Website
Overview
myNILpay is a mobile & web platform built to let sports fans directly support college student athletes by making payments. It's fully NCAA-compliant and designed so athletes (from big programs or small ones) can receive money safely, and fans get something meaningful in return (digital art, signed and verified). My job was to design a user experience that was simple, trustworthy, and inviting for both athletes and fans.
Problem
Problem The client needed to create a platform that allows fans to directly support college athletes in a simple, compliant, and trustworthy way. However, existing solutions in this space were either unclear, difficult to use, or lacked transparency, which created hesitation among users.
Fans often did not fully understand how payments worked, what they would receive in return, or whether the transaction was legitimate. At the same time, athletes faced challenges in onboarding, verification, and receiving payments securely.
The absence of a clear, structured, and trustworthy user experience created friction on both sides, limiting engagement and reducing successful transactions.
Project Goal
The goal of this project was to design a seamless and intuitive platform that enables fans to discover and support athletes easily while ensuring compliance, trust, and transparency throughout the experience.
The platform needed to:
- Simplify the payment process
- Build trust through clear communication and verification
- Ensure compliance with NCAA regulations
- Provide a smooth onboarding experience for athletes
- Create a meaningful connection between fans and athletes
Challenges
Designing for myNILpay involved solving multiple complex challenges across usability, compliance, and trust.
Regulatory Compliance:
The platform had to strictly follow NCAA guidelines, ensuring all transactions were legally compliant.
Building Trust:
Since the platform involves financial transactions, users needed reassurance that payments are secure, verified, and transparent.
Simplifying Complexity:
Payment flows, verification steps, and onboarding processes needed to be simplified for ease of use.
Dual User Experience:
The platform serves two different user groups fans and athletes each with different needs and expectations.
Scalability
The system had to support a large number of athletes (500,000+) while maintaining performance and usability.
Solution
To address these challenges, I designed a streamlined and user-friendly platform in Figma that simplifies the interaction between fans and athletes while ensuring trust, compliance, and clarity at every step. The experience focuses on guiding users through a clear journey, from discovering athletes to completing payments and receiving confirmation.
- Simplified Payment Flow:
Designed a step-by-step payment experience to reduce confusion and improve completion rates.
- Trust Indicators:
Introduced verification indicators, secure payment confirmations, and digital receipts to build user confidence.
- Athlete Onboarding:
Created a structured onboarding flow with .edu verification to ensure authenticity and compliance.
- Search & Discovery:
Designed an intuitive search system allowing fans to find athletes by name, sport, or school.
- Meaningful Interaction:
Added digital art receipts to make transactions feel personal and engaging for users.
Design Decisions
Every design decision was made to balance usability, trust, and compliance while ensuring a smooth user experience.
- Step-by-Step Flow:
Breaking complex actions into smaller steps reduces cognitive load and improves usability.
- Trust Indicators:
Visible verification badges, secure payment confirmations, and clear receipts help users feel confident.
- Minimal Interface:
Clean and distraction-free UI allows users to focus on key actions like searching and paying.
- Mobile-First Approach:
Designed for quick interactions, ensuring users can complete transactions easily on mobile devices.
- Clear Communication:
Simplified language and clear instructions help users understand each step of the process.
UI Design
Design system
Iterations
The design was refined to improve usability and clarity based on internal reviews and usability considerations.
- Simplified onboarding steps to reduce friction
- Improved payment flow to minimize drop-offs
- Enhanced visibility of key actions and buttons
- Refined content and labels for better clarity
Impact
The final design successfully improved both user experience and business outcomes.
- Enabled seamless fan-to-athlete transactions
- Increased trust through clear and transparent design
- Simplified onboarding for athletes
- Improved overall engagement and usability
- Supported over 450+ athletes receiving real payments
Why This Matters
myNILpay plays a critical role in democratizing opportunities for student athletes by allowing them to receive direct support from fans. The platform not only simplifies transactions but also creates a transparent and meaningful connection between users.
By combining compliance, trust, and usability, this solution helps build a fair and scalable ecosystem for both athletes and fans.
My Contribution
- UX & UI Design
- User Flows & Wireframes
- High-Fidelity Design
- Design System
- Developer Collaboration
- Usability Improvements
- Mobile & Web Experience
