Highlight
Highlight
Year
February 2022 – May 2022
Discipline
Product Design, UX Research
Industry
Product Intelligence, SaaS
Overview
Highlight is a product intelligence platform that allows companies to test their products with real people — from food and consumer goods to any product requiring real-world feedback. The engagement involved evaluating their current state, analyzing competitors, and conducting original research with current and potential clients across company sizes to understand what features and functionality researchers needed most. The outcome was a redesigned platform vision delivered as polished, end-to-end design files handed off to their development team.
My Role
Design Lead — managed two designers and directed the full design side of the engagement. Served as the primary voice in client-facing decisions and expectation management, while also contributing as an individual throughout discovery, research, ideation, and validation. Responsible for final design file deliverables handed to the development team.
Problem
Highlight had existing user research but didn't know how to act on it. Key unresolved questions were how to present multiple product blind testing scenarios to users, how to allow researchers to configure extensive demographic selections, and how to surface data and results in a meaningful way.
Solution
Conducted original research to go deeper into researcher workflows, methodologies, and learning goals — filling gaps left by Highlight's prior work. Explored the range of demographic pool options available on the platform. Iterated through design exploration in close collaboration with the client, continuously refining based on feedback and testing.
Outcome
Delivered a redesigned platform that streamlined the end-to-end process of creating, managing, and tracking in-home product tests. The new portal is more user-centric and engaging, promotes user independence while providing support when needed, and serves both novice and advanced researchers. Clients using the platform include Colgate, Pepsi, Nestlé, and P&G.
What I'm Proud Of
Researching a product for researchers was a unique challenge — we were talking to people who do what we do, just in a different domain. That shared perspective made the work sharper. The project also highlighted the real-world value of this kind of platform: helping companies of all sizes build better products for their customers.