2025 Portfolio

Strategic Design helping a pre-seed startup secure $1M+ in funding & sign partners.

Company site: MRGN

The Problem

MRGN's product was hard to navigate, visually unappealing, and overloaded with unstructured data, making it difficult for users to get insights. Additionally, they were trying to find their value fit with their target audience, which was a challenging to attract design partners and investors.

MRGN is a platform that helps small businesses, specifically restaurants, analyze finances and improve profitability. In mid-2024, they made a major pivot and reached out to me to enhance their product’s value, attracting more investors and design partners.

the opportunity?

Establish design value at MRGN by elevating their product, finding product-value fit, creating a design system, and building new features for specific design partners.

Role

Research, UX/UI, Product Design, Product Strategy

Timeline

Nov 2024 - Present

Tools used

Figma, Miro, Jira, Confluence

Snippets of the process

If you want to learn more about the project, feel free to reach out to me to share more!

Beginning With A UX/UI Audit

The first step was analyzing the existing product UI. Tables upon tables of unstructured data made it difficult for users to identify key takeaways. There was little hierarchy, and the interface lacked a clear visual system to guide users through their workflows efficiently.

Establishing A Design System

Without a design system, scalability was challenging, and the product lacked brand consistency and responsiveness. It took too long to design and hand off to development. I implemented a design system using Figma variables and reusable components, creating a living document.

The Wireframing Process

Restaurant margins are tight, and recent challenges have worsened conditions. MRGN helps small businesses spot overspending, underperformance, and growth opportunities. Key challenges included time constraints, lack of financial expertise, complex onboarding, and menu analysis. We focused on quick value delivery, starting with wireframing and advisor feedback.

Finding A Design Style

The lack of a design system made the initial phase challenging, with a stark white product and unstructured tables. I explored three visual directions: Flat Design with Secondary Brand Colors, Material Design, and a mix of both. The internal team preferred the pop of color, so we chose the third style for now.

Key Findings/Moments that impacted the project

Designing for what can be developed within a week has been the biggest challenge. When talking with potential design partners, investors and brainstorming solutions, the team often needs to showcase or demo early versions of features with tight 1-2 week deadlines. This means designs have to be simple and functional, not the final polished version, remaining agile is key.

The value fit for our target audience is key. Through research, we realized that focusing solely on the restaurant menu isn't the biggest concern for many clients. Instead, it's factors like the economy, labor, staffing, and other key issues, which we've started developing features around.