Strawberry.me • 2024–present
0→1 Founding Design for a Dual-Sided Marketplace | $30+ ARR
Overview
Leading design at a dual-sided coaching platform scaling from 0 to $30M+ ARR
Strawberry.me is a fast-growing, VC-backed coaching marketplace connecting clients with vetted professional coaches for career acceleration and personal development.
As the only product designer on a lean team of 21, I owned the entire product surface area across consumer and coach experiences: building our 0→1 design system from scratch, establishing our design tokens, designing 40+ production features, and implementing production code in HTML, CSS, and TypeScript when engineering capacity was tight. I would also take on projects as a PM, coder, and marketer.
Impact: Led end-to-end design supporting growth past $30M ARR and built the unified design system and brand identity. My contribution spanned designing, PMing, coding, and marketing
Founding Designer Role
Operating at startup velocity: owning product, systems, and code
In an early-stage startup with only 1 designer, design cannot become a bottleneck. I established a lean operating rhythm designed for speed without sacrificing craft:
0→1 Design System
Built a cohesive Figma library and token architecture (colors, typography, spacing, elevation) from scratch. Standardizing patterns early allowed engineers to build complex interfaces 2x faster without waiting for mockups for every edge state.
Full-Stack Prototyping & Code
I bridged handoff friction by implementing production-ready HTML, CSS, and TypeScript directly when developers were constrained.
Autonomous Decision-Making
Partnered directly with founders and data scientists to shape the product roadmap. Made design calls autonomously, knowing when to ship rapid MVPs versus when to invest in deep polish.
Homepage & Conversion
Pivoting from generic value props to intent-driven conversion
Our top-of-funnel acquisition was leaking potential clients. The original homepage suffered from high bounce rates and unclear intent capture.
The Problem with V1
V1 led with the hypothesis that less and more. But, visitors didn’t immediately understand what specific problems coaching would solve or where to start.
Friction: Users not understanding the product or service when landing on the page.
Hypothesis for V2
If give clients more information and explain the process and credibility more, they will be more clear on what coaching is and feel more confident in entering the conversion funnel.
Outcome: Direct clarity, lower barrier to starting assessment.
Homepage V1: Abstract value prop with passive imagery
Homepage V2: Concrete proof points, FAQs, and clearer CTA
Core Workflows & AI
Designing dual-sided experiences across clients and coaches
Managing a dual-sided marketplace means balancing two contrasting user types: clients who demand consumer simplicity, and coaches who need professional data density.
1. Building Trust in AI During Client Onboarding
Strawberry leverages AI models to make the coaching experience better and more personalized. However, coaching can be sensitive. Clients feared their sensitive vulnerabilities would be harvested or sold. I designed transparent onboarding and consent checkpoints explaining our de-identification, aggregation, and data privacy models upfront, boosting onboarding completion.
Client onboarding: Transparent AI consent checkpoints that built trust
2. Coach Workstation & Smart Reminders
For coaches managing dozens of active clients, I redesigned the Client Details Command Center: consolidating timelines, action items, session history, and automated reminder cues into a single view.
Coach workstation: Consolidated timelines, history, and smart reminder cues
Deep dive on the AI messaging workflow: Read the Case Study
3. Interactive Goals Board (Milestone and Goal Tracking Tool)
To turn coaching into a tangible, ongoing habit, I designed a drag-and-drop Kanban Goals Board. Clients and coaches collaboratively break down broad life goals (e.g., “Improve Sleep Schedule”) into concrete weekly action items, driving long-term platform retention.
Goals board: Collaborative drag-and-drop Kanban driving retention
Key Outcomes
Measurable impact on platform growth and user engagement
1,000+
Active Coaches
Workflows, scheduling tools, and client management features supporting an active coaching network.
169K+
Clients Matched
Optimized intake funnels, matching algorithms, and onboarding experiences pairing clients with coaches.
$30M+
Platform ARR
Foundational design across onboarding, paywalls, and retention helping scale the marketplace.
Role & Learnings
Operating as the only designer and lessons from hyper-growth
Design as an Active Business Driver
Treating design as a growth engine and partnering with data science, running rigorous A/B tests, and seeing direct +$120K revenue spikes, reinforced that great product design is also about business outcomes, not just aesthetics.
Building Scalable Systems
Learned how to set up resilient foundations (tokens, patterns, and component libraries) without slowing down product delivery. Standardizing early was the a reason our lean team could ship so many features without accumulating massive design debt.