I’m Trace, a designer building design<>code workflows with AI and design systems

/PROJECTS

FIG. 01AI/WF
NAME
AI workflows
NOTES
Harnesses in Obsidian. Chains of .md skills. Agent workflows (essentially cron jobs) serving Discworld emojis and Futurama memes.
AI workflows

Harnesses in Obsidian. Chains of .md skills. Agent workflows (essentially cron jobs) serving Discworld emojis and Futurama memes.

/SELECTED WORK

+30% organic traffic: A rebrand, then 18 UX improvements to the mobile app

  • QUEUE MANAGEMENT
  • BRAND
  • WEB
  • PRODUCT
ORGANIC TRAFFIC
+30%
After the new website launched
TALK TO SALES
+91%
Page views after launch
LOWER DEMO BOUNCE
74%
On interactive demos, after launch
UX IMPROVEMENTS
18
To the queue and booking app
A fresh brand and a new website soon led to product upgrades for patient-facing interfaces.

tl;dr

WaitWell makes queue management and booking software for in-person service locations across North America.

I led design on WaitWell’s brand refresh and new website, contributing to the lift in traffic and sales interest. Next, we redesigned its mobile app so everyone in line, from WaitWell’s clients to the people they serve, gets one consistent experience.

BEFORE & AFTER
We preserved the W arrow mark while streamlining the comment box frame, with the beak pointing toward the logotype to signify forward movement. Type is now Neue Haas Grotesk, with narrower faces and tighter kerning for a streamlined logomark that scales across sizes.
01—

A brand and website that grew organic traffic 30%

I led design on the logo and website, keeping the W arrow mark and building a clock dial language for icons and product. Competitors copied the brand, site and copy.

New iconography style inspired by the clock dial.
UI that now delivers clarity and brings focus to time-sensitive information.
02—

18 UX improvements from a 42-screen audit

We audited 42 mobile app screens, every flow from queue to booking, and made 18 improvements on familiar iOS and Android patterns, including:

  • Blue for actions, so red no longer reads as an error
  • A large visual for the remaining wait time
03—

One app any business can brand

We explored data visualizations that make queue information easy to read, tested them with the team, and landed on the dial, which matches how the brand already looks.

Your place in line sits beside the dial, the estimated wait inside it, and the ring empties as the line moves.

We leaned into the clock dial visual to bring visual context to how data and key information are presented.
The bare skeleton of the app. Out of the box, this is the unbranded version your customers see, ready for each business to style to its brand.
The same app, customized to fit each business’s brand. Shown here for Skims and Bandcamp, an invented brand.

One brand, website to product

Refining the brand, not reinventing it, kept what customers knew and made it clearer. The brand system reached every touchpoint and led to the product work. The mobile app is designed to carry the website’s success into the product: one consistent experience that builds trust.

/FEEDBACK

Sheldon: Trace has a fantastic visual sensibility and brought real polish to our product.

01 / 08Jotson
Sheldon ManabatSenior Software Developer

Trace was instrumental in our product design efforts to deliver a clean and scalable design system that made development smooth and efficient. She brought real polish to our product through her thoughtful approach to iconography and visual design.

Her ability to balance design thinking with practical execution made her contributions incredibly valuable from both a product and engineering perspective.

If I had to point out at one of her strongest skills, that would definitely be the ability to look at a design piece, understand that something is off, and turn that vague feeling into an objective and actionable feedback.

This ability to effectively deliver feedback has brought a lot of value to the team output and increasing their work quality.

I loved how she brought fresh ideas to the table, explained everything clearly, and kept everyone on track toward our goals. The design system she built for us finally gave us the consistency we needed.

Trace works fast without sacrificing quality, quickly grasps complex information, and always delivers valuable insights. She’s approachable, genuinely cares about the work and was a true pleasure to collaborate with. I can’t recommend her enough!

I appreciate Trace's organized and analytical mind. She communicates clearly and helps add extra clarity to processes that might otherwise be muddy and unorganized.

She advocated for us, fostered collaboration, and invested in everyone’s growth. Her leadership created an environment where we could do our best work and support each other.

I learned so much from her about what it means to lead.

Working alongside Trace at Helcim was an absolute pleasure. I genuinely miss our collaboration.

If I had to highlight one of her many strengths, it would definitely be her talent for identifying solutions where none previously existed. Her approachability and support made challenging scenarios much smoother, and I was genuinely grateful to have her partnership.

When the client struggled with inconsistencies and scalability issues in their design system, Trace’s deep understanding of both design principles and technical constraints allowed her to implement a solution that not only addressed these challenges but also improved the overall user experience. The impact of her work cannot be overstated.

Her innovative approach to simplifying the design system was a game changer, leading to greater consistency, efficiency, and ease of use for the team.

She is a very strong leader and has immense skill in leading client workshops, especially in the UX and CDR space.

What’s up, what’s up.

Currently at Noterro, building a design-to-code workflow loop with a design system that’s readable by AI on Figma and from the codebase.

Before that, I led design operations at Helcim and designed products at Tiller.

I’ve been lucky to work product end to end. That means weaving comfortably between product discovery, product design, brand design, and design systems.

When off duty, I’m building internal tools and micro apps for fun.

If you’re looking to geek out about AI and design, I’d love to chat. Reach out and we can swap .md skills.