M1
Information Architecture
Reimagining the structure of a $6B AUM unicorn.
UX Design
Web + Mobile
Scalable System
Role
Design Lead, Co-Project Lead
Responsibilities
Information Architecture, UX Research, Design System Documentation
Collaborators
C-Suite Stakeholders, PM (multiple), Compliance, Test Eng, Engineering, Design System, Visual Design
Timeline
6 months
Summary
Reimagining the information architecture of M1, "the financial super app", managing over $6B in assets. The original M1 5 year plan was 7 years old + was failing on multiple levels - user, internal + business. Working across the entire organization I collaborated with the CEO/founder to intelligently rebuild the foundation for M1's growth + future success.
Goals:
Enhance user navigation to support growth.
Simplify complex financial data presentation to increase stickiness.
Optimize the overall user experience in the form of expanding the design system with updated components.
*This UX work was done in conjunction with a visual design uplift by the team of Ceasar Gamulja + Ricky Sunay. Mobile work assist by Victoria German.
$3B
AUM growth supported by architecture over following year
+7%
DAU growth over two months
2
New navigation components added to the design system.
Challenges
This high-visibility project came with unique complexities: redesigning M1's information architecture while maintaining user trust and engagement in a traditionally conservative industry, collaborating with the CEO/founder who reached out directly to me to lead this project (adding both opportunity and responsibility to deliver exceptional results), and balancing data-rich content with intuitive design.
Core Design Challenges
Preserving user confidence during a significant architectural shift
Balancing dense financial data with intuitive user experience
Orchestrating tight cross-functional collaboration across multiple teams
Working closely with our Design System Committee to establish scalable patterns and ensure consistent adoption across all platforms
"The app is kind of all over the place."
User MK
Process + Methodology
Strategic Foundation
CEO Brian Barnes and I began by exploring his vision to center M1 around the Business Ledger—a fundamental accounting principle that calculates net worth as the sum of assets and liabilities. This foundational concept provided a robust framework for mapping M1's future product ecosystem and informed every subsequent design decision.
Design Process
My approach followed a systematic methodology:
Discovery & Architecture: Conducted comprehensive site map inventory and information architecture analysis to understand the current state and identify optimization opportunities.
Ideation & Exploration: Generated divergent concept explorations and navigation alternatives, ensuring we considered multiple approaches before converging on the optimal solution.
Validation & Refinement: Progressed from initial concepts through user testing on mockups, iterating based on feedback to validate our design decisions with real user insights.
Delivery & Documentation: Created a comprehensive delivery package including interactive Figma prototypes, detailed Design System documentation, and executive summary materials.
Cross-Organizational Alignment Working closely with my PM partner, I produced a video walkthrough that communicated both the project methodology and outcomes to stakeholders across the organization. This ensured company-wide understanding of the strategic rationale, design decisions, and expected impact.
Outcome
The outcomes of this project were really powerful on many levels. First off, user feedback. Secondly, for the business. Lastly, one that offered a surprise - scalability.
User Feedback
From comments around misleading navigation + wayfinding to the ultimate feedback, especially from a Reddit AMA, of "kudos to your designers".
Business goals
Couple of levels. Big one for the org was always around increasing AUM. In the year following this work the AUM of M1 rose from $6B to over $9B, not entirely attributable to this alone but definitely complimentary to the clearer user understanding. Additionally on the business side we saw a nice bump in DAU over two months post release.
Scalability
We often consider scalability in a growth mind set + understandably so. This project, as one would expect with IA, accounted for + accomplished that as evidenced by my team soon after releasing net new products that easily integrated with the Business Ledger concept as well as the navigation in place. The surprise, + lesser considered element of scalability, is in deprecated products. While unknown at the time of this IA project, the business later had need to deprecate the Checking Account product. That drop was easily accomplished on the UI side with the upgrades in navigation + wayfinding that this team successfully implemented as part of this project. A unique yet fulfilling experience proving the value of long term systems thinking to handle yet unknown vectors.
$3B
AUM growth supported by architecture over following year
+7%
DAU growth over two months
2
New navigation components added to the design system.
The Human-Centered Approach
I saw an opportunity to inject much-needed delight into the user experience. Guided by the principle of "emotional over transactional," I advocated for including motion design—particularly on mobile—to create moments of joy within complex financial workflows. Working alongside tech leads like Patrick McCarron we transformed cold data windows into dynamic experiences creating an interface that serves people first, complexity second.
