KSP Arthaguna
Building a Digital Investment Platform from a Family Cooperative
Product Strategy · User Research · Financial Services · UX Design · Software Engineering
KSP Arthaguna started with a simple question: how might a savings and loan cooperative expand access to capital and participation in funding through digital channels?
What began as an exploration within a family-run cooperative evolved into one of the most comprehensive projects I worked on during my time at Universitas Gadjah Mada.
Over nearly a year, the work expanded across product strategy, financial system design, user research, cooperative operations, digital payments, regulatory considerations, interface design, and software engineering—culminating in more than a hundred pages of academic documentation.
The project moved between classroom research and fieldwork, from coffee shops across Yogyakarta to the cooperative’s operational base in Grobogan.
The Premise
Savings and loan cooperatives play a critical role in providing financing to communities and small businesses that are often underserved by traditional financial institutions.
For Arthaguna, the core challenge existed on both sides of the system.
Borrowers needed access to financing. The cooperative needed a broader and more sustainable capital base to support lending activities.
This led to the exploration of a digital investment model that connects both sides more effectively.
The product was designed to:
- provide an alternative return profile compared to conventional fixed-income instruments
- maintain a more conservative risk structure than typical unsecured peer-to-peer lending
- channel capital into productive community-based economic activity
- improve visibility into fund allocation and usage
- remain fully accessible through digital channels
The focus was not on digitizing existing workflows, but on designing a more connected participation model for cooperative finance.
Why a Cooperative?
Peer-to-peer lending platforms in the early 2020s popularized alternative access to credit and investment.
Many of these systems relied heavily on unsecured lending structures.
Arthaguna followed a different approach.
Loans within the cooperative could be supported by collateral and managed through a relationship-based model. When repayment issues occurred, resolution began with structured engagement rather than immediate enforcement.
If liquidation became necessary, collateral served as a recovery mechanism, with remaining value returned according to the agreed structure.
This established a core design principle:
capital protection and borrower support must coexist within the same system.
The product needed to remain viable for funders while staying fair and sustainable for borrowers.
Designing the Product Model
The system was structured around three participant groups.
Funders
Funders onboard into the platform, allocate capital, monitor portfolio performance, and track how funds are deployed.
Beyond financial returns, the system also surfaces contextual indicators inspired by ESG principles to provide visibility into impact.
The goal is to make capital allocation understandable, not just transactional.
Borrowers
Borrowers interact primarily through the cooperative’s operational structure.
Digital systems support parts of the workflow, while relationship management remains central—especially for restructuring, repayment challenges, and advisory needs.
The Cooperative
Arthaguna operates as the system backbone.
It connects onboarding, funding flows, payment processing, loan servicing, reporting, and support into a unified operational layer.
This required designing both user-facing experiences and internal system logic.
Making Funding Easier
A key focus was reducing friction in participation.
Virtual accounts and electronic money infrastructure were integrated to support deposits and recurring top-ups.
The experience was designed to align with existing digital financial behaviors.
A hybrid servicing model was also introduced.
Users could interact through:
- self-service digital flows
- relationship managers for guided support
This combination supports both efficiency and trust in financial decision-making.
Who We Designed For
The initial focus was on Gen Z and Millennials with emerging disposable income and interest in alternative investments.
Research expanded beyond this assumption.
Participants included:
- university students nearing graduation
- early-career professionals
- freelancers
- entrepreneurs
- individuals aged 20–45
The key dimension was financial capacity for discretionary investment.
The research focused on how users evaluate:
- return expectations
- perceived risk
- liquidity needs
- trust in financial systems
- social context of investment decisions
Researching Across Yogyakarta
Research was conducted over nearly a year in natural environments, primarily coffee shops across Yogyakarta.
These settings became informal spaces for testing ideas, observing reactions, and iterating concepts in real time.
We worked across multiple user groups including students, professionals, and freelancers.
Documentation was intentionally lightweight during sessions and later consolidated into structured notes.
Early observations were often recorded directly on a BlackBerry before being formalized.
This approach prioritized immediacy over structure, capturing raw user perspectives as they emerged.
