Guardian Life Incubator
Developing out a website from concept to an active health and wellness community.
Role
Designer and product owner
Tools
Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator
Timeline
Sep 2021 – Sep 2024
Overview
Building a Crowdfunding Platform
A few of the heads at Guardian Life had pitched the vision for an incubator project – a new, health-focused way to give to your loved ones. Once the concept was totally greenlit, freelancers like me were brought in to bring it to life.
Goals
- Design and validate a health and wellness-focused crowdfunding platform from the ground up
- Narrow down the core target audience
- User test early concepts and iterating quickly in a startup-style environment
Challenges
- Navigating ambiguity with no existing product or user base
- Defining the problem space and designing solutions with a new team
- Collaborating within a small contractor team while aligning with a larger parent company
My role
- Joined the team as a Designer & Product Owner on a startup incubator team
- Partnered with the Lead Designer on product design and iteration
- Main contributor across design, visual QA, legal team communication, CMS management, and backend support
Jumping in
Defining Clementine
When I was first brought onto Clementine, the team in the midst of nailing down the target audience. Through multiple rounds of surveys, we were able to narrow it down to two main groups: gig workers and their loved ones, and employees and their employers.
To narrow down between the two sets, I created the landing pages in Unbounce for A/B testing as well as the Facebook ads that lead users to the respective pages. Each landing page and ad had copy variations to test what our potential users engaged with more.
Exploration
Designing and Refining
Moving forward with general audience, creating MVPs and iterating. As we worked on the final production for launch, we had many sprints and QA sessions to get Clementine ready.
Our engineers worked hard to build the skeleton of our site, and I was able to get my hands on the CMS in Contentful to start designing pages, copywriting for accessibility, and also testing order processing on the back end. Additionally, I designed features like status trackers, editing transactions and information, and email automation to the existing admin dashboard.
Launching
Introducing Clementine
Clementine: a health-focused crowdfunding platform for your loved ones.
Invite the friends and family you want to support! Give them gifts that they can use in Clementine’s curated, health-focused marketplace.
Explore well-being tools, tips, and content based on what you need.
Post-Launch
Reflection
As my first role in the field, I learned an incredible amount about both design and product development. I gained firsthand experience working in the fast-paced, ambiguous environment of a startup while also navigating the processes, constraints, and stakeholder expectations within an established company.
Beyond design, I learned the importance of adaptability, cross-functional collaboration, and balancing user needs with business goals. Wearing multiple hats throughout the project helped me develop a deeper understanding of the product lifecycle and strengthened my ability to contribute anywhere support was needed!