6 years in strategy and operations before moving into design.
Colombian in Madrid
Hola, I’m Cala!
Colombian based in Madrid, Spain. I’m a designer at heart with a business degree growing as a Product Designer.
I have deep experience working at service companies in operations and strategic and commercial planning. I am determined and eager to leverage my creative and analytical skills in the world of UX.
Research, systems, interaction and a lot of curious questions.
Where analytical thinking meets a deeply human experience.
A little context
Changing careers?
Not a pivot. A bridge.
The business years
Fleet strategy at LATAM. Operations & driver acquisition at DiDi across three countries. Fluent in OKRs, unit economics and stakeholder decks.
The gap I noticed
What looked good on a roadmap didn’t always work for the person on the other side of the screen.
The deliberate move
Master’s in UX for Services and Products. Not as an exit from business as the other half of it.
Now
Designing fintech products at CaixaBank & ING with both instincts at once: what does the user need, and what does the business need to hear to say yes.
Why it matters now
AI is collapsing the distance between disciplines. The most valuable people hold two languages at once and translate between them.
I’m building my profile not by accident but because of what I do to create better products from different perspectives.
02
How I work
My design process
DiscoverDefineDevelopDeliver
Discover
I start by understanding the real problem — talking to people, observing what they do, and researching the context around them.
Define
Then I cluster what I’ve learned and pinpoint the exact problem worth focusing on — one we can explain simply and act on.
Develop
This is where I ideate, brainstorm and co-create. I build models quickly so the team can see, question, and improve the idea together.
Deliver
Finally, I test. I keep what works, learn from what doesn’t, and refine the experience until it is clear, useful, and ready.
03
Selected work
Projects
FX platform · Morocco
thanX – CaixaBank
Helping SMEs manage international transfers with more transparency and an accessible, refreshed experience.
Three institutions, three trips for every cross-border paymentA single guided flow for imports, exports and transfers
View project Investment Area mockupDrop project screenshot here
Investments · Web & app
Investment Area – ING Bank
Making complex financial data across funds and pensions clear, visual, and accessible for long-term engagement.
Dense financial informationVisual, understandable decisions
View project MoneyMentor mockupDrop project screenshot here
Financial education · Mobile
MoneyMentor
A gamified app helping young adults manage money, set goals, and build healthy financial habits.
Money habits feel overwhelmingSmall, motivating next steps
View project aPeso mockupDrop project screenshot here
Master’s project · Zero Waste
aPeso
Reimagining market shopping through a bulk-buying app that cuts plastic waste and makes Zero-Waste habits convenient.
Sustainable shopping takes effortBulk buying made convenient
View project Since then I've grown
as a UX/UI designer
Tap a point on the chart to bring that skill up front
UX Research
I can build personas, map journeys and run usability tests. Interviews are still the area where I'm building more rigor and frequency.
UX Writing
Loading states, error messages, empty states. Now with AI, we can make more consistent tone by creating agents and focusing more on conversational design.
Service Design
I've built service blueprints in real projects — thanX is proof. Still growing in frontstage/backstage depth and multi-channel journey coherence.
Information Architecture
Solid on navigation systems and card sorting. Findability testing is where I see the most room to keep sharpening.
Interaction Design
My highest-rated area. Interactive prototypes, user flows, microinteractions, component states — this is where I feel most confident and most in flow.
Information Design
My business background lives here. Dashboards, data visualisation, comparative tables — translating complexity into clarity is something I've been doing since before I was a designer.
User Interface Design
Wireframes, final screens, design systems, handoff specs, component states — I deliver work that development can actually build. And it looks good doing it.
Visual Design
I work confidently with brand systems, color and typography. Illustration and art direction are areas I appreciate but don't claim as my core strength.
05
The path so far
Experience timeline
Sep 2024 — now
Digital Product Designer
EGGS · Part of Sopra Steria
May — Sep 2024
UX/UI Intern
ING Bank
2023 — 2024
Master in UX for Products & Services
UDIT, Madrid
2020 — 2023
Operations Acq & Eng Manager
DiDi · Chile, Peru & Mexico
2017 — 2020
Fleet Strategy Sr. Analyst
LATAM Airlines
2018
Bachelor in Business Administration
CESA, Bogotá