M1
Information Architecture
Reimagining the structure of a $6B AUM unicorn.
UX Design
Web + Mobile
Scalable System
Role
Design Lead, Co-Project Lead
Responsibilities
Information Architecture, UX Research, Design System Documentation
Collaborators
C-Suite Stakeholders, PM (multiple), Compliance, Test Eng, Engineering, Design System, Visual Design
Timeline
6 months
Summary
Reimagining the information architecture of M1, "the financial super app", managing over $6B in assets. The original M1 5 year plan was 7 years old + was failing on multiple levels - user, internal + business. Working across the entire organization I collaborated with the CEO/founder to intelligently rebuild the foundation for M1's growth + future success.
Goals:
Enhance user navigation to support growth.
Simplify complex financial data presentation to increase stickiness.
Optimize the overall user experience in the form of expanding the design system with updated components.
*This UX work was done in conjunction with a visual design uplift by the team of Ceasar Gamulja + Ricky Sunay. Mobile work assist by Victoria German.
$3B
AUM growth supported by architecture over following year
+7%
DAU growth over two months
2
New navigation components added to the design system.
Challenges
This high-visibility project came with unique complexities: redesigning M1's information architecture while maintaining user trust and engagement in a traditionally conservative industry, collaborating with the CEO/founder who reached out directly to me to lead this project (adding both opportunity and responsibility to deliver exceptional results), and balancing data-rich content with intuitive design.
Core Design Challenges
Preserving user confidence during a significant architectural shift
Balancing dense financial data with intuitive user experience
Orchestrating tight cross-functional collaboration across multiple teams
Working closely with our Design System Committee to establish scalable patterns and ensure consistent adoption across all platforms
"The app is kind of all over the place."
User MK
Process + Methodology
Strategic Foundation
CEO Brian Barnes and I began by exploring his vision to center M1 around the Business Ledger—a fundamental accounting principle that calculates net worth as the sum of assets and liabilities. This foundational concept provided a robust framework for mapping M1's future product ecosystem and informed every subsequent design decision.
Design Process
My approach followed a systematic methodology:
Discovery & Architecture: Conducted comprehensive site map inventory and information architecture analysis to understand the current state and identify optimization opportunities.
Ideation & Exploration: Generated divergent concept explorations and navigation alternatives, ensuring we considered multiple approaches before converging on the optimal solution.
Validation & Refinement: Progressed from initial concepts through user testing on mockups, iterating based on feedback to validate our design decisions with real user insights.
Delivery & Documentation: Created a comprehensive delivery package including interactive Figma prototypes, detailed Design System documentation, and executive summary materials.
Cross-Organizational Alignment Working closely with my PM partner, I produced a video walkthrough that communicated both the project methodology and outcomes to stakeholders across the organization. This ensured company-wide understanding of the strategic rationale, design decisions, and expected impact.
Outcome
The outcomes of this project were really powerful on many levels. First off, user feedback. Secondly, for the business. Lastly, one that offered a surprise - scalability.
User Feedback
From comments around misleading navigation + wayfinding to the ultimate feedback, especially from a Reddit AMA, of "kudos to your designers".
Business goals
Couple of levels. Big one for the org was always around increasing AUM. In the year following this work the AUM of M1 rose from $6B to over $9B, not entirely attributable to this alone but definitely complimentary to the clearer user understanding. Additionally on the business side we saw a nice bump in DAU over two months post release.
Scalability
We often consider scalability in a growth mind set + understandably so. This project, as one would expect with IA, accounted for + accomplished that as evidenced by my team soon after releasing net new products that easily integrated with the Business Ledger concept as well as the navigation in place. The surprise, + lesser considered element of scalability, is in deprecated products. While unknown at the time of this IA project, the business later had need to deprecate the Checking Account product. That drop was easily accomplished on the UI side with the upgrades in navigation + wayfinding that this team successfully implemented as part of this project. A unique yet fulfilling experience proving the value of long term systems thinking to handle yet unknown vectors.
$3B
AUM growth supported by architecture over following year
+7%
DAU growth over two months
2
New navigation components added to the design system.
The Human-Centered Approach
I saw an opportunity to inject much-needed delight into the user experience. Guided by the principle of "emotional over transactional," I advocated for including motion design—particularly on mobile—to create moments of joy within complex financial workflows. Working alongside tech leads like Patrick McCarron we transformed cold data windows into dynamic experiences creating an interface that serves people first, complexity second.
