Head of Product & Strategy, UX/UI Designer · 2024
VALA.
Web3 SocialFi, shipped in 7 weeks.
Designed and launched a Web3 SocialFi MVP in 7 weeks and 50% under budget — combining UX/UI design, competitive analysis, and streamlined engineering workflows to help secure $660K in funding.
How it launched
VALA · SOCIALFI
VALA launch promo
Original launch reel · X @tradevala
VALA · SOCIALFI
VALA feature promo
Follow-up promo · X @tradevala
Context
VALA needed to build a decentralized exchange that made crypto investing approachable for novices while staying competitive in a crowded, advanced-user-driven market — and it needed an MVP fast enough to keep an early raise alive.
Approach
Served as both product strategist and UX/UI designer — owned the full user experience and interface from wireframe to hi-fi.
Ran competitive analysis across the DEX landscape to find the gap: approachable, novice-friendly crypto investing.
Built the Jira execution board that let engineers move fast without me in every thread.
Partnered daily with engineering to protect scope and keep the 7-week clock honest.
Prioritized ruthlessly — cut anything that didn't move usability or differentiation.
Outcome
Time to ship
Under budget
Raised off the MVP
The prototype shipped in 7 weeks at half the projected budget. It stood out in its category, and it contributed directly to VALA closing $660K in its first round.
Reflection
Speed and taste aren't in tension — they compound. Every week I didn't spend in committee was a week I spent building something a novice user could actually understand.