Launch Early Pay
(QuickBooks early wage access)
Creating a 0→1 experience that gives employees flexible access to earned wages.
COMPANY
Intuit
ROLE
Lead Designer
Duration
6 months
Context
Early Pay gives employees at small businesses early access to a portion of their earned wages for a small, one-time fee. The amount is automatically repaid from their next paycheck.
Problem
Many employees living paycheck to paycheck turn to costly options like payday loans and overdraft fees when unexpected expenses arise.
$9B in annual payday loans
$34B in annual overdraft fees
Approach
A dry test to validate the concept
Before designing the full experience, I tested the concept with real users to gauge spontaneous reaction and validate demand for early access to earned wages.
Usability test
Key findings
Trust over usability
Users often associated Early Pay with payday loans, making trust and product framing more important than usability.
Language matters
Words like “Advance” triggered negative associations with payday loans, while “Unlock your pay” created confusion about how much users would receive.
Transparency builds confidence
Clear fee and repayment information helped users make informed decisions.
A/B testings based on the findings
Intro screen
open DDA screen
Add debit card screen
On-going use cases
Returning user
Without outstanding balance
Round 2 usability test
Final experience
Result
Achieved a Customer Satisfaction Score of 90 and a Customer Effort Score of 93, with 80% of users reporting improved experience in the QuickBooks Workforce app
Reflection
Trust is a design problem, not just a usability problem. In financial products, clear language and transparency matter as much as the interaction itself.
The biggest challenge was balancing urgency with trust, making Early Pay feel safe without weakening its immediate value.
