Lead Product Designer
Senior Leadership, PMs, Engineering, Data Science
Fintech
2024-2025
Skills
Mobile UX/UI, Branding
Problem & Concept
Esusu's rent reporting was working well, but to scale impact we needed to live inside the platforms renters were already using.
We partnered with Zillow to bring credit building access to everyday renters by embedding our app!
As a designer I drove the problem solving efforts around enabling seamless sign-up and engagement at scale, without compromising what made our core offering so impactful.
+45 pts
Average Credit Score Increase
141k
Total Renters Enrolled With Help of Integration
$1.2 B
Post Deal Startup Evaluation
My Role
Owned end-to-end design for the embedded rent reporting experience spanning discovery, user research, wireframing, prototyping, visual design, and QA
Led cross-functional collaboration with product team and presented prototypes, research findings, and progress updates directly to senior leadership
Partnered with data science, engineering, legal and compliance to understand technical complexities and limitations, and QA the user experience
Challenges & Roadblocks
Legal & Compliance Limitations for PII:
To reduce friction in the enrollment flow I wanted to minimize manual data entry, but legal and compliance regulations required certain personally identifiable information to be entered manually by the user and could not be auto-filled
This extended the flow beyond what I had originally designed and likely contributed to drop-off during sign-up. While unavoidable, it was a significant constraint that required pivoting from my original approach.
Rebranding & Component Library Updates:
Midway through development, Esusu underwent a full rebrand in partnership with an outside studio. I worked closely with developers to strategically time design system updates, ensuring consistency across the app, without requiring developers to redo work that was already in progress.
This required constant communication around what changes were coming, when to expect them, and what was realistic to ship each sprint across multiple products simultaneously.
Impact
Simplified a complex financial product into an accessible, trustworthy experience that addressed a systemic gap for underserved renters nationwide
Created a seamless cross-platform experience for 228M potential users
Delivered measurable business outcomes related to credit access at scale: 141,000+ renters enrolled, +45 avg. credit score increase, and $30B+ in mortgage access unlocked
Conclusion
This embedded rent reporting experience redefined how Esusu could scale impact. We transformed into a seamlessly integrated service within partner ecosystems like Zillow. By removing friction for users and simplifying adoption for clients, it unlocked a more scalable, distribution-driven model for credit building impacting so many more people then we previously had.
Moving forward, the opportunity lies in expanding this integration framework across additional partners while maintaining product integrity, performance, and trust. In doing so, Esusu can continue to broaden access to credit-building tools and deepen its impact for renters everywhere.