Abound

Two sides of the same relationship.

Abound connected independent brands with independent retailers. For a shop owner, a wholesale order is a decision about limited shelf space and cash. For a brand, a new stockist is a relationship to earn and keep.

I joined as employee #2 and led product and design from the first product through Series B. My work spanned the retailer experience, the tools brands used to run their business, research, and the team behind those experiences.

Make discovery feel like buying for your shop.

The retailer experience needed more than a searchable catalog. Shop owners had to find products that fit their customers and understand an unfamiliar brand quickly.

The homepage brought together curated picks, new arrivals, categories and store types. Those different starting points helped the product accommodate both a specific shopping list and a visit to see what was new.

Build the practice as well as the product.

As Abound grew, my role grew with it. I hired and led the design team, developed the research practice, and stayed close to the details of the product. The company grew to more than 100 people during my time there.

Working on both sides of the marketplace made research especially useful: a decision that simplified buying could also change the work a brand needed to do. The product had to hold those two experiences together.

My scope: product direction, design leadership, research, brand and the core marketplace experiences.

The next chapter.

After Abound, I took time away from full-time work to be home with my kids while they were little. I’m now building again, including Roster and The Ultra Minute.