Project overview
The Challenge: Community.co’s platform serves an exclusive network of executives and industry leaders from companies like Amazon, TikTok, Salesforce, Airbnb, and Netflix. While the service provided unparalleled professional connections, its digital experience wasn’t fully delivering on that promise. Existing tools for profiles, publishing, and engagement felt fragmented, limiting members’ ability to seamlessly share insights, connect, and derive value from the platform.
The redesign set out to unify the experience, create new ways for members to interact, and build a scalable design system to serve multiple professional communities under one platform. The goal: improve engagement, retention, and perception of value while enabling internal teams to move faster and more cohesively.
My Role: Principal Product Designer (Maker + Manager)
My Responsibilities: Led UX strategy and end-to-end product design for web and mobile, defined and implemented design systems, partnered with product and engineering leadership to align KPIs with design direction, mentored designers, and championed UX to stakeholders.
Services & Activities: UX Strategy, Product Design, Design System Development, Mobile & Web UI, Usability Testing, Stakeholder Workshops, Iterative Design Frameworks, Cross-Functional Alignment
Project overview
The Challenge: Community.co’s platform serves an exclusive network of executives and industry leaders from companies like Amazon, TikTok, Salesforce, Airbnb, and Netflix. While the service provided unparalleled professional connections, its digital experience wasn’t fully delivering on that promise. Existing tools for profiles, publishing, and engagement felt fragmented, limiting members’ ability to seamlessly share insights, connect, and derive value from the platform.
The redesign set out to unify the experience, create new ways for members to interact, and build a scalable design system to serve multiple professional communities under one platform. The goal: improve engagement, retention, and perception of value while enabling internal teams to move faster and more cohesively.
My Role: Principal Product Designer (Maker + Manager)
My Responsibilities: Led UX strategy and end-to-end product design for web and mobile, defined and implemented design systems, partnered with product and engineering leadership to align KPIs with design direction, mentored designers, and championed UX to stakeholders.
Services & Activities: UX Strategy, Product Design, Design System Development, Mobile & Web UI, Usability Testing, Stakeholder Workshops, Iterative Design Frameworks, Cross-Functional Alignment
Project overview
The Challenge: Community.co’s platform serves an exclusive network of executives and industry leaders from companies like Amazon, TikTok, Salesforce, Airbnb, and Netflix. While the service provided unparalleled professional connections, its digital experience wasn’t fully delivering on that promise. Existing tools for profiles, publishing, and engagement felt fragmented, limiting members’ ability to seamlessly share insights, connect, and derive value from the platform.
The redesign set out to unify the experience, create new ways for members to interact, and build a scalable design system to serve multiple professional communities under one platform. The goal: improve engagement, retention, and perception of value while enabling internal teams to move faster and more cohesively.
My Role: Principal Product Designer (Maker + Manager)
My Responsibilities: Led UX strategy and end-to-end product design for web and mobile, defined and implemented design systems, partnered with product and engineering leadership to align KPIs with design direction, mentored designers, and championed UX to stakeholders.
Services & Activities: UX Strategy, Product Design, Design System Development, Mobile & Web UI, Usability Testing, Stakeholder Workshops, Iterative Design Frameworks, Cross-Functional Alignment
The Need for a Redesign
Business Need: A unified, scalable platform experience that could support multiple executive-level communities, streamline feature delivery, and reinforce member loyalty.
User Need: Seamless, intuitive tools that make it easy for time-pressed executives to connect, publish thought leadership, and engage with peers, without friction or learning curves.
The Need for a Redesign
Business Need: A unified, scalable platform experience that could support multiple executive-level communities, streamline feature delivery, and reinforce member loyalty.
User Need: Seamless, intuitive tools that make it easy for time-pressed executives to connect, publish thought leadership, and engage with peers, without friction or learning curves.
The Need for a Redesign
Business Need: A unified, scalable platform experience that could support multiple executive-level communities, streamline feature delivery, and reinforce member loyalty.
User Need: Seamless, intuitive tools that make it easy for time-pressed executives to connect, publish thought leadership, and engage with peers, without friction or learning curves.
Discovery
Discovery
Discovery
Research & Competitive Insights
I partnered with product managers and researchers to conduct stakeholder interviews, competitive analysis, and heuristic reviews of the existing platform. We mapped executive user journeys across mobile and web to identify high-value moments for engagement.