M1
Information Architecture
Reimagining the structure of a $6B AUM unicorn.
UX Design
Web + Mobile
Scalable System
Role
Design Lead, Co-Project Lead
Responsibilities
Information Architecture, UX Research, Design System Documentation
Collaborators
C-Suite Stakeholders, PM (multiple), Compliance, Test Eng, Engineering, Design System, Visual Design
Timeline
6 months
Summary
Reimagining the information architecture of M1, "the financial super app", managing over $6B in assets. The original M1 5 year plan was 7 years old + was failing on multiple levels - user, internal + business. Working across the entire organization I collaborated with the CEO/founder to intelligently rebuild the foundation for M1's growth + future success.
Goals:
Enhance user navigation to support growth.
Simplify complex financial data presentation to increase stickiness.
Optimize the overall user experience in the form of expanding the design system with updated components.
*This UX work was done in conjunction with a visual design uplift by the team of Ceasar Gamulja + Ricky Sunay. Mobile work assist by Victoria German.
$3B
AUM growth supported by architecture over following
year
+7%
DAU growth over two months
2
New navigation components added to the design system.
Challenges
This high-visibility project came with unique complexities: redesigning M1's information architecture while maintaining user trust and engagement in a traditionally conservative industry, collaborating with the CEO/founder who reached out directly to me to lead this project (adding both opportunity and responsibility to deliver exceptional results), and balancing data-rich content with intuitive design.
Core Design Challenges
Preserving user confidence during a significant architectural shift
Balancing dense financial data with intuitive user experience
Orchestrating tight cross-functional collaboration across multiple teams
Working closely with our Design System Committee to establish scalable patterns and ensure consistent adoption across all platforms
"The app is kind of all over the place."
User MK
Process
Strategic Foundation
CEO Brian Barnes and I began by exploring his vision to center M1 around the Business Ledger—a fundamental accounting principle that calculates net worth as the sum of assets and liabilities. This foundational concept provided a robust framework for mapping M1's future product ecosystem and informed every subsequent design decision.
Design Process
My approach followed a systematic methodology:
Discovery & Architecture: Conducted comprehensive site map inventory and information architecture analysis to understand the current state and identify optimization opportunities.
Ideation & Exploration: Generated divergent concept explorations and navigation alternatives, ensuring we considered multiple approaches before converging on the optimal solution.
Validation & Refinement: Progressed from initial concepts through user testing on mockups, iterating based on feedback to validate our design decisions with real user insights.
Delivery & Documentation: Created a comprehensive delivery package including interactive Figma prototypes, detailed Design System documentation, and executive summary materials.
Cross-Organizational Alignment Working closely with my PM partner, I produced a video walkthrough that communicated both the project methodology and outcomes to stakeholders across the organization. This ensured company-wide understanding of the strategic rationale, design decisions, and expected impact.
Outcome
The outcomes of this project were really powerful on many levels. First off, user feedback. Secondly, for the business. Lastly, one that offered a surprise - scalability.
User Feedback
From comments around misleading navigation + wayfinding to the ultimate feedback, especially from a Reddit AMA, of "kudos to your designers".
Business goals
Couple of levels. Big one for the org was always around increasing AUM. In the year following this work the AUM of M1 rose from $6B to over $9B, not entirely attributable to this alone but definitely complimentary to the clearer user understanding. Additionally on the business side we saw a nice bump in DAU over two months post release.
Scalability
We often consider scalability in a growth mind set + understandably so. This project, as one would expect with IA, accounted for + accomplished that as evidenced by my team soon after releasing net new products that easily integrated with the Business Ledger concept as well as the navigation in place. The surprise, + lesser considered element of scalability, is in deprecated products. While unknown at the time of this IA project, the business later had need to deprecate the Checking Account product. That drop was easily accomplished on the UI side with the upgrades in navigation + wayfinding that this team successfully implemented as part of this project. A unique yet fulfilling experience proving the value of long term systems thinking to handle yet unknown vectors.
$3B
AUM growth supported by architecture over following year
+7%
DAU growth over two months
2
New navigation components added to the design system.
