Craig Strauss Email Address

User Experience Researcher

At Venmo, we re working to build a payment experience that's simple, delightful and connected. Since our founding in 2009, we ve quickly grown from an idea hatched by two college roommates who wanted a better way to pay each other back to the go-to digital wallet that s known and loved by millions. What started off as a simple SMS platform to send and receive money has evolved into a social payments app allowing people to pay, split and share their experiences.

I’m currently a user researcher at Stripe helping to understand and expand the future of digital payments. Prior to joining Stripe, I was the founder of Venmo's user research program. My job there was to hack human behavior with technology and tie my work into almost every facet of the business. Whether I am conducting remote testing across the U.S., usability testing our latest prototypes, or developing scripts to dig deep into what users really need with foundational research - I’m the man for the job. You can find out more about me at craigstrauss.com or chat with me at: https://adplist.org/mentors/craig-strauss or www.uxcoffeehours.com My non-traditional background is my greatest asset, providing me with a healthy skepticism to the old order of 'how things are done' and a healthy drive to search for new, creative ways to understand peoples' behavior. My unique path has taken me from international relations, to finance, and to tech. A Boston University graduate, I spent a few years in international government finance for the United Kingdom and then financial project management at Deutsche Bank. Then I moved to Venmo with one to make cash history. Now, I'm starting a new journey at Stripe!