Key Questions
We set out to quickly surface the most relevant content and connections for each member, streamline publishing tools to make sharing effortless while amplifying influence at scale, and create a unified look, feel, and flow across all communities, without sacrificing the unique identity of each network.
Key Questions
We set out to quickly surface the most relevant content and connections for each member, streamline publishing tools to make sharing effortless while amplifying influence at scale, and create a unified look, feel, and flow across all communities, without sacrificing the unique identity of each network.
Key Questions
We set out to quickly surface the most relevant content and connections for each member, streamline publishing tools to make sharing effortless while amplifying influence at scale, and create a unified look, feel, and flow across all communities, without sacrificing the unique identity of each network.
Findings
Members prioritized quality over quantity, seeking fast access to the most valuable connections and insights. Complex publishing workflows hindered adoption of a key feature, while inconsistent patterns between web and mobile eroded trust and increased cognitive load.
Findings
Members prioritized quality over quantity, seeking fast access to the most valuable connections and insights. Complex publishing workflows hindered adoption of a key feature, while inconsistent patterns between web and mobile eroded trust and increased cognitive load.
Findings
Members prioritized quality over quantity, seeking fast access to the most valuable connections and insights. Complex publishing workflows hindered adoption of a key feature, while inconsistent patterns between web and mobile eroded trust and increased cognitive load.
Ideation
Design Approach, Validation & Buy-in
I established three guiding principles for the redesign to keep user needs and business goals in focus throughout the process, ensuring our solutions were human-centered, while driving key business KPIs.
Be executive-first – prioritize speed, clarity, and professionalism in every interaction.
Be connected – ensure features work together to amplify member influence and visibility.
Be scalable – create a design system that supports multiple communities and rapid iteration.
Key solutions included:
A redesigned executive profile that doubled as a personal brand hub.
Streamlined publishing tools with inline guidance and frictionless sharing to external publications.
Private groups with clear, intuitive navigation and conversation threading for higher engagement.
Mobile-first interaction patterns for on-the-go executives.
To validate concepts, I introduced iterative usability testing cycles with real members, gathering feedback and refining prototypes before development. I then created personas to better help define goals, motivations, work habits, and pain points for the different user types and brands. These helped in making data-driven decisions as we looked to solve many of the issues from a user and business standpoint.
Stakeholder Buy in:
At our dev-first startup, I secured executive alignment by validating design decisions through UX best-practices, clear presentations, and data. I demonstrated workflows with supporting industry benchmarks and app usage patterns and user testing and data, making the value and rationale behind each decision clear and compelling.
Ideation
Design Approach, Validation & Buy-in
I established three guiding principles for the redesign to keep user needs and business goals in focus throughout the process, ensuring our solutions were human-centered, while driving key business KPIs.
Be executive-first – prioritize speed, clarity, and professionalism in every interaction.
Be connected – ensure features work together to amplify member influence and visibility.
Be scalable – create a design system that supports multiple communities and rapid iteration.
Key solutions included:
A redesigned executive profile that doubled as a personal brand hub.
Streamlined publishing tools with inline guidance and frictionless sharing to external publications.
Private groups with clear, intuitive navigation and conversation threading for higher engagement.
Mobile-first interaction patterns for on-the-go executives.
To validate concepts, I introduced iterative usability testing cycles with real members, gathering feedback and refining prototypes before development. I then created personas to better help define goals, motivations, work habits, and pain points for the different user types and brands. These helped in making data-driven decisions as we looked to solve many of the issues from a user and business standpoint.
Stakeholder Buy in:
At our dev-first startup, I secured executive alignment by validating design decisions through UX best-practices, clear presentations, and data. I demonstrated workflows with supporting industry benchmarks and app usage patterns and user testing and data, making the value and rationale behind each decision clear and compelling.
Ideation
Design Approach, Validation & Buy-in
I established three guiding principles for the redesign to keep user needs and business goals in focus throughout the process, ensuring our solutions were human-centered, while driving key business KPIs.
Be executive-first – prioritize speed, clarity, and professionalism in every interaction.
Be connected – ensure features work together to amplify member influence and visibility.
Be scalable – create a design system that supports multiple communities and rapid iteration.
Key solutions included:
A redesigned executive profile that doubled as a personal brand hub.
