Timeline

In progress...

Jan 2024 → Now

Team

2 designers, 10 developers

Role

Product & Web Designer

Research, product design,

design systems, Testing

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9:41

Summary

Designing for Simplicity

Designing for Simplicity

Designing for Simplicity

With no prior experience, I took on the challenge of designing textme.bio from scratch, building a scalable, themeable UI and creating a design-to-code workflow that allowed our small, bootstrapped team to easily translate designs into responsive code. Working with new developers, I turned complex design needs into an intuitive platform that empowers creators to build SMS-driven, revenue-generating brands.

The Result

The Result

This project taught me to see design from a platform and startup perspective. Transforming complex goals into a clear, flexible, themeable design system.

Applied for Winter 2025

Applied for Winter 2025

from prompt to product

SMS link-in-bio shop for creators

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Challenges and Highlights

Challenges and Highlights

Challenges and Highlights

Jump to

Designing for Development

Created 1:1 design-to-code workflow in HTML/React, reducing design-dev iterations by 50%.

Jump to

Designing for Development

Created 1:1 design-to-code workflow in HTML/React, reducing design-dev iterations by 50%.

Jump to

Designing for Development

Created 1:1 design-to-code workflow in HTML/React, reducing design-dev iterations by 50%.

Jump to

Theming System

Established a scalable and accessible theming system with a flexible hue system.

Jump to

Theming System

Established a scalable and accessible theming system with a flexible hue system.

Jump to

Theming System

Established a scalable and accessible theming system with a flexible hue system.

Jump to

Design System

Built a scalable, themable system with over 800 components for future expansion.

Jump to

Design System

Built a scalable, themable system with over 800 components for future expansion.

Jump to

Design System

Built a scalable, themable system with over 800 components for future expansion.

  • All-in-one Solution

    Connect everything in one place, streamlining workflows.

  • White-Labeled PWA App

    Simple, personalized branding across all touchpoints.

  • Passive SMS Lead Generation and Messaging

    Use SMS marketing to grow and engage with your audience.

  • E-commerce & Revenue Growth

    Allow creators to sell products with built-in bundling and upselling to boost revenue.

  • Developer-Friendly

    Created Responsive layouts and reusable components designed for development.

  • Customizable & Accessible

    Designed to be accessible (AAA) themeable to build trust through all screens.

  • 800+

    Auto-layout Components

  • 150+

    Component Sets

The Beginning

The Beginning

Rapid Prototyping

Product Strategy

Lead Generation

One of the first prototypes of the textme flow

Starting from a Simple Idea

Designed SMS unlock flow driving creator growth.

The vision for textme.bio was to help creators share content while building an SMS lead list using an SMS-to-unlock flow. Users unlocked links and accessed the bio by signing up via SMS.

The link-in-bio format was chosen for its simplicity in development and its growing popularity in the creator space.

My role began with creating a prototype that allowed users to unlock content with a single tap but expanded as I grew, learning valuable lessons along the way.

SMS is better than email

Validated the idea and market fit.

98%

open rate

vs. email’s 20%

45%

respond within 5 minutes

2x

conversion rate compared to email

Prefills a

text message

Prefills a

text message

Click link to unlocked bio

Click link to unlocked bio

The Research

User Research

Product-Market Fit

Competitive Analysis

The Research

User Research

Product-Market Fit

Competitive Analysis

Uncovering Key Insights for Coaches and Consultants

Gathered insights and focusing the persona

Through informal interviews and competitive analysis, we found that as creators—particularly coaches and consultants—scale their businesses, managing their tools becomes increasingly complex.

Setting up shops, integrating elements, and tracking analytics becomes time-consuming, hindering their ability to focus on growth.

With the coaching market growing at 5.5% annually, these creators have the motivation and budget to invest in solutions that simplify their business operations.

Uncovering Key Insights for Coaches and Consultants

Gathered insights and focusing the persona

Through informal interviews and competitive analysis, we found that as creators—particularly coaches and consultants—scale their businesses, managing their tools becomes increasingly complex.

Setting up shops, integrating elements, and tracking analytics becomes time-consuming, hindering their ability to focus on growth.

With the coaching market growing at 5.5% annually, these creators have the motivation and budget to invest in solutions that simplify their business operations.

Uncovering Key Insights for Coaches and Consultants

Gathered insights and focusing the persona

Through informal interviews and competitive analysis, we found that as creators—particularly coaches and consultants—scale their businesses, managing their tools becomes increasingly complex.

Setting up shops, integrating elements, and tracking analytics becomes time-consuming, hindering their ability to focus on growth.

With the coaching market growing at 5.5% annually, these creators have the motivation and budget to invest in solutions that simplify their business operations.

One major opportunity identified was SMS marketing, which offers a more personal and direct connection with clients compared to email, addressing the need for better audience engagement.

We used these insights to develop a prototype that simplifies their workflows and helps creators better connect with their audience, while ensuring compliance with SMS regulations to keep their business secure and legal in Canada, America and the EU.

80%

Respondents use multiple tools.

