About Copper Banking
Copper Banking is an early-stage fintech startup offering a teen-first digital banking app to help families teach financial literacy, manage allowances, and encourage safe spending. With a strong foundation in banking and savings, it was time to expand into investing.
Challenge
In late 2022, the CEO, CTO, and I met to discuss launching teen brokerage accounts. Few teen-first investment experiences existed. Teens were curious about investing but lacked confidence, while parents wanted a safe, supervised environment for learning long-term wealth-building. We had 7 months to define, design, and ship this 0-1 product.
Solution
After months of research and validation, our product team built a safe, low-risk, educational solution for teens and parents. We created an investing experience with automated, diversified portfolios using low-cost ETFs, so teens can focus on learning rather than stock-picking. Copper Banking is now United Banking, bringing savings, investing, and education into one teen-friendly, parent-monitored app.
Contribution
Copper Banking’s single-product team included 4 engineers, 1 designer, and the CTO. As Director of Product Design, I acted as designer, researcher, and product manager—leading research, product-market discovery, defining the automated-advised portfolio, designing the investing experience, engaging vendors, and outlining the vision for future releases.
Best UX Design of the year at GeekWire Awards
450,000
87%
$29M
Market research
Teens were interested in investing but didn’t know how to begin. They didn’t have enough financial knowledge or confidence to make good choices. Meanwhile, parents wanted a safe space for their kids to learn. They wanted some control, but not to hover over every decision.
Key insights
Teens didn't trust social media to validate ideas.
Teens were more likely to invest in companies that they knew about.
Our direct competitors required parental approvals for all trades, creating potential losses due to approval times.
Teens did not understand risk because they hadn't experienced significant purchases.
Design principles
Maintain the teen-first approach to investing.
Use language that teens and parents can understand.
Focus on personalizing the teen investing experience.
Product Strategy
Our conversations with teens and parents revealed a clear path forward: when teens gain confidence, they make smarter investment choices, setting the stage for real wealth to grow.
Foundational requirements
Building confidence will be the foundation of our investing offering.
Education will have to be baked into the beginning and throughout the investing experience.
Investing research and market insights need to be engaging.
Concept cagematch
After several energetic brainstorming sessions, our team landed on six distinct concepts. To see which resonated most, I surveyed 30 teens and 20 parents. Among the ideas, one focused on learning and rewards, while another centered on building a community where teens could share experiences, mirror trades, and follow standout young investors. By making each concept unique, I ensured we would get honest, insightful feedback from our users.
Final designs
Our standout idea was the Portfolio Builder, a tool that empowers teens to craft portfolios tailored to their passions and ambitions. Each portfolio is uniquely themed and packed with hundreds of stocks from a wide range of industries. As their investments work in the background, we guide them with educational resources to nurture their growth as investors. This hands-off method lets teens build wealth effortlessly, without constantly worrying about their next move. Parents appreciate the peace of mind that comes with a lower-risk strategy, needing to approve the portfolio just once at the start. Teens enjoy the freedom to make changes without waiting for parental sign-off every time. This approach marked a major breakthrough for Copper Banking.Core design pillars
Guided investing: Teens choose from a few diversified portfolios (auto-advised).
Education in context: Bite-sized tips and "learn while you invest" modules.
Parental transparency: Parents can view and approve investments, not dictate.
Approachability: Visual language that feels friendly, not financial-institutional.
Outcomes
Designing the investment product set the standard for Copper Banking’s approach to new features, blending cross-team collaboration, thorough user testing, and a commitment to education. I created a reusable, scalable design system that proved vital for compliance-sensitive features. By launching structured interview frameworks and building a trusted panel of teen and parent participants, I wove continuous discovery into our product development process.
Business outcome: Positioned Copper Banking as a complete financial ecosystem for Gen Z, not just a banking app.
Customer outcome: Teens described it as "the first investing app that feels like it's for me".
Our goals
400,00 teen investors
75% banking conversion
9-month MVP timeline
Subscription foundation
Business results
450,000 signups (month 1)
87% conversion rate to banking accounts
Delivered in 7 months
Secured Series A funding
Learnings
We steered clear of confusing trading jargon and generic stock images, choosing instead to spotlight goals, learning, and long-term growth. This eased anxieties and fostered trust, earning genuine appreciation from both teens and parents who saw our brand as a reliable guide.What I'd do differently
Bring parents into the discovery process earlier, as some assumptions led to rework.
Invest more in the post-launch feedback loops to track real teen behaviors.
Explore hybrid investing models (combining portfolios with individual stock picks).