Streamlined publishing tools with inline guidance and frictionless sharing to external publications.
Private groups with clear, intuitive navigation and conversation threading for higher engagement.
Mobile-first interaction patterns for on-the-go executives.
To validate concepts, I introduced iterative usability testing cycles with real members, gathering feedback and refining prototypes before development. I then created personas to better help define goals, motivations, work habits, and pain points for the different user types and brands. These helped in making data-driven decisions as we looked to solve many of the issues from a user and business standpoint.
Stakeholder Buy in:
At our dev-first startup, I secured executive alignment by validating design decisions through UX best-practices, clear presentations, and data. I demonstrated workflows with supporting industry benchmarks and app usage patterns and user testing and data, making the value and rationale behind each decision clear and compelling.
Final Designs
The New Connected Experience
The new platform was designed to be an executive’s central hub. A place where members could instantly find relevant connections, share insights with ease, and grow their professional influence. Every element was intentionally crafted to meet the needs of busy leaders, whether they were engaging from their desks or on the go via mobile.
A scalable design system formed the foundation, bringing visual and interaction consistency across all communities in our portfolio. This not only reinforced brand trust but also allowed internal teams to roll out updates faster without reinventing patterns.
Unified navigation and interaction patterns created a sense of familiarity across the platform, shortening onboarding time and helping members confidently navigate between features like private groups, executive profiles, and publishing tools.
We redesigned publishing flows to remove friction, reduce cognitive load, and add in-line guidance. This made it easy for members to draft, edit, and publish thought leadership, which could then be seamlessly syndicated to major outlets like Forbes, Rolling Stone, and Fast Company.
Finally, modular, reusable components gave product and engineering teams the ability to quickly launch new features or community-specific enhancements without destabilizing the core platform. This flexibility allowed Community.co to respond to evolving member needs while maintaining a cohesive experience across the board.
Final Designs
The New Connected Experience
The new platform was designed to be an executive’s central hub. A place where members could instantly find relevant connections, share insights with ease, and grow their professional influence. Every element was intentionally crafted to meet the needs of busy leaders, whether they were engaging from their desks or on the go via mobile.
A scalable design system formed the foundation, bringing visual and interaction consistency across all communities in our portfolio. This not only reinforced brand trust but also allowed internal teams to roll out updates faster without reinventing patterns.
Unified navigation and interaction patterns created a sense of familiarity across the platform, shortening onboarding time and helping members confidently navigate between features like private groups, executive profiles, and publishing tools.
We redesigned publishing flows to remove friction, reduce cognitive load, and add in-line guidance. This made it easy for members to draft, edit, and publish thought leadership, which could then be seamlessly syndicated to major outlets like Forbes, Rolling Stone, and Fast Company.
Finally, modular, reusable components gave product and engineering teams the ability to quickly launch new features or community-specific enhancements without destabilizing the core platform. This flexibility allowed Community.co to respond to evolving member needs while maintaining a cohesive experience across the board.
Final Designs
The New Connected Experience
The new platform was designed to be an executive’s central hub. A place where members could instantly find relevant connections, share insights with ease, and grow their professional influence. Every element was intentionally crafted to meet the needs of busy leaders, whether they were engaging from their desks or on the go via mobile.
A scalable design system formed the foundation, bringing visual and interaction consistency across all communities in our portfolio. This not only reinforced brand trust but also allowed internal teams to roll out updates faster without reinventing patterns.
Unified navigation and interaction patterns created a sense of familiarity across the platform, shortening onboarding time and helping members confidently navigate between features like private groups, executive profiles, and publishing tools.
We redesigned publishing flows to remove friction, reduce cognitive load, and add in-line guidance. This made it easy for members to draft, edit, and publish thought leadership, which could then be seamlessly syndicated to major outlets like Forbes, Rolling Stone, and Fast Company.
Finally, modular, reusable components gave product and engineering teams the ability to quickly launch new features or community-specific enhancements without destabilizing the core platform. This flexibility allowed Community.co to respond to evolving member needs while maintaining a cohesive experience across the board.
Impact
Impact
Impact
The Results
This project transformed Community.co’s platform into a cohesive, executive-first experience — one that better reflects the value of its membership and positions the company for growth across multiple professional communities. By advocating for UX at the leadership level and mentoring the design team, I helped embed a user-first mindset that continues to influence product strategy today.
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