[Visual: field research, interviews, sketches, notes]
From Assumptions to Requirements
As the project matured, the work was structured into formal product documentation.
Project Charter
Defined the problem space, objectives, stakeholders, and initial hypotheses.
Business Requirements Document (BRD)
Translated the business model into operational requirements, including financial flows, participant roles, and constraints.
Product Requirements Document (PRD)
Converted requirements into system behavior, product logic, and interface specifications.
This separation clarified three layers of the system:
- business intent
- user needs
- product behavior
As complexity increased, this structure became essential for decision-making.
[Visual: Charter → BRD → PRD flow]
Designing the Experience
The product experience was designed and tested through iterative prototyping.
Key flows included:
- onboarding and account creation
- investment allocation
- deposits and top-ups
- portfolio tracking
- transaction history
- transparency into funding and borrowing
- impact reporting
- support flows
Prototypes were tested on real devices to evaluate interaction behavior directly.
Through iteration, the interface converged toward a simple set of user questions:
- Where is my money allocated?
- What is it doing?
- What return is it generating?
- What risk is involved?
- What happens in adverse scenarios?
[Visual: key screens and flows]
Beyond the Application
The product was supported by a broader communication ecosystem.
This included:
- LinkedIn presence
- Instagram communication
- X (Twitter) updates
- email lifecycle messaging
- marketing materials
- product storytelling assets
These touchpoints were designed as part of the user journey, not separate marketing channels.
Trust formation begins before onboarding.
[Visual: ecosystem touchpoints]
Understanding the Institution Behind the Screen
A key phase of the project involved field observation of the cooperative’s operations in Grobogan.
This phase focused on how the institution functions in practice.
Financial systems are shaped by:
- operational workflows
- reporting structures
- organizational constraints
- security requirements
- regulatory obligations
Understanding these constraints informed how the digital system could realistically scale.
Compliance and operations became part of the product architecture, not external constraints.
[Visual: field visit, operations, cooperative environment]
Building Collaboratively
Development continued in Yogyakarta with support from the local developer community.
At the time, I was also involved in leading the Google Developer community at UGM, which enabled technical collaboration and peer review.
The project combined:
- academic research
- institutional fieldwork
- software development
These streams informed each other continuously throughout the project.
Academic Reviews
Progress was reviewed regularly with academic supervisors and faculty at Universitas Gadjah Mada.
Several milestone sessions were conducted in structured review environments, including meetings at Hotel Rosalia Indah near Yogyakarta’s southern ring road.
These reviews helped refine:
- user segmentation decisions
- financial model structure
- product flow design
- feature prioritization
Each iteration improved clarity and rigor in the system design.
From Product to Thesis
The final output became part of my undergraduate thesis.
The documentation exceeded 100 pages and included:
- research findings
- system design
- implementation details
- interface design
- prototype iterations
- testing documentation
- analysis
The thesis was defended in early 2025 and passed without revision, with only minor clarifications requested.
By that point, the project had evolved into a complete end-to-end system exploration.
[Visual: thesis, defense, final prototype]
What Arthaguna Changed for Me
Arthaguna began as an exploration of access in cooperative finance.
It evolved into a full system design exercise spanning product strategy, user research, operations, and software engineering.
The most important shift was understanding how financial products are actually formed.
Interfaces are the visible layer.
The system underneath—constraints, incentives, risk structures, and human behavior—defines what can be built.
Arthaguna reinforced a simple principle:
financial products are systems of trust, not just interfaces.
Project Overview
Project
KSP Arthaguna Digital Platform
Role
Product Strategy, Product Management, User Research, UX Design, Software Engineering
Duration
~1 year
Context
UGM Computer Science undergraduate project + family cooperative initiative
Research Participants
Students, professionals, freelancers, and prospective investors (20–45 years old)
Deliverables
Project Charter, BRD, PRD, user research, prototypes, system design, digital channels, technical implementation, testing documentation, undergraduate thesis
Collaborators
KSP Arthaguna, Universitas Gadjah Mada faculty, research participants, developer community