Neurelo

Learning the domain, then redesigning it

Not knowing the space meant I had no assumptions to protect. I spent the first weeks learning how developers actually interact with databases. The mental models, the workflows, where they get stuck. That process surfaced friction the team had stopped seeing.

The onboarding was twelve steps. I redesigned it down to four. The API playground was duplicated across sections to surface a minor documentation variation. I consolidated it into one. The navigation borrowed heavily from another dev tool, but our product model was different. I mapped the actual user flows and built a nav that fit our use case.

Full product redesign shipped in 8 weeks.

Building the infrastructure to move fast

Once the product direction was solid, the next problem was consistency. The team was shipping fast, and without a shared system, every new screen was a one-off.

I built a design system around tokens and a theming architecture, so multiple themes could ship without rebuilding components. The harder part was getting buy-in. I walked engineering through the approach and made the case for why the upfront cost would pay off in velocity. It became the foundation for everything we shipped after.

Owning the launch, not just the product

The product was ready. Now it had to land. I shifted into go-to-market. Designed and developed the marketing site, landing pages, ad creatives, and video assets. Multiple iterations, testing what resonated with developers.

Then I ran the Product Hunt launch solo. Positioning, visuals, copy, launch video, all of it. Placed 2nd Product of the Day. The marketing site became the primary acquisition channel.

This is where the role stopped being “designer” in any traditional sense. I was thinking about positioning, messaging, what developers respond to, how the product should present itself to the world. That’s not UI work. That’s product ownership.

The team halved. My role expanded. We shipped anyway.

About a year and a half in, the company went through a major leadership transition. Half the team left. We went from twelve people to six.

By that point, my work had already built trust. The product was well-received by users, the launch had landed, and the design system was running. The CTO asked me to step into a broader role. I took on product direction, competitive positioning, marketing, and early user outreach alongside design.

Neurelo Connect was a new product: a secure data proxy that gives AI agents deterministic access to databases. Different domain, smaller team, everything from scratch. Concept to working beta in under 10 weeks.

The job was never just design

Two years. Two products. A pivot. A team that went from twelve to six.

What stayed constant: I owned every surface the user touched, and I thought about every surface they didn’t. Positioning, process, how the product lands in the world. Whether I was consolidating a cluttered API playground or running a Product Hunt launch solo, the approach was the same. Understand the whole picture, then make it feel obvious.