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How Stripe Built Their New Website

Even the most successful websites eventually need a redesign. Take Stripe for example. After six years with the same homepage, they recently unveiled a brand new site that reflects how the fintech giant has evolved over the past few years. So when is the time right for a new landing page? And what should you prioritize in the redesign? In this episode of Design Review YC’s Aaron Epstein sat down Stripe’s Head of Design Katie Dill to pull the curtain back on their high profile redesign and to discuss how their team is evolving in a world dominated by new AI design tools. 00:00 - Intro 00:30 - The Old Site 01:30 - Why Stripe Redesigned a Site That Still Looked Good 03:00 - The Biggest Thing They Needed To Change 03:30 - Crafting A New Narrative For The New Site 05:00 - What Story Was Missing From The Old Site 05:30 - “What Is The Point Of A Website?” 06:00 - The New Site 06:44 - New Landing Page Breakdown 07:10 - The GDP Counter: A Homepage Element Only Stripe Could Pull Off 07:40 - Building Trust Through Design 08:45 - Inside Stripe’s “Bento Box” Approach to Product Storytelling 10:37 - Why Stripe Used Modals Instead of Sending People to New Pages 11:37 - Adding Lively Animations That Don’t Feel Distracting 13:50 - The Value Of Beauty In Web Design 14:30 - How To Be Intentional With New Design Elements 15:40 - The Balance Between Getting It Right and Endless Iteration 16:24 - AI-Generated Brand Imagery 17:30 - How A Website Is Like A Song 19:11 - Designing the Perfect Stripe Wave Background 24:48 - All the Homepage Concepts Stripe Tried Before Landing on the Final Design 27:10 - How AI Is Changing Stripe’s Design Process 35:00 - Fighting the “Gravitational Pull to Mediocrity” 40:00 - Walking the Store: Stripe’s Secret to Better Product Design Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs

Aaron EpsteinhostKatie Dillguest
Apr 21, 202643mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Stripe redesigns homepage to clarify story, scale products, trust.

  1. Stripe redesigned a still-strong 2020 homepage because the business and product suite outgrew the old narrative, not because the design had become dated.
  2. The new homepage focuses on clarity and trust—treating the website as a company “manifesto” expressed through messaging, typography, motion, and visual polish.
  3. A “bento box” modular layout with progressive disclosure (modals) helps users browse many offerings without overwhelming them or forcing early page exits.
  4. Motion and bespoke elements (like the GDP counter) are used intentionally to signal care, reliability, and scale, while keeping animations subtle and non-distracting.
  5. AI accelerates ideation, prototyping, and content variation, but Stripe emphasizes that taste, critique, QA, and iteration are still required to avoid “good enough” mediocrity.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Redesign when your story breaks, not when aesthetics expire.

Stripe’s old site still looked current, but it no longer reflected what the company actually builds and who it serves; the trigger was narrative/product mismatch, not age.

Treat the homepage like a manifesto expressed in details.

Beyond copy, choices like typography, colors, and micro-interactions implicitly communicate what the company values (care, reliability, sophistication).

Use progressive disclosure to show breadth without drowning users.

The “bento” tiles convey a wide solution set quickly, while modals provide deeper context without sending users away from the homepage too early.

Include a “only we can say this” proof point to build trust fast.

The global GDP counter is a uniquely Stripe credential that communicates scale and reliability more viscerally than generic social proof alone.

Animation should teach, reassure, and guide—not just decorate.

Stripe tuned motion to be “alive” but subtle, using interaction feedback to indicate clickability and aligning movement with the meaning of the metrics shown.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

I think one part of it is it's, it's your manifesto whether you explicitly call it that or not.

Katie Dill

We were doing that thing that happens over time where you kinda add on... and add on, and we're kinda losing the, the narrative, uh, with the site.

Katie Dill

You know, because frankly that's part of progress as well is that, like, a beautiful world is definitely a better world. I wanna live in that one.

Katie Dill

Don't be wooed by, you know, just how easy that was to achieve. But instead ask yourself, like, "But is this really, is this really great? Is this, like, have I really hit the mark?"

Katie Dill

Fight the gravitational pull to mediocrity, and do not leave well enough alone.

Katie Dill

Why redesign a site that still looks modernWebsite as manifesto and narrative vehicleProduct-suite communication and progressive disclosureGDP counter and design-driven trust signals“Bento box” information architecture and modalsIntentional motion design and performance constraintsAI in imagery, prototyping, and design systems scalingIteration discipline vs endless tweakingFighting the “gravitational pull” to mediocrity“Walking the store” and cross-functional QA culture

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