Shayam Parasram

What I've Done

What I've Done

What I've Done

Reimagining Payments at Sunbound

The Challenge

Sunbound is on a mission to simplify payments for senior living communities—where billing complexity, caregiver coordination, and timely payments intersect. While our platform allowed electronic transactions, community operators were still relying on the Customer Success team to complete even basic payment flows. It was time to change that.

Prompt

Design a seamless, self-serve experience for Community Operators to collect payments from residents or their caregivers—without needing to contact support.

Understanding the Humans Behind the Workflow

We kicked things off with 6 deep-dive interviews with our core user: the Business Office Manager (BOM), often the administrative heart of these communities. Alongside them stood the payors; sometimes Independent Residents, but more often their adult children or designated caregivers.

We kicked things off with 6 deep-dive interviews with our core user: the Business Office Manager (BOM), often the administrative heart of these communities. Alongside them stood the payors; sometimes Independent Residents, but more often their adult children or designated caregivers.

We discovered that operators were manually handling payments and struggling to track down the right person to collect from. This not only delayed cash flow but drained time and resources.

Through affinity mapping and synthesis, we distilled critical user needs:

  • Clarity in payment status and history

  • Flexibility in how payments are collected

  • Empowerment to delegate payment without involving support

These insights lit the path forward.

Designing the Flow

Working across product, engineering, and customer success, I mapped the end-to-end journey: from an operator identifying an outstanding balance, to a caregiver completing the payment remotely.

Key design principles:

  • Minimize clicks for time-strapped BOMs

  • Clarify responsibilities between operator, resident, and caregiver

  • Build trust through transparency and real-time updates

My Boldest Contribution

During synthesis, I championed a pivotal feature: “Send to Pay.”

Operators told us, “It’s rarely the resident who pays—it’s their daughter in Chicago or son in Phoenix.” Without this, payments stalled. I pushed to make this option a core part of the flow—allowing operators to securely send a personalized payment link to a designated payor.

This became a keystone interaction in our prototype—and one that received immediate praise in user feedback.

"It's rarely the resident who pays - it's their daughter in Chicago or son in Phoenix"

Bringing It to Life

We built a clickable prototype that included:

  • A resident-facing payment page (clear, mobile-friendly, and secure)

  • A payment activity drilldown for operators to see exactly where things stood

Usability testing confirmed we were on the right track: operators appreciated the control and visibility, and caregivers found the interface intuitive.

The Outcome

We transformed a support-reliant process into a scalable, self-service experience—reducing dependency on Customer Success and accelerating payment cycles.

Most importantly, we empowered the people at the center of senior care—operators, residents, and caregivers—with the tools they need to stay connected and financially coordinated.

Framer 2023

Amsterdam