First design hire to team lead - My Journey in Building UX/UI from the Ground Up

Sketching the vision

Having gone through this process at successful startups including Freelancer.com, Stackla, and Whooshkaa—I've learned how to build design processes from scratch, evolve them as the company scales, and align design with business goals to deliver meaningful results.

Here’s what that journey has looked like for me:

‍1. Setting the Foundation: Balancing Vision and Quick Wins

When you’re the sole designer at a startup, you wear many hats. You’re simultaneously the strategist, the researcher, the UI designer, and sometimes even the front-end developer. The key is finding a balance between delivering quick wins—those immediate, user-friendly design solutions that have fast impact—and developing a long-term design vision.

At Hipages, a two-sided marketplace, I focused on quick, high-impact improvements to the user experience that made onboarding smoother for tradies and clients. While doing this, I also built the long-term UX roadmap, anticipating future needs and scalability as the company grew. The result? A design approach that aligned closely with product development and helped Hipages raise $100 million at IPO.

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‍2. Building Trust and Aligning with Business Goals‍

As the first design hire, it’s crucial to build trust with both the product and engineering teams and, importantly, with leadership. At Stackla, a SaaS marketing platform, I learned that aligning design with business objectives early on was key. I positioned design as a strategic partner, not just a service provider, by ensuring that every design decision I made was tied back to both user needs and business goals.

For example, when Stackla was exploring partnerships with large clients, I worked closely with the product team to design solutions that enhanced the customer’s experience while driving more conversions. That focus on alignment helped position Stackla for its eventual acquisition by Nosto.

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Avoid getting in too deep before you’ve figured out if it is right for you

Each decision, from the choice of materials to the placement of buttons, is carefully considered to ensure that the end result is not only aesthetically pleasing but also functional and intuitive.

Conclusion: Leading with Impact‍

Being the first design hire at multiple startups has taught me how to build and scale UX/UI from the ground up while staying aligned with business objectives. Whether it's creating quick wins or building a long-term design vision, I’ve learned that collaboration, user advocacy, and a clear focus on business goals are key to success. I’ve been fortunate to see this play out through acquisitions and IPOs, and I’m excited to continue leading teams and creating impact in my next role.