The product lived at the intersection of creative ambition and technical constraint. Dozens of voices shaped the vision — founders like Edward Norton, Shauna Robertson, Robert and Jeffrey Wolfe, and investors from Bezos Expeditions to Union Square Ventures. Each had strong perspectives on how the platform should feel and perform. The work was to turn that energy into coherence.

I worked closely with the co-founder, CTO, and PM to build a process that kept design scrappy but thoughtful. The Detroit Customer Success team fed real human stories and product insights back into design. We were not A/B testing pixels. We were learning what made people care enough to give again.

The six-person product and engineering group in Los Angeles carried enormous expectations, and design became the connective tissue that kept everyone aligned. The Detroit team provided the heartbeat — real stories, real frustrations, real feedback from thousands of nonprofits and fundraisers. Their insights grounded every sprint.

Leadership meant building calm inside the noise. Weekly working sessions focused on clarity, not polish. The team learned to evaluate design by its ability to create momentum, not decoration. Collaboration was constant between product, engineering, and success. Every release carried input from the field, from celebrity-driven campaigns to marathon charity partners like Boston, Chicago, Ironman, and Tough Mudder.

The challenge was to make alignment feel human, not bureaucratic. Design was the bridge, converting competing expectations into one shared language that scaled from small local causes to national events.

Behavior was anticipated and clarity was systematized across the product. Engagement shifted once the experience finally matched the intent.