03TELATRIS

Building a startup MVP with AI-assisted design-to-code

Building a startup MVP with AI-assisted design-to-code
FINALThe customer Overview, where a tenant's problems surface in one place.

Telatris is an early-stage SaaS startup building more efficient workflows for IT service providers. I joined as founding designer, a side project alongside my full-time role, and took the product from vision to a coded front end the engineering team could build on.

0→1AI
RoleFounding Designer
TimelineJun–Dec 2025 · Jun 2026–Present
TeamFounders, 3 Engineers

Problem

Searching for signal

Our user is an IT admin, a domain expert whose work is too complex and too sensitive to hand off to junior staff. They're stuck fixing inefficiencies across their customers' services, most of it by hand. Meeting them on their terms meant working closely to find the gaps and friction.

Approach

Spreadsheet to prototype

A week after an advisor walked me through his spreadsheets, he was reviewing a working prototype. I used AI to turn his data into mock services, so the screens ran on realistic scenarios and real edge cases surfaced early. He confirmed we had the structure right, then kept going into friction we hadn't thought to ask about.
Coded prototype screen running on mock data
A coded prototype with mock data wired in, used to get honest feedback before engineering started.

Selected Work

Foundations first

I built the foundations first: a component library and a lightweight brand. Everything after was faster to make, which meant more rounds of feedback and something credible to put in front of investors while the product was still moving.

1

Design System

I built a token-based React component library covering colors, typography, and UI patterns, then pushed it to the engineering repo so the team could adopt it directly.

The component library, built in v0 with the design specs coded into each component.
2

Brand System

I designed a lightweight brand package to give the startup credibility from day one, structured enough to hold up across product screens and investor decks.

Stealth AI startup brand identity
Logo and icon in light, dark, and brand colorways, ready for product and pitch.
3

Marketing Site

I designed and shipped the marketing site, working directly with the CEO on positioning and messaging built around provider outcomes.

Stealth AI startup marketing website
The marketing site, live for investor conversations and early partner outreach.

Outcomes

Ramp to release

In six months I handed over a coded front end: real components from the design system, ready for the backend to connect to. Tables, alerts, toasts, each with usage notes for the engineers picking them up. The brand went with it, giving the founders something to work from in investor conversations. The product is still pre-release, and I rejoined the team in June 2026.

What I learned

AI has changed every phase of my process. Prototyping a product UI is easy now, yet designing a considered UX still requires the fundamentals of connecting the user's pain point with a valid business solution. I'm still working through a systematic way of leveraging AI tools to stay true to my product design craft.