, shopping lists, recipes, and travel planning,…

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  • ModuLine: an illustration system

    A modular and geometric mix-and-match illustration system, built for speedy applications and effortless customisation.

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  • Why did I start publishing CHIMPAN zine?

    At the time, I’d been in London for one year and a half years, and my friends back home were…

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