OVERVIEW
I had the opportunity to collaborate with Sequoia Capital on a large-scale project aimed at refining and expanding their internal app, Townsquare. The app was designed to serve as a central hub for investors and employees to access critical information, including market insights, project details, meeting schedules, and partnerships. Although an MVP had been wired up for the desktop, it lacked in IA and the platform had yet to be optimized for mobile devices or native apps.
THE PROBLEM
After gathering feedback from several key investors and stakeholders, it became apparent that Townsquare was not supporting a core use case: mobile accessibility. Many investors frequently work away from desktop computers, relying on mobile devices to stay connected. The absence of a mobile version of the app limited the platform's usability and impacted engagement.
In addition to this, the desktop version had architectural inefficiencies, with redundant navigation patterns and underutilized features. A full audit was necessary to streamline the user experience and elevate key features.
THE APPROACH
As the lead designer on this project, I worked closely with a small, collaborative team consisting of a tech lead, project manager, and both frontend and backend developers. We followed a user-centered design process, driven by user feedback throughout the following steps:
We began with an in-depth architecture audit, reviewing both investor and employee feedback. A series of interviews were conducted to better understand the workflows, pain points, and key touchpoints where users were experiencing friction—both on desktop and in mobile use cases.
Key insights revealed:
- Mobile first: Investors emphasized the need for mobile access to meeting schedules, news feeds, and real-time market insights. The lack of a mobile app hindered their productivity while traveling.
- Redundancy issues: Desktop users struggled with redundant features, unclear navigation paths, and inconsistent information architecture, especially in areas like Financial Reporting and the People Directory.
- Feature prioritization: Some lesser-known features, such as the AI Workshop, held great potential but were buried in the current design, reducing user adoption.
To address the architectural issues, we mapped out the core user journeys across the existing app and identified key areas for improvement. This involved restructuring the navigation and removing redundant pathways to ensure users could seamlessly access the most important features.
For the mobile version, we created a simplified, task-focused interface that mirrored the core workflows investors would use most often. Features such as the News Feed and Memocasts were given prominent placements, ensuring users could complete critical tasks quickly and efficiently on a smaller screen.
Our design strategy for the mobile version focused on ensuring parity with the desktop app while maintaining the simplicity and responsiveness required for smaller screens. We developed mobile-first wireframes for each of the critical features, carefully considering the user flows for both iOS and Android platforms.
We adopted a modular design system that allowed us to scale down the desktop UI while maintaining functionality. This helped ensure that essential actions like meeting booking, checking market news, and accessing memocasts were just as easy on mobile as they were on desktop.
Once the UX was validated through stakeholder feedback and usability testing, we initiated a full UI redesign. This involved:
- Developing a cohesive design system that could be applied across both desktop and mobile platforms.
- Creating a modern, clean aesthetic that aligned with Sequoia’s brand values—trust, innovation, and professionalism.
- Designing custom app icons, illustrations, and imagery to provide a distinct visual identity for the app in the App Store and across all touchpoints.
The redesign also included accessible color schemes, typography choices that optimized readability across all devices, and a UI kit to streamline future iterations and feature rollouts.
Once UI has been finalized we worked with the overarching design team to add UI components and integrate them into the current library.
CHALLENGES
- Maintaining feature parity: It was challenging to ensure that all desktop features would translate effectively to a mobile context. Some features had to be reimagined to better suit mobile usage patterns.
- Tight timelines: Given the large scope of the project, time management and cross-team collaboration were essential to meeting deadlines without sacrificing quality.
- Balancing simplicity and functionality: Simplifying the interface without compromising on the depth of features required constant iteration and feedback from users and stakeholders.
OUTCOME
The redesigned version of Townsquare successfully addressed the main pain points highlighted during user research. The mobile version increased investor engagement by 5x, while the streamlined desktop experience saw an increase in feature adoption, particularly around the People Directory and AI Workshop. The cohesive design system we developed made it easier for the internal team to roll out future updates, and the app’s new visual identity reinforced its position as a trusted, innovative platform for investors.
