Designing one platformfor two very different users.

Standby was the first design project I worked on after transitioning from frontend development into product design. I stayed involved on and off for approximately three years while also contributing to other products.

Although I was the only designer, the work was highly collaborative. I worked closely with the product manager, engineers and QA, asked questions throughout the process and attended technical meetings so I could understand how the full system worked before shaping the interface.

At the beginning, the priority was functionality. There was little established brand direction, and the platform continued to expand as new requirements, integrations and operational needs appeared.

The landlord side contained the largest amount of information and the widest range of actions. Properties, hundreds of units, applications and deposit states had to remain understandable without hiding the detail users needed.

At property level, I separated summary metrics from unit-level actions. Landlords could begin with the overall state of a property, then move into individual units, residents, applications or deposits without losing context.

Reusable status patterns, filters and clear action hierarchy helped users identify what required attention across large numbers of units. I reviewed these workflows closely with engineering and QA to make sure the interface reflected real system behaviour and technical constraints.

The resident application required several mandatory stages. The challenge was to keep the process moving without cramming too much information into a single screen or making users feel that the flow was longer than necessary.

Near the end of the project, I conducted user testing on the new onboarding flow. Participants described it as clear and direct, with no unnecessary steps or filler content. Several completed it faster than they expected compared with similar application processes.

As Standby expanded, I created and maintained reusable patterns for typography, grids, forms, tables, status indicators, cards, navigation and recurring property-management workflows.

It was my first large component system and I developed it through research, trial and error and close collaboration with the development team.

The system supported both the landlord and resident experiences while allowing each side to communicate a different level of complexity and product weight. It also gave engineers a more consistent foundation for discussing and implementing new features.