Making payroll faster, clearer, and built to grow.

Running payroll is high stakes — sellers need speed and confidence, but complexity often got in the way. As lead designer, I owned the end-to-end redesign of Square Payroll's setup and core experience, balancing competing tensions:

  • Speed vs. compliance — getting sellers to their first run without cutting corners

  • Simplicity vs. scale — an experience that worked for one location and fifty

  • Guidance vs. friction — surfacing what mattered without slowing submission down

The result: over $7B in payroll volume processed, faster first payroll runs, and a proactive alert framework that caught blockers before they became payday failures.

Built across the full payroll lifecycle — from first setup to every pay run after.

Unblocking the first payroll run — Tax and compliance handled during onboarding, before sellers ever hit submit.

Surfacing problems before payday — Blockers flagged early so sellers could resolve them before submission.

Pay everyone accurately — Hours, salaries, and withholdings calculated automatically across locations.

Run payroll from anywhere — Full payroll management from mobile.