GTE Federal Credit Union
I worked across almost every part of GTE's digital experience — the public website, online banking, bill pay, lending, financial tools, member rewards, and even brand and event work.
More Than One Website
At GTE Federal Credit Union — today known as GTE Financial — my work wasn't limited to one website or one type of project. I worked across the public marketing site, authenticated online banking, bill payment, lending, member rewards, financial tools, marketing campaigns, and even event and print design.
It was one of the first roles where the line between designer and developer stopped mattering very much. If something needed to work better, communicate better, or look better, I was probably involved.
Rethinking the Front Door
One of my major projects was working on GTE Federal Credit Union's first major website redesign. The site had to serve very different needs at once: explain financial products, promote offers, provide rates and resources, and get existing members quickly into online banking.
My early concepts reorganized the homepage around clearer entry points instead of treating it as just another marketing page. There was a lot competing for attention — products, rates, promotions, calculators, resources, and secure account access — so the design had to help people quickly understand where to go.
The challenge wasn't making banking look exciting. It was making a complicated organization easier to enter.
Designing Behind the Login
The public website was only part of the experience. I also worked on CU@HOME, GTE's authenticated online banking environment.
That meant designing interfaces for people who weren't browsing anymore. They were there to do something — check accounts, manage money, apply for products, make payments, or find information connected to their membership.
I explored multiple interface concepts for the member dashboard and other areas of the application, including ways of organizing account information, offers, funding options, navigation, and support. At the time I didn't call this transactional UX. I was simply trying to make the banking experience easier to use.
Once a member logged in, clarity mattered more than marketing.
Making Financial Tasks Clearer
Making Bill Pay Easier to Read
The existing PayIT interface packed a lot of functionality into the same screen. Instead of simply changing the look, I reorganized the information into clearer groups: who you're paying, which account the money comes from, the amount, date, pending transfers, calendar views, and available actions.
From Information to Action
I designed loan application interfaces and rate information inside CU@HOME so members could learn about financing options and continue into the application without leaving the flow.
Keeping Different Tools Connected
Making Third-Party Tools Feel Like GTE
I integrated third-party tools such as Leadfusion mortgage calculators into GTE's visual system so members didn't feel like they had suddenly landed on a different website when moving between GTE content and an external tool.
// Different technology shouldn't mean a completely different experience.
Member Rewards Beyond Banking
I designed the Passpoints rewards portal, where members could track their points and redeem them for physical products and travel. It was a very different experience from everyday banking, but it still had to feel like part of GTE.
// Banking wasn't the only reason members used the site.
Brand Beyond the Screen
A Motorcycle Rally Identity
I designed the 2009 identity for the annual charity poker run: a custom Joker skull holding four playing cards. The artwork was used across the online registration experience, printed route maps, rule cards, other event materials, and the official apparel.
Tampa Chapter Website & Identity
I also designed the Tampa Chapter of Credit Unions website and reworked its identity. I explored different logo directions that combined recognizable Tampa landmarks with the idea of local credit unions working together.
I Called Myself a Web Developer.
That was my official title, and technically it was true. But looking back at the work almost two decades later, the title doesn't really describe everything I was doing:
At the time, I didn't package those things into neat disciplines. There was a concrete problem in front of me; I designed something to solve it, and then I helped build it.
That mindset never really changed.