Zapptax
ZappTax is a digital-first VAT refund platform streamlining tax-free shopping for travelers across Europe.
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Zapptax
Product Designer
Responsibilities
Feature Design, Design Systems, Research & Discovery
Redefining the feel of tax-free shopping
150k+
Users
using the mobile app
3
products
designed end-to-end
1
Design system
built from the ground up
3
platforms
iOS, Android and Web
Overview
For six months, I worked as the Product Designer at Zapptax, a fintech simplifying VAT refunds for non-EU travelers. The app serves over 150,000 users and is available on both iOS and Android. I owned design across three products: the consumer mobile app, internal operator tooling, and a web-based merchant platform.
I collaborated closely with two Product Managers, the CTO, and multiple developers, aligning design decisions through structured reviews, documented trade-offs, and regular demos. Alongside developers, I ran UAT before production deployments, testing on both iOS and Android, continuously checking for bugs, inaccuracies, and stress testing updates to ensure stability.
3 key initiatives
Mobile app
When I joined, there was a complete disconnect between what was live in production and what existed in Figma. The company had gone without a product designer for a period, and development had continued without updating design files. Not a single flow was fully documented. I rebuilt full design file coverage for both iOS and Android from the ground up, then led a comprehensive UI overhaul of the mobile app across both platforms. I mapped out and restructured the existing flows and sections: receipt scanning, refund tracking, account creation, and more. The product dealt with specific tax regulations across markets, so every flow needed to be accurate and compliant. The app operated across France, Belgium, and Spain, supporting multiple languages. Combined with the information-dense nature of the UI and the range of screen sizes across Android and iOS, this created a real challenge: every layout had to hold up across different languages, string lengths, and device dimensions. I tested extensively in Figma before handoff and again during UAT to ensure nothing broke, no text clipped, and the hierarchy stayed intact regardless of locale or device. This complexity meant dozens of screens, edge cases, and platform-specific considerations, including accounting for different supported iOS versions.
Beyond restructuring existing flows, I reworked key parts of the interface to improve visual hierarchy, content clarity, and accessibility. I redesigned the onboarding flow to better communicate the app's value, guide users through key features, and set clear expectations from the first interaction. I also designed a new feature for locating specific tax refund station waypoints, giving travelers a clearer path from purchase to refund. I developed high-fidelity prototypes used for user validation, sales demos, and engineering handoff. The above covers the main initiatives, but the scope extended into many smaller improvements, interactions, and edge cases that collectively shaped the end-to-end experience.
Rebrand and design system
During my time there, the company went through a rebrand. I helped establish the new visual identity within the app, ensuring the product accurately reflected the updated brand. From there, I built the entire design system from the ground up: the full token structure, a reusable component library with auto layout and variants, and governance documentation for engineering handoff. I standardised components and patterns across web and mobile, ensuring consistency and developer-ready delivery across all three products.
Internal tooling and merchant platform
Operators processing tax refunds relied on internal tooling that was functional but slow and cluttered. I worked on redesigning the operator interfaces to reduce friction in their core workflows: processing refund requests, verifying documentation, managing account creation, and handling edge cases. The focus was on information density without overload, making it faster for operators to scan, validate, and act on each case. Layouts were restructured to surface the most critical data first, reducing the number of steps and screens needed to complete common tasks.
I also built the web-based merchant platform from the ground up, which served as the touchpoint for partner businesses interacting with Zapptax. The platform was designed to be web-optimized, with a focus on clarity and ease of use and provide merchants with more insight into their customers.
Executive Summary
As the sole Product Designer at Zapptax, I owned end-to-end design across three products serving 150,000+ users in France, Belgium, and Spain. I inherited a codebase with zero up-to-date design files and rebuilt full Figma coverage for both iOS and Android. I led a comprehensive UI overhaul of the mobile app across dozens of flows, improved visual hierarchy, content clarity, and accessibility, and redesigned the onboarding experience. I built the complete design system from the ground up: tokens, components, variants, and governance documentation. I rolled out the company's rebrand into product UI, designed improved operator tooling to speed up refund processing, and contributed to the web-based merchant platform. Throughout, I collaborated closely with PMs, the CTO, and developers through structured reviews, demos, and hands-on UAT testing across languages, screen sizes, and devices.
"We were pleased to have Lucas join us as a Product Design Consultant at Zapptax in Brussels for a few months. He combined excellent mobile app design and prototyping skills with strong interpersonal skills, making collaboration easy. He consistently produced high-quality work and brought a positive, professional attitude that lifted the whole team."
Thomas Roussarie
Co-founder/CTO