The Human-Centered Approach
I saw an opportunity to inject much-needed delight into the user experience. Guided by the principle of "emotional over transactional," I advocated for including motion design—particularly on mobile—to create moments of joy within complex financial workflows. Working alongside tech leads like Patrick McCarron we transformed cold data windows into dynamic experiences creating an interface that serves people first, complexity second.
Oregon Manifest
Mini Velo
Transforming what a bike in the city can be.
Industrial Design
Storytelling
Student Project
Role
Photographer, student, designer
Responsibilities
Visual media, iterative 3D design, presentation
Collaborators
Bike builder (TiCycles), designers (Nike + Ziba)
Timeline
1 summer
Summary
"The 2011 Oregon Manifest was a contest and event in Portland, Oregon, focused on designing and building the "ultimate urban utility bike". The event featured a Constructor's Challenge that paired top design firms with custom bike builders to create innovative cargo and commuter bikes, as well as a student design competition. The ultimate goal was to reimagine the bicycle as a durable, practical, and fun alternative to cars for daily transportation."
The student competition paired product design students from various universities with both design professionals + bike builders. Teams included California, RISD + Harvard, among others. This scrappy team from the University of Oregon won the category based on judging from Tinker Hatfield (Nike, Jordan) + Rob Forbes (Design within Reach, PUBLIC).
7
Students on team over the course of one summer
6
Student teams vying to be best in the nation by winning
1
3D frame box printed at Nike World Headquarters
Challenges
Working over the course of a summer with a variety of time commitments, lifestyles + schedules was perhaps the largest challenge for the team, at least initially. Once rolling, the collaboration really ramped up + we quickly took the tact of make mistakes cheap, not rare.
Working across both digital designs + analog output added an extra dimension of communication and tolerances that we embraced. For example, no fewer than four of us worked on the renders + printing of the frame box. The final presentation also called for a level of preparation that reflected over the entire breadth of work in front of a large audience + design royalty (anyone ever heard of Air Jordans?)
Design + build "the ultimate urban utility bike".
Project brief
Process + Methodology
Three months + counting…
Over the course of the summer the team two nights a week starting with discovery + ideation on paper + quickly moving into physical materials to begin testing ideas. As soon as possible our professional builder was brought in to begin discussing pros + cons of various directions. Obviously his expertise was invaluable as was the occasional meeting at his shop.
Design Philosophy
Much of where the team landed was after endless discussions around how might we replace a car AND make biking as simple + easy as possible. With this in mind it seemed logical to have a compact frame for urban dwellers with a modular set of integrated features such as;
- a lock box for valuables
- integrated LED lights
- a cup holder for early mornings
- 3D printed lock holder
- built in fenders for the commute
- puncture resistant tubeless tires (cutting edge in 2011)
Outcome
After all the work, the official presentation + a heavy test ride the final night of the competition the team was rewarded with the win for outstanding student submission. We heard that the unique take on solving many of the urban challenges is what drew the judges attention to our solution. In the end, this experience hooked me on the iterative design approach I favor to this day.
7
Students on team over the course of one summer
6
Student teams vying to be best in the nation by winning
1
3D frame box printed at Nike World Headquarters
Oregon Manifest
Mini Velo
Transforming what a bike in the city can be.
Industrial Design
Storytelling
Student Project
Role
Photographer, student, designer
Responsibilities
Visual media, iterative 3D design, presentation
Collaborators
Bike builder (TiCycles), designers (Nike + Ziba)
Timeline
1 summer
Summary
"The 2011 Oregon Manifest was a contest and event in Portland, Oregon, focused on designing and building the "ultimate urban utility bike". The event featured a Constructor's Challenge that paired top design firms with custom bike builders to create innovative cargo and commuter bikes, as well as a student design competition. The ultimate goal was to reimagine the bicycle as a durable, practical, and fun alternative to cars for daily transportation."
The student competition paired product design students from various universities with both design professionals + bike builders. Teams included California, RISD + Harvard, among others. This scrappy team from the University of Oregon won the category based on judging from Tinker Hatfield (Nike, Jordan) + Rob Forbes (Design within Reach, PUBLIC).
7
Students on team over the course of one summer
6
Student teams vying to be best in the nation by winning
1
3D frame box printed at Nike World Headquarters
Challenges
Working over the course of a summer with a variety of time commitments, lifestyles + schedules was perhaps the largest challenge for the team, at least initially. Once rolling, the collaboration really ramped up + we quickly took the tact of make mistakes cheap, not rare.