Respondents use multiple tools.

71%

of consumers are frustrated by impersonal brands.

of consumers are frustrated by impersonal brands.

60%

find generating more revenue difficult.

find generating more revenue difficult.

  • Managing too many tools takes time away from business

    Its hard to engage my audience

    Creating a consistent experience is hard.

    I use my phone number because it feels more personal

    My brand struggles to stand out

    Emails feel impersonal

    Current tools eat into my profits

    I use SMS to notify my customer of their lessons

  • Managing too many tools takes time away from business

    Its hard to engage my audience

    Creating a consistent experience is hard.

    I use my phone number because it feels more personal

    My brand struggles to stand out

    Emails feel impersonal

    Current tools eat into my profits

    I use SMS to notify my customer of their lessons

The Problems

Too much complexity, too many tools.

Too much complexity, too many tools.

Personal brands are becoming, impersonal.

Personal brands are becoming, impersonal.

Hard to grow, hard to make more money.

Hard to grow, hard to make more money.

Coaches and Consultants

Persona Development

User Research

User-Centered Design

Coaches and Consultants

Persona Development

User Research

User-Centered Design

Coaches and Consultants

Persona Development

User Research

User-Centered Design

John is Overwhelmed and needs a Simple Solution

Developing a persona to focus the design direction

John is a business consultant who helps small companies grow by sharing his knowledge through courses, e-books, and one-on-one consulting.

However, managing his business has become a headache. He’s using multiple tools that don’t sync well, leading to scattered analytics and making it hard to track his success.

His email marketing efforts are falling flat, with low engagement, and the platforms he uses dilute his personal brand, making it difficult to stand out.

Revenue growth is stagnant, and he finds it hard to increase his income consistently.

John needs a simplified platform to sell his services, better tools to connect with his audience, and a clear way to generate recurring revenue.

John is Overwhelmed and needs a Simple Solution

Developing a persona to focus the design direction

John is a business consultant who helps small companies grow by sharing his knowledge through courses, e-books, and one-on-one consulting.

However, managing his business has become a headache. He’s using multiple tools that don’t sync well, leading to scattered analytics and making it hard to track his success.

His email marketing efforts are falling flat, with low engagement, and the platforms he uses dilute his personal brand, making it difficult to stand out.

Revenue growth is stagnant, and he finds it hard to increase his income consistently.

John needs a simplified platform to sell his services, better tools to connect with his audience, and a clear way to generate recurring revenue.

John is Overwhelmed and needs a Simple Solution

Developing a persona to focus the design direction

John is a business consultant who helps small companies grow by sharing his knowledge through courses, e-books, and one-on-one consulting.

However, managing his business has become a headache. He’s using multiple tools that don’t sync well, leading to scattered analytics and making it hard to track his success.

His email marketing efforts are falling flat, with low engagement, and the platforms he uses dilute his personal brand, making it difficult to stand out.

Revenue growth is stagnant, and he finds it hard to increase his income consistently.

John needs a simplified platform to sell his services, better tools to connect with his audience, and a clear way to generate recurring revenue.

  • Simpler way to sell their digital products and services

    Need

  • Better way to connect with their Audience

    Need

  • Make more money, consistently

    Need

  • Overwhelmed by the tools needed to operate the business

    Problem

  • Email has low engagment

    Problem

  • Loss of Personal Brand

    Problem

  • Simplify the process of selling and managing services

    Opportunity

  • Bundle products to increase the value of each purchase

    Opportunity

  • Use SMS to create a more personal direct connection

    Opportunity

  • Use the creator’s products as a passive lead magnet

    Opportunity

  • Simpler way to sell their digital products and services

    Need

  • Better way to connect with their Audience

    Need

  • Make more money, consistently

    Need

  • Overwhelmed by the tools needed to operate the business

    Problem

  • Email has low engagment

    Problem

  • Loss of Personal Brand

    Problem

  • Simplify the process of selling and managing services

    Opportunity

  • Bundle products to increase the value of each purchase

    Opportunity

  • Use SMS to create a more personal direct connection

    Opportunity

  • Use the creator’s products as a passive lead magnet

    Opportunity

How Might We

How Might We

How might we enable coaches and consultants to grow their brand and audience through SMS with simplicity, personalized branding, and opportunities for increased revenue?

How might we enable coaches and consultants to grow their brand and audience through SMS with simplicity, personalized branding, and opportunities for increased revenue?

The Structure

The Structure

The Bio to promote, sell and link their audience

Textme to connect with their audience.

The Bio to promote, sell and link their audience

Textme to connect with their audience.

The Screens

UI design

Rapid Prototyping

Visual Design

The Screens

UI design

Rapid Prototyping

Visual Design

The Screens

UI design

Rapid Prototyping

Visual Design

Notice:

This section is best viewed

on a Desktop Browser

9:41

Bio

Divided into Socials, Shop, and Links, I prioritized products first with a search bar for easy navigation and encouraging users to scroll through products before reaching the links.

Product Details

Cart

Textme

Messaging