Building the Brand & UX Behind Aurawave
Industry
B2B, SaaS, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Imaging
Client
Aurawave
Role
Lead Product Designer
Led product and brand design from concept to handoff, including UX, system, and team onboarding.
Date
Oct 2024 - Mar 2025
Live Site
Aurawave is a web-based AI headshot platform that helps users create professional-grade portraits in minutes. I partnered directly with the CEO from inception to launch, helping shape the brand identity, design the user experience, and prepare the system for scale.
Overview
Aurawave is a web-based AI headshot platform that helps users create professional-grade portraits in minutes. I partnered directly with the CEO from inception to launch, helping shape the brand identity, design the user experience, and prepare the system for scale.
problems + goals
Aurawave had a bold vision to democratize professional headshots using AI, but it needed strong design leadership to turn that vision into a tangible product. The challenge was to establish a credible brand presence while rapidly validating the MVP, all with limited resources and tight timelines.
Goals:
Define a clear and premium brand identity to differentiate from generic AI tools.
Translate the CEO’s product vision into usable flows for mobile and desktop.
Conduct user and competitor research to guide product strategy.
Build a scalable design system that supports quick development.
Launch a testable prototype and gather user feedback before full rollout.
process
Collaborated with the CEO on brand strategy and identity to align with our ideal market.
Sketched and designed core UX flows for both mobile and desktop—from onboarding to final delivery.
Conducted competitive research to benchmark top AI image tools and identify gaps.
Led user research and prototype testing with early users to shape the MVP scope.
Built a documented component library using design tokens for easier engineering handoff.
Onboarded engineers and new designers to ensure smooth scaling of the product team.
outcome
Aurawave launched successfully with 68% user satisfaction and engagement from over 500+ users.
The product delivered on its marketing promise, leading to strong post-launch usage.
A validated MVP shipped fast, grounded in real user feedback.
The design system and docs reduced onboarding friction for new team members.
key takeaways
Building close to the founder allowed design to drive early product decisions.
Lightweight research loops helped us prioritize what actually mattered at launch.
A design system built early saved time and confusion as the team scaled.
