Around 2018, federal law was passed legalizing prediction based betting online. Today, countless companies have filled this space including FanDuel, DraftKings, PrizePicks, and many others. However, before there PrizePicks, there was "Twire".
When I stepped in as a interim Chief Design Officer at Twire, I knew there was a lot work ahead. The team knew there was a market for online sports betting... and that's about all they had at the time. The team had been holding frequent discussions about what the app should do, what the marketing strategy should be, and how they would ingest live betting figures - but no real product design work had been started.
It was on me to help them turn these early ideas into an actual product vision that resonated deeply with investors, early users, and all the other team members. The team had a six-month goal to raise enough early stage funding to build an MVPÂ version of the product.
To reach this fundraising goal within six months, I knew the team would need a few things from me. First, would be a clear brand, a distinct personality and visual identity that hadn't been seen before. Second, would be loads of compelling pitch and fundraising materials. And third, was an exciting product vision, something that that not only demonstrated the functionality of online betting, but rather, showcased the thrilling and exciting experience that the founders had envisioned.
I provided strong brand direction, and countless pitch materials. But the work I'm most proud of was in the conceptual designs for the product itself. With this concept design, I let my imagination soar. In this unique situation I was unrestrained by component libraries or previous product templates. I simply tried to create the most immersive, brand-heavy, Â artistic and unique product that I could imagine. I had a lot of fun choosing colors, fonts, and injecting personality into the concepts wherever I could.
My role at Twire was always meant to be temporary. I had only a few months to bring this team's vision to life, but in the end I created a brand and product vision that was better than anything they could have imagined. These conceptual designs motivated and empowered the founders to go out and successfully raise seed funding and angel investing - enough to build an MVPÂ and start engaging with real users.
As a freelancer for Twire I filled the Director of Product Design role during the company's A series funding round. The idea for the product was a mobile application allowing prediction-based betting for media events -- mostly sports. My contributions included crafting the visual language of the company & product, building out pitch decks for investors, and designing the user experience for the Beta product.
With Twire, I did not participate in the strategy, fundraising, or product research. However, I really enjoyed this project because it was a rare experience to design an interface without creative constraints. I was encouraged to design something bold, loud, and recognizable. I believe I achieved that.
