0-1 Design for SaaS teams shipping real platforms, not vibes

0-1 Design for SaaS teams shipping real platforms, not vibes

I work with founders, product leaders, and teams who saw design's impact on velocity before AI joined the toolkit.

Shipping 0-1 is not a side quest. We don't spend our tokens on participation trophies. We spend them on design systems that actually scale.

Focus Areas

15+ years working alongside product teams and turning early-stage ambiguity to autonomous design leadership.

15+ years working alomgside product teams and turning early-stage ambiguity to autonomous design leadership.

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0-1 Design Strategy

Every product starts as a hypothesis. This work validates it fast. Rapid user testing, stakeholder interviews, competitive teardowns: these aren't optional phases, they're how you de-risk the bet before engineering spends a quarter building the wrong thing. Speed and rigor at the same time.

Every product starts as a hypothesis. This work validates it fast. Rapid user testing, stakeholder interviews, competitive teardowns: these aren't optional phases, they're how you de-risk the bet before engineering spends a quarter building the wrong thing. Speed and rigor at the same time.

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Rapid User Testing

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Rapid User Testing

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Stakeholder Interviews

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Stakeholder Interviews

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Competitive Teardowns

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Competitive Teardowns

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MVP Validation

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MVP Validation

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Go-to-Market Planning

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Go-to-Market Planning

Agile UX Design

You can't iterate your way out of a bad assumption. Weekly testing cycles catch problems before they compound. Real-time feedback loops keep the team aligned on what's working and what isn't. This is how you ship without guessing.

You can't iterate your way out of a bad assumption. Weekly testing cycles catch problems before they compound. Real-time feedback loops keep the team aligned on what's working and what isn't. This is how you ship without guessing.

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Real-Time Feedback Integration

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Real-Time Feedback Integration

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Design Validation Sprints

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Design Validation Sprints

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Heuristic Audits

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Heuristic Audits

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Journey Mapping

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Journey Mapping

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Iterative Testing

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Iterative Testing

Product Design

Validated concepts become shippable interfaces. Production-ready components and scalable design systems mean engineering doesn't rebuild your work once it hits their codebase. Clean handoff, clean code, no translation layer.

Validated concepts become shippable interfaces. Production-ready components and scalable design systems mean engineering doesn't rebuild your work once it hits their codebase. Clean handoff, clean code, no translation layer.

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Production-Ready Components

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Production-Ready Components

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Scalable Design Systems

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Scalable Design Systems

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Interaction Design

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Interaction Design

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Design-to-Dev Handoff

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Design-to-Dev Handoff

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Visual Consistency

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Visual Consistency

Design Engineering

Design files are a starting point, not a finish line. GitHub-deployed prototypes and Vercel-hosted MVPs with real databases mean your team inherits a running start, not a spec. This is design that ships.

Design files are a starting point, not a finish line. GitHub-deployed prototypes and Vercel-hosted MVPs with real databases mean your team inherits a running start, not a spec. This is design that ships.

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GitHub-Deployed Prototypes

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GitHub-Deployed Prototypes

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Vercel-Hosted MVPs

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Vercel-Hosted MVPs

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Database Integration

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Database Integration

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Real-Time Data Visualization

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Real-Time Data Visualization

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Production Scaffolding

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Production Scaffolding

Impact at Scale

These aren't trophies on a studio shelf. They're teams who relied on me to deliver impact

That makes us shipmates and above all, a team that's figured out how to win together by making the right trade-offs.

That makes us shipmates and above all, a team that's figured out how to win together by making the right trade-offs.

That makes us shipmates and above all, a team that's figured out how to win together by making the right trade-offs.

04/09/2026

Mosey Joins Gusto!

Mosey Joins Gusto!

04/09/2026

Mosey Joins Gusto!

Gusto payroll and Mosey logos from acquisition announcement.
Gusto payroll and Mosey logos from acquisition announcement.
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Avg. Growth Under My Design Leadership
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Avg. Growth Under My Design Leadership
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Avg. Growth Under My Design Leadership
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Industries Designed For
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Industries Designed For
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Industries Designed For
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Client Exits, 2 Unicorns
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SaaS Product Teams Embedded
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SaaS Product Teams Embedded
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Industries Designed For
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Industries Designed For
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MVPs Shipped as Solo Designer
Gusto payroll and Mosey logos from acquisition announcement.

04/09/2026

Mosey Joins Gusto!

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Years in Product Design
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Design Functions Built from 0
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SaaS Product Teams Embedded
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On-Time Delivery Record

0-1 Design for SaaS teams shipping real platforms, not vibes

I work with founders, product leaders, and teams who saw design's impact on velocity before AI joined the toolkit.

Shipping 0-1 is not a side quest. We don't spend our tokens on participation trophies. We spend them on design systems that actually scale

Michael Pons logo in a bold, sans-serif font on a black background. Design and branding.
Michael Pons logo in a bold, sans-serif font on a black background. Design and branding.

©2025 Michael Pons.

Made with ❤️ in NYC

Michael Pons logo in a bold, sans-serif font on a black background. Design and branding.

©2025 Michael Pons.

Made with ❤️ in NYC

Michael Pons logo in a bold, sans-serif font on a black background. Design and branding.
Michael Pons logo in a bold, sans-serif font on a black background. Design and branding.

©2025 Michael Pons.

Made with ❤️ in NYC