Give us an overview of your journey into Product Design. Why did you choose this pathway?
I originally started out as a graphic designer working in print, with my first role being at a local newspaper. As everything started shifting digitally, I naturally moved into web design and taught myself along the way. Back then, the lines between disciplines were a bit blurrier, so you ended up wearing a lot of hats and figuring things out as you went.
The moment that really pulled me into product design was working on a website for a company that sold custom tarps online. It sounds simple now, but at the time it was a genuinely interesting problem to solve because their whole process had previously been very human and very manual. I found myself sitting with the people taking orders, understanding how customers thought, how measurements were explained, where confusion happened, and how we could make that all feel intuitive digitally. That was probably the first time I realised design wasn’t just about visuals, it was about helping people understand something and making their lives a little easier.
READ MORE: The Algorithm That Pays You: Inside DailyPay's AI Strategy for On Demand Pay
What led you to join DailyPay? What does your day to day look like as the Principal Product Designer?
What drew me to DailyPay was the opportunity to work on a product that genuinely matters to people. DailyPay supports hard working employees – many of which are leveraging the tool to navigate important financial moments and gain a bit more understanding and flexibility over their pay.
Designing for those moments comes with a real sense of responsibility, and that immediately resonated with me. I’ve always had a passion for mobile design. There’s something really powerful about creating products that live in people's pockets and become part of their everyday routines, benefiting their overall wellbeing.
Day-to-day, my role is a mix of hands-on design leadership and connecting dots across the organisation. I work closely with product designers across different squads, helping shape experiences so they feel joined up and consistent rather than fragmented. A big part of my role is also evolving our design system and improving how our teams collaborate. Helping them turn ideas into something practical, scalable, and useful for real people.
How would you describe your core design philosophy? How does that shape your approach in your role at DailyPay?
I think the best products are the ones that quietly fit into people’s lives and help without demanding too much from them. My philosophy has always been that design should be genuinely useful first and foremost. Not loud. Not overly complicated. Just thoughtful, clear, and there when people need it.
That mindset shapes a lot of how we approach design at DailyPay. People don’t usually open financial apps because they’re having a brilliant day. Often, they are trying to solve a problem, reduce stress, or feel more in control of their situation. We think a lot about the emotional weight of those moments and how design can either ease that pressure or accidentally add to it. That means focusing heavily on clarity, reducing complexity, building trust through reliability, and creating experiences that feel calm rather than overwhelming.
How does product design improve user experience? How do you help that come to life at DailyPay?
Good product design improves user experience by removing friction and helping people achieve what they need to do with as little stress as possible. Sometimes that means simplifying a journey, sometimes it means using clearer language, and sometimes it’s about recognising that a user might already be anxious before they even open the app.
At DailyPay, we try to design with empathy. We want experiences to feel human, respectful, and relevant to real life. A lot of my role is helping ensure that philosophy stays consistent across the product, whether that is through the design system, collaboration with squads, or shaping the bigger picture of how the app evolves over time. I enjoy zooming out and looking at how all the pieces connect together because users don’t experience products feature-by-feature, they experience one overall journey.
READ MORE: Victoria Sloan on Leading the Financial Empowerment Engineering Team at DailyPay
What do you see in the future for product design?
I’m genuinely excited about where product design is heading, especially with the rise of AI. I don’t see AI replacing designers, but I do think it’s going to massively change how we work. What interests me most is the idea that AI could allow designers to spend more time thinking deeply about people, behaviour, and experiences rather than getting stuck in production work. It’s already helping teams prototype faster, explore ideas quicker, and remove a lot of repetitive tasks that can slow creativity down. The technology will evolve quickly, but I still think the human side of design, the empathy, judgement, understanding emotion and context, will become even more valuable. The future of product design feels less like humans versus AI, and more like humans focusing on what it really means to be human.
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