Working across both digital designs + analog output added an extra dimension of communication and tolerances that we embraced. For example, no fewer than four of us worked on the renders + printing of the frame box. The final presentation also called for a level of preparation that reflected over the entire breadth of work in front of a large audience + design royalty (anyone ever heard of Air Jordans?)
Design + build "the ultimate urban utility bike".
Project brief
Process + Methodology
Three months + counting…
Over the course of the summer the team two nights a week starting with discovery + ideation on paper + quickly moving into physical materials to begin testing ideas. As soon as possible our professional builder was brought in to begin discussing pros + cons of various directions. Obviously his expertise was invaluable as was the occasional meeting at his shop.
Design Philosophy
Much of where the team landed was after endless discussions around how might we replace a car AND make biking as simple + easy as possible. With this in mind it seemed logical to have a compact frame for urban dwellers with a modular set of integrated features such as;
- a lock box for valuables
- integrated LED lights
- a cup holder for early mornings
- 3D printed lock holder
- built in fenders for the commute
- puncture resistant tubeless tires (cutting edge in 2011)
Outcome
After all the work, the official presentation + a heavy test ride the final night of the competition the team was rewarded with the win for outstanding student submission. We heard that the unique take on solving many of the urban challenges is what drew the judges attention to our solution. In the end, this experience hooked me on the iterative design approach I favor to this day.
7
Students on team over the course of one summer
6
Student teams vying to be best in the nation by winning
1
3D frame box printed at Nike World Headquarters
Oregon Manifest
Mini Velo
Transforming what a bike in the city can be.
Industrial Design
Storytelling
Student Project
Role
Photographer, student, designer
Responsibilities
Visual media, iterative 3D design, presentation
Collaborators
Bike builder (TiCycles), designers (Nike + Ziba)
Timeline
1 summer
Summary
"The 2011 Oregon Manifest was a contest and event in Portland, Oregon, focused on designing and building the "ultimate urban utility bike". The event featured a Constructor's Challenge that paired top design firms with custom bike builders to create innovative cargo and commuter bikes, as well as a student design competition. The ultimate goal was to reimagine the bicycle as a durable, practical, and fun alternative to cars for daily transportation."
The student competition paired product design students from various universities with both design professionals + bike builders. Teams included California, RISD + Harvard, among others. This scrappy team from the University of Oregon won the category based on judging from Tinker Hatfield (Nike, Jordan) + Rob Forbes (Design within Reach, PUBLIC).
7
AUM growth supported by architecture over following
year
6
Student teams vying to be best in the nation by winning
1
3D frame box printed at Nike World Headquarters
Challenges
Working over the course of a summer with a variety of time commitments, lifestyles + schedules was perhaps the largest challenge for the team, at least initially. Once rolling, the collaboration really ramped up + we quickly took the tact of make mistakes cheap, not rare.
Working across both digital designs + analog output added an extra dimension of communication and tolerances that we embraced. For example, no fewer than four of us worked on the renders + printing of the frame box. The final presentation also called for a level of preparation that reflected over the entire breadth of work in front of a large audience + design royalty (anyone ever heard of Air Jordans?)
Design + build "the ultimate urban utility bike".
Project brief
Process
Three months + counting…
Over the course of the summer the team two nights a week starting with discovery + ideation on paper + quickly moving into physical materials to begin testing ideas. As soon as possible our professional builder was brought in to begin discussing pros + cons of various directions. Obviously his expertise was invaluable as was the occasional meeting at his shop.
Design Philosophy
Much of where the team landed was after endless discussions around how might we replace a car AND make biking as simple + easy as possible. With this in mind it seemed logical to have a compact frame for urban dwellers with a modular set of integrated features such as;
- a lock box for valuables
- integrated LED lights
- a cup holder for early mornings
- 3D printed lock holder
- built in fenders for the commute
- puncture resistant tubeless tires (cutting edge in 2011)
Outcome
After all the work, the official presentation + a heavy test ride the final night of the competition the team was rewarded with the win for outstanding student submission. We heard that the unique take on solving many of the urban challenges is what drew the judges attention to our solution. In the end, this experience hooked me on the iterative design approach I favor to this day.
7
AUM growth supported by architecture over following
year
6
Student teams vying to be best in the nation by winning
1
3D frame box printed at Nike World Headquarters