I help founders choose what belongs in a first version, then design and build the interface with their teams. You can try the product as we go and decide what needs to change.
Start a conversationA first version settles things: what a button is called, what a blank screen says. I work on the product and the code together, so each decision is tested in something people can use.
Start with one person and one task. I note what they need to finish, what the first version must explain, and what can wait. A feature stays only if it helps that job.
Every feature you keep is one more thing to support, so I cut early. What stays, I finish: every screen has its words and its states, and your team can test each of them.
An empty screen, a failed request, a slow connection: each is part of the interface. I design them with the main path and build them, so you review them together.
Every control needs a name an agent can read. By agents I mean software that acts for a person: AI assistants, browser and coding agents, and the tools they call.
At Pantastic I designed front-end prototypes and coded them into production with the product and engineering teams. Now I settle details in the code, where you can review them.
From day one, the code and the decisions live in your accounts. Paid work passes to you under the Terms. Kwirita keeps its tools and general know-how. Third-party terms still apply.
Drivepoint makes financial planning software for consumer brands, with forecasts across sales channels and inventory plans for individual products. I redesigned its Excel add-in and helped build a later version of the web app through beta.
Pantastic made commerce tools for independent brands. I led design direction for shoppers and merchants and built front-end prototypes with the product and engineering teams, taking them into production and settling interface details in code.
Photo Butler let people share photo streams from events, with AI choosing the best shots. I worked with the founders on the interface and on who might pay for the product. I also designed concepts for brand partnerships and pitches.
By May 2014, Nanigans was moving from managed campaigns toward software advertisers ran themselves. I led the Ad Engine redesign for that change, focusing on onboarding, and designed and implemented a customer success site with the team.
Lumatic City Maps showed walking and transit directions as photographs of the route. I redesigned its existing iOS app with engineering, set Android guidelines, and designed its marketing and developer websites.
Proudcloud builds web and mobile software for startups and larger companies. I worked with founders and engineers as the studio’s lead product designer, and wrote front-end code to bring the designs into working pages.
GoAbroad.com helps people find programs to study, volunteer, teach, or intern abroad. I designed a dashboard for customers and tools for the sales and finance teams. I took requirements from in-house staff and built interactive prototypes with engineering.
Kwirita designs and builds first versions for AI-driven startups. Lance Quejada leads the work from Manila.
I work alongside your team, one month at a time. Each month we pick what the product needs most, and I work on that.
In week one I write a short plan: what we build first, what we leave out. You get working software every week, starting in the first. Every Friday, Manila time, I send a written note on what shipped and what changed, plus the decisions I need. One 30-minute call a week for decisions, skipped when there is nothing to decide.
What the first version does and what it leaves out. I write up who it is for, the job it does on day one, and what waits for version two, so your team can review it.
Flows, screens, states, and the words on them, including the empty screen and the error.
The interface, built in your own codebase and reviewed like any other code. I design it and build it, using the least access it needs.
Semantic structure, plus pages and docs a machine can read. On this page, “Agent view” shows the Markdown copy.
Tokens and components, with a short note on why each decision was made, for your first design hire to read. The code and the notes live with you from day one.
A front-end prototype you can click through, deployed so your team can try it on real screens. I code it myself, so the small details get settled in the code itself.
Prices in US dollars. Monthly work follows an ordered task list.
$6,000
One piece of work in progress at a time, from a list you keep in order.
$10,000
Two pieces of work in progress at once, for a team working on two fronts.
$300
An hour of advice, paid in advance. It counts toward your first month if you subscribe within 30 days.
$2,500
I review your interface and front end, and how ready they are for agents. You get it in writing within a week, with a call to walk through it. It counts in full toward your first month if you subscribe within 30 days.
One month at a time, paid at the start of each month. Cancel any time. Work continues to the end of the month paid for, and nothing renews after it.
A task is one piece of work you can review on its own, ending in something usable: a designed flow, a merged pull request, or a deployed prototype. I split bigger requests into tasks and say how up front.
Write early, while the names and screens can still change. A few lines are enough: what it does, who it’s for, how far along you are. I reply within two working days, Manila time.
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