Torch
Evolving a leadership coaching platform from YC to Series C
Torch is a multi-sided web platform that connects enterprise employees to 1:1 leadership coaches, and reports aggregated leadership development insights from coaching users to their company admins.
In 2020, Torch acquired Everwise and needed to unify the new platform with its own while providing a smooth transition for existing customers and keeping existing experiences in flight. After product migration, the company wanted to revamp and polish the user experience.
I led the user experience development across four separate user types, supported Product & Design team development, and established a new design system that impacted a majority of the product and development efficiency.
Role
Lead Product Designer
2020 – Present
Key accomplishments
Significantly evolved Product Design team and process
Migrated 12+ major areas of functionality from legacy products
New design system with principles, process, and 60+ components
Repositioning work supported +$25M Series B
Positioning a new product strategy
After a company and product merger, Torch was gearing up for its Series B fundraise and needed new product positioning and marketing communications to market its expanded platform.
In my first weeks on the job, I facilitated the executive team through a new product positioning process. Then I applied a new agency-designed visual brand and relaunched the company website in two months.
Modernizing the platform’s operations
In a scaling phase, Torch needed to modernize the custom internal tools its own staff used to manage the platform’s coaching operations.
I enhanced the user experience for easier coach matching and coach availability management. The key change was streamlining these process into fewer interfaces, reducing the cognitive burden on Torch staff. I also updated the matching algorithm to improve coach recommendations.
As a result, Torch could scale its coach network to hundreds more coaches.
Improving the features coaches use to deliver their coaching experience
As a global network of independent contractors, Torch coaches needed better client management features to make their coaching business on Torch feel seamless.
Despite redesign constraints during platform migration, I made practical improvements to coaches' main dashboards and flows, creating a simpler experience. The effort involved user research with coaches, then collaboration with Coaching Operations, Behavioral Science, Product, Engineering, and Data teams.
Coaches said it was, “Exactly what we need... much more intuitive and way easier.”
Maturing the Product Design team
I elevated the profile, quality, and impact of the Product Design team at Torch.
In addition to IC work on feature designs, my responsibilities included cross-functional product development initiatives and Design team hiring. I enhanced processes like design discovery, project scoping, and engineering hand-off with improved project documentation and team templates. Our Design team often shared our work at company updates.
I also influenced other functions, including leading a cross-functional R&D group around AI features and improving the Product team’s thinking by introducing them to service design concepts.
In May 2022, I received Torch’s company culture award.
Elevating Torch’s product design quality and infrastructure
Burdened by two legacy products’ design and technical debt, our designers, engineers, and users struggled with a patchwork of legacy systems. Torch needed a full design revamp to become a more user-friendly product.
I elevated Torch’s product design quality by establishing a new visual design direction, streamlining interactions, unifying global navigation across user types, and supporting accessibility compliance.
The new Torch Design System aligned the product branding with company branding and included new UI design foundations, bespoke experience principles, 60+ components, accessibility criteria, and cross-functional processes. I co-managed the new design system strategy and Storybook library with engineering leads.
🔒 Case study: Establishing a new design system
Redesigning the experience and data models to serve the business strategy
One of Torch’s differentiating values is providing data-driven insights about the impact of coaching on leadership development. Torch’s Behavioral Science team researches and develops science-backed methods for measuring the effects of coaching. This data layer needed design to translate it into relatable stories and insights.
I pointed Torch towards a more effective coaching data story by reframing its experience design and turning a disconnected data model into a more cohesive ROI story.
In addition to designing new reporting dashboards for admins, I also redesigned the 360 assessment and colleague feedback features in the coaching experience to increase users’ understanding of their data privacy.
🔒 Case study: Rethinking product architecture around customer value
