As employee #3 at Acorns, I played a key role in shaping the user experience and designing many of the app’s core features.
Round-ups: which is the core feature, which helped drive user engagement and long-term value. I am listed on the patent with Walter and Jeff. We were one of the first consumer finance apps to access API-based bank aggregation data—initially through Yodlee.com, which has since been overtaken by Plaid. This early technical integration laid the foundation for Acorns' seamless financial automation.
By partnering closely with UC Irvine, I led ongoing UXR sessions with college students over several months to refine the user experience until we were ready for launch.
As a co-founder, I helped grow the design team and continued to drive product innovation, ensuring Acorns stayed user-focused and ahead of the curve.
