Ashley Sun
Lead UX Designer @ Zelle® · San Francisco
I bridge two disciplines that rarely meet: the spatial precision of architecture and the behavioral depth of fintech UX. After 11 years shaping physical environments as an architect, I pivoted to digital design in 2018, drawn by the same challenge: designing systems people move through without noticing the complexity.
Today I lead end-to-end UX for Zelle®'s product design expansion, from trust & safety features to entirely new use cases beyond P2P. I'm fluent in strategic design, systems thinking, and cross-functional collaboration that keeps design at the table when priorities shift.
EXPERTISE
Systems Thinking
I design for complex systems, leading with strategy over surface. I translate cross-product user behavior into clear product and ecosystem decisions.
MINDSET
Innovation Advocate
I turn ideas into visible outcomes through rapid, focused prototyping. I challenge assumptions and expand scope to unlock new product opportunities.
BACKGROUND
Practice Fluencies
7 years in architecture and 11 years of real projects practice built my spatial intuition. My fintech UX work adds research rigor and confidence in regulated environments.
CAREER ARC
2024 - present
Lead UX Designer
Early Warning Services (Zelle®) · B2B2C Payments · San Francisco
2022 - 2024
Senior UX Designer
Funding Circle · B2B Lending · San Francisco
2018 - 2022
UX Designer
Freelance · B2C Mobile SaaS · San Francisco
2011 - 2022
Landscape Architect & Urban Designer
Perkins & Will et al. · San Francisco / New York City / Boston
Before Fintech, there was Space
I spent over a decade designing the spaces between buildings — parks, waterfronts, corporate campuses. That work gave me something most UX designers don't have: the habit of designing for movement through time and space in humane scale.
The skills transferred more directly than I expected. Site analysis became user research. Circulation diagrams became user flows. The discipline of working within hard constraints — urban context, building codes, structural modeling — prepared me well for the constraint-rich world of regulated fintech.

Parametric Design

Performative Geometry

Complex Water Systems

Derived Patterns from Nature
