SoFi Round-Up Repayment

Time:

Sep 2025 - Dec 2025

Role:

Solo Product Designer

Tools:

Figma (Make), Gemini

I worked on this project during the Technology-Driven Innovation course at CMU. By addressing a problem we care about, I focused on reimagining the student loan repayment journey to help borrowers save on interest and reach debt freedom faster.

Product Design
Fintech

Problem

The "Invisible" Progress of Repayment

1 in 5 Americans are dealing with student debt. The average borrower owes nearly $40k, and repayment can drag on for 20 years. Because the finish line feels far away, paying it off seems like a distant dream. When progress is invisible, it’s easy to lose motivation.

👥 The Average Borrower

Average Debt

Nearly $40K

Monthly Payment

Nearly $300/Month

Repayment Term

Around 20 Years

💸😞 User Reality

  • Borrowed $60K for her master’s degree in nursing

  • Has already paid over $66K, but still owes $61K due to interest

  • At this pace, she won’t finish paying until age 91

~Barbara, 

62-years-old (Source: The Guardian)

User Research

The "Invisible" Progress of Repayment

During my research, I kept seeing the same pattern in success stories: borrowers found that chipping away at the principal could shave years off their loan terms. This proved that small actions can lead to a big impact over time.

"Paying extra that is required of me makes a huge difference in the long run."

"It’s asking if I want to have the extra taken off the principal amount of the loan or if I want to have it applied to next months total. Take it off the principal! It will save you interest in the long run."

How might we help people feel less stressed about collecting that “extra” amount while they are already dealing with heavy monthly payments?

Opportunity

Round-Up

To reduce the 'pain of paying,' I was inspired by the Round-Up model. Research shows that people are willing to part with that extra amount because spare change feels less significant.

Users are already accustomed to rounding up—whether it's donating, investing, or saving during daily spending.

➡️ The market has validated that small change is a low-friction way to commit money.

Solution

Round It Up, Pay It Down

After considering business models, user trust, and market constraints, I decided to situate the solution within an existing banking ecosystem. This project is a conceptual feature for SoFi Bank, which has helped over 515K members refinance more than $46 billion in student loans.

How the Round-Up feature benefits SoFi’s Loan Business:
Why not design a standalone app?
1. Though Round-Up repayment apps like Changed or the defunct Qoins exist, they rely on subscription models ($3–$15/month). For borrowers already counting every penny, paying extra fees is burdensome. 2. Standalone apps face challenges in navigating banks, loan providers, and building user trust from scratch.
Why collaborate with SoFi?
1. Leveraging SoFi's student loan roots, the Round-Up feature serves as a unique selling point to attract users to refinance. 2. SoFi’s existing banking infrastructure allows for seamless round-up repayment integration.

Ideation

Integrating a Round-Up Feature into the SoFi Ecosystem

To visualize the concept, I started by mapping the critical user journey to identify daily interaction touchpoints. From there, I prototyped the four key screens that anchor this experience and conducted rapid user interviews to gather early feedback.

💡AI-Assisted Workflow:

I used Figma Make to rapidly generate the skeleton of the design, but realized that good design lives in the details. Rather than spending hours vibe coding to fix off-brand inconsistencies, I manually crafted the finer details to ensure the final quality met professional standards.

💡AI-Assisted Workflow:

I used Figma Make to rapidly generate the skeleton of the design, but realized that good design lives in the details. Rather than spending hours vibe coding to fix off-brand inconsistencies, I manually crafted the finer details to ensure the final quality met professional standards.

Iteration

User Feedback & Visual Refinement & Brand Alignment

Without the official design system, I studied the app's patterns to align with SoFi’s brand identity. This allowed me to create a seamless interface that maintains visual harmony and hierarchy.

Final Design

After multiple rounds of iteration, here are the final screens:

Without the official design system, I studied the app's patterns to align with SoFi’s brand identity. This allowed me to create a seamless interface that maintains visual harmony and hierarchy.

Reflection

The One-Person Product Team

Acting not only as a solo designer, but also as a PM defining strategy and an engineer validating feasibility.

💬Pivot: From Standalone App to Banking Feature

The project pivoted after “reality checking” with a VC. Since interest is the primary revenue source, helping users save it directly conflicts with business profitability. The solution was to reframe the feature as a user acquisition strategy for banks. This taught me to prioritize business logic alongside user experience.

🤖AI Accelerates Output, Not Outcome

AI tools allow me to create screens easily, but I realized that velocity is not a proxy for quality. Good design still lives in the details.