Securing $2M Funding with End-to-End Design
ActionAtlas
Outcome
High fidelity prototypes for 5 different users
Outcome
Full design system for product
Overview
As the sole designer of ActionAtlas, I took the product from concept to launch for 5 distinct users, leading user research, driving design decisions, and collaborating with developers and stakeholders to build a functional, user-friendly platform in a fast-paced startup.
Problem
To addresses the inefficiencies and complexities in managing creative projects, teams, and workflows by providing a unified platform with actionable insights and scalable solutions.
Challenges
Multi-Role Management
I balanced user research, wireframing, prototyping, and mentoring while supporting marketing efforts to ensure design influenced every part of the startup's development.
Displaying Data Intuitively
By collaborating with SMEs and understanding users' key metrics, I designed clear, actionable, and easy-to-digest data visualizations.
Feature Prioritization
I worked with the CEO to align priorities with business goals and user needs. This focused the MVP on delivering maximum value within resource constraints.
Dev Collaboration
I created annotated prototypes and consistent workflows to bridge design and development. Regular meetings and flexibility around technical constraints ensured accurate implementation.
Stakeholder Buy-In
I facilitated regular check-ins and prototypes to align designs with user and business goals. By addressing concerns early, I built trust and ensured scalability remained a priority.
UX Advocacy
I connected user experience improvements to business goals and accommodated development constraints. This flexibility secured stakeholder support for UX-first approaches.
The beginning
Getting to know the Product
These are some of the many challenges that I have faced during my time with ActionAtlas
Identifying and differentiating primary users and customers
Before diving into design, I faced an immediate challenge: convincing the CEO and stakeholders that research needed to come first. Although they were familiar with personas, I wanted to ensure that we approached them with a deeper, more empathetic lens. I collaborated with the CEO to leverage their knowledge of the industry and user base, involving them directly in the persona-building process.
This collaboration not only saved time but also allowed me to refine these personas and ensure that the design was rooted in the users' goals and motivations.
A day workshop with stakeholder creating user personas and basic journey map for each
I had to get a better understanding of what our primary users are in order to design effectively for them. Without understanding their motivations and goals, I would be wasting my time desinging with just assumptions and not hitting what I needed to.
Proving Our Assumption with User Interviewing
After aligning with the business needs and understanding the product vision, it was time to explore whether this solution would actually address real user problems. Due to limited resources, I conducted 6 user interviews to validate our assumptions and uncover key insights.
After the interviews, I synthesized the insights and used them to refine our original journey map—identifying gaps, pain points, and unmet needs we hadn’t considered before. I also iterated on our personas to better reflect the motivations, goals, and challenges shared by the users we spoke with.
Assumptions: Example detailed view of Team Member
Transparent Project Acceptance Process – Users seek structured details and decision-support tools to confidently accept projects.
Easily Accessible Project Information – Users want customizable dashboards and better filtering to find details faster.
Smooth & Predictable Navigation – Users expect consistent UI, smart search, and simplified workflows for efficiency.
Our users
Differentiating product users from decision-makers
We clarified the distinction between customers (agencies paying for the service) and clients (their customers) early on. This ensured a clear communication strategy, aligning features and workflows to meet both groups’ needs effectively.
Primary Users
Primary User
Project Managers — deadline and efficiency driven
Pinpoint team profitability with clear data insights to boost efficiency and reduce costs.
Make informed decisions by identifying top-performing members to enhance overall performance.
Primary User
Admins — oversight and operational control focused
Ensure smooth, secure workflows by maintaining operational efficiency and protecting sensitive data.
Maximize performance by prioritizing financial accountability and effective resource management to meet compliance standards.
Primary User
Freelancers — independence and efficiency foocused
Prioritize flexible task management and timely deliverables to maximize earnings and build client trust.
Focus on workload balance and productivity insights to enhance reputation and secure future opportunities.
Secondary Users
Secondary User
Internal Team Members — productivity and growth focused
Prioritize efficient task management and collaboration to meet project deadlines and contribute to team success.
Focus on personal development and productivity insights to enhance future performance and career growth.
Secondary User
Operation Users — results and value driven
Prioritize timely project completion and high-quality deliverables to meet business objectives.
Focus on maximizing value and ROI through clear communication and efficient collaboration with teams.
Customers
Customer
Customers — profit and budget motivated
Enhance team profitability and efficiency with clear data insights to drive better outcomes.
Leverage top-performing members to make strategic decisions and optimize results.
Key Highlights
Simplifying Data
I did a bunch of work to truly understand the data and their relationships and the CEO’s view of data while considering our users mental model to create these tabs.
Data visualization to show real-time health of project
There are various components that are meant to be easily consumed by users to gain quick insights into the numbers and show the necessarily information
Financial Management Page
Key data that represents the entire project’s financial health
This page provides a clear financial overview of a project, highlighting profitability, overspending, and struggling areas. Users can view and edit financial line items in one place, enabling quick adjustments for better cost management.
Work order and task management
One place to hold all information that are important to Project Managers
This page provides a complete financial overview of work orders, empowering users to make quick, informed decisions. It consolidates all essential project data into a single, easy-to-navigate view, ensuring that key information is readily available for faster approvals, expense tracking, and profitability analysis.
What I’ve learned
Done is better than perfect
I learned that chasing perfection often leads to delays and missed opportunities. Shipping early allowed us to keep moving, spot issues sooner, and build momentum across the team. Letting go of perfection meant embracing progress: prioritizing clarity, consistency, and continuous improvement over polish.
Be your own advocate
In a fast-moving startup, UX often takes a backseat to development. I had to make a case for usability testing, not just by talking about its value, but by doing it. I ran tests myself, shared quick wins with the team, and showed how even a few small insights could dramatically improve the user experience. By taking initiative, I earned trust and paved the way for research to become part of our process.
Good design requires alignment
I used to think good design spoke for itself, but at ActionAtlas I learned that even the best ideas can fall flat without alignment. Working across product, engineering, and leadership showed me how important it is to involve the right people early, frame design decisions around shared goals, and keep communication open. I realized alignment is not a one-time step. It is a continuous process that requires empathy, flexibility, and clarity.
Language matters
Before this project, I underestimated how much impact terminology could have on team collaboration and product clarity. I learned that even a single misunderstood word, like how we defined "task," could derail discussions or confuse users. I started paying closer attention to the language we used, both in the interface and internally, and realized that thoughtful language can be just as powerful a design tool as layout or interaction.