Fractional Product Design: For early-stage startups
For early-stage teams that need a senior product designer before they can justify hiring one full time. I join for an agreed number of days a week, work directly with the founders and engineers, and own the product side: what goes into the next release, how the system behaves, and what it looks like.
To start, email andriy.dsgn@gmail.com with a short note about the product and the team.
What I do
I take the product side off the founders’ desk. With you, I decide what goes into the next release and what waits. I work out how the system behaves behind the screens: what the product is made of, what it does on its own, what the user controls. Then I design the interface and the design system the engineers and their coding agents build from.
I write code as well as design, so where it is faster to build than to explain, I build it myself. If the team ships with AI coding tools, I review what they ship and turn the problems into tasks for the team or the agent. Building Ribbonlab shows the whole path on a tool of my own, from the first decision to a live release.
A month can hold any of the work on this site, from an audit to code. What goes into it is agreed in the scope.
When teams bring me in
Usually at one of three points. A first version has to be defined, and nobody on the team has done it before. A product works but has become hard to use and hard to change. Or the company is about to raise or launch, and the product has to look like the company it says it is.
For agent products, what I bring is written up from Deva and 10Planet: Designing agent products.
How it starts
Often with a one-week Product Diagnosis, so we both know what the work is before you commit to months of it. It is not required. Days per week and length are agreed once the scope is clear.
Shorter projects are quoted once the scope is clear. A one-off consultation is $250, up to two hours. Write with what you need.
The work it draws on
Years leading design inside product teams, on startups that raised more than $200M between them and one that F5 acquired for $500M, and shorter consulting engagements:
- Fully AI: a one-month engagement that began with a full UX audit of an AI agent product, then a design system and a dashboard redesign.
- Equi: zero-to-one design for a digital family office. Onboarding time dropped by 40%.
- TrueFi: principal designer on a DeFi lending protocol that originated more than $1B in loans in its first year.
- Deva: an AI agent platform designed from zero. In the beta, daily active users grew 25% and retention 20%.
- 10Planet: the design architecture under Deva: agents, memory and the design system mapped to protocol logic.
Questions founders ask
Why not hire a full-time designer?
You can, and at some point you should. Until then, a senior hire takes months to find and costs a full salary from the first day. Part-time, you get the same seniority for the days the work actually needs, and we can start as soon as the scope is agreed.
How much does it cost?
From $8,000 a month. The final number depends on the days per week, the scope and how much of the product I own.
How many days a week?
It depends on the stage and how much is in flight. We agree it at the start and adjust it month to month.
How do you work with our engineers?
As one of them. I write code as well as design, so I work in your repository, read the codebase and ship changes myself. I join the planning, review what goes out, and fix things directly instead of filing tickets. Your engineers get someone who knows what a design costs to build.
Can you also build?
Yes. With AI coding tools I can take a product end to end on my own, from the interface to the code that runs it. My own tools are built that way, including an AI UX audit agent for Claude Code and a screen canvas for reviewing AI-built UI. How much I build on a project depends on the team and what the work needs: sometimes the whole product, sometimes a prototype or the frontend, sometimes only the design.
What does a fractional product designer do?
Owns the product side for an agreed number of days a week: what goes into the next release, how the system behaves behind the screens, and what it looks like, alongside your engineers.
Do you work with our existing designers?
Yes. At Volterra I set the design strategy, built the design system the whole design team worked from and reviewed the other designers’ work.
What if we need someone full-time later?
I help you write the role and hire for it. And when the product is right, I also take full-time or founding roles myself.
What is the minimum commitment?
One month. After that, the days are adjusted month to month.
How fast can you start?
Once we agree the scope. We set the start date together.
Do you work with teams in other countries?
Yes. I work remotely, with teams in different countries and time zones.
Can we start with something smaller?
Yes, and it is often the better start. A one-week Product Diagnosis shows whether there is work worth committing to before you sign up for months of it. If you have one specific problem, like a flow that loses users or a launch that needs a second look, I can take it as a short project, quoted once the scope is clear, or a single consultation. Tell me what you need, and I will suggest the smallest version of the work that is still useful.
Other ways I can help
- Agent UX design, quoted after scoping: approvals, memory and autonomy for AI agents.
- Design engineering, from $8,000 a month: the front end, built by the designer.
- Product Diagnosis, from $900: one week, a written plan: keep, cut, change, next.
Further reading: Fractional or full-time product designer. All services, with the situation each one fits: Services.
Working on something similar?
Send a short note about the product and the team. If it’s not a fit, I’ll say so.