English
Timeline
6 Months
Role
Product Designer
Team
1x Designer, 3x Devs
Domain
Marketing
Timeline
6 Months
Role
Product Designer
Team
1x Designer, 3x Devs
Domain
Marketing
Tools & Stack
Figma
Airtable
Notion
All project data & decisions documented here are my own. AI assistance was only used for structure and clarity.
All project data & decisions documented here are my own. AI assistance was only used for structure and clarity.
01Business Context & Competitive Landscape
Hifen is a Korean B2B SaaS startup targeting the influencer marketing space — a $16.4 billion industry in 2022, with 68% of marketers planning to increase spend. The founding premise was clear: marketers had tools, but no single platform that meaningfully consolidated their research workflow. I joined as a full-time early employee after reaching out to founder Saejoon on LinkedIn. Competitive research across HypeAuditor, Nox Influencer, Sprout Social, Semrush, Audiense, Meltwater, BuzzSumo, and Brandwatch revealed consistent pain: powerful data locked behind paywalls, complex navigation, steep learning curves, and inconsistent UI. Critically, none of the established platforms supported Korean — a hard barrier for Korean marketing agencies that left an entire market underserved.01Business Context & Competitive Landscape
Hifen is a Korean B2B SaaS startup targeting the influencer marketing space — a $16.4 billion industry in 2022, with 68% of marketers planning to increase spend. The founding premise was clear: marketers had tools, but no single platform that meaningfully consolidated their research workflow. I joined as a full-time early employee after reaching out to founder Saejoon on LinkedIn. Competitive research across HypeAuditor, Nox Influencer, Sprout Social, Semrush, Audiense, Meltwater, BuzzSumo, and Brandwatch revealed consistent pain: powerful data locked behind paywalls, complex navigation, steep learning curves, and inconsistent UI. Critically, none of the established platforms supported Korean — a hard barrier for Korean marketing agencies that left an entire market underserved.The business tension: build something powerful enough to replace existing tools, but simple enough that any marketer could use it without a demo. Success was defined by actual adoption — marketers using the tool, not just signing up.
The business tension: build something powerful enough to replace existing tools, but simple enough that any marketer could use it without a demo. Success was defined by actual adoption — marketers using the tool, not just signing up.
02Problem
Marketers had tools but still had to manage multiple tabs — docs, slides, spreadsheets — for notes and data management after every research session. The real pain wasn't finding creators. It was everything that happened after.02Problem
Marketers had tools but still had to manage multiple tabs — docs, slides, spreadsheets — for notes and data management after every research session. The real pain wasn't finding creators. It was everything that happened after.Business Problem
No single platform combined creator research, data analysis, and workspace tools. The market was full of powerful but fragmented, paywalled, and Korea-unsupported solutions.User Problem
Marketers had to context-switch constantly — discovering creators in one tool, then manually transferring data to Google Docs, Excel, and slides, losing time and introducing errors across every campaign.Business Problem
No single platform combined creator research, data analysis, and workspace tools. The market was full of powerful but fragmented, paywalled, and Korea-unsupported solutions.User Problem
Marketers had to context-switch constantly — discovering creators in one tool, then manually transferring data to Google Docs, Excel, and slides, losing time and introducing errors across every campaign.The insight that shaped the product
The real pain was workflow fragmentation after discovery. Finding the right creator was only step one — the tab-switching and manual data transfer that followed was where time was lost and mistakes happened. The competitive research confirmed this: even the best discovery tools still left marketers managing 3–4 separate tabs.The insight that shaped the product
The real pain was workflow fragmentation after discovery. Finding the right creator was only step one — the tab-switching and manual data transfer that followed was where time was lost and mistakes happened. The competitive research confirmed this: even the best discovery tools still left marketers managing 3–4 separate tabs.03My Role
As the sole designer and full-time early employee on a 4-person team, I owned end-to-end design across the product for 6 months. Beyond the interface, I ran competitive research across 8+ platforms, contributed to product strategy in daily team meetings with the founder, and produced materials that took the product in front of investors and international audiences.01End-to-end UX and UI design of the web application
02Competitive research across HypeAuditor, Nox, Sprout Social, Semrush, Audiense, Meltwater, BuzzSumo, and Brandwatch
03Product strategy collaboration in daily meetings with founder Saejoon
04Company intro deck and investor demo pitch
05EU demo — pitched live by Saejoon at a European event (streamed on YouTube)
06Korean landing page design and marketing positioning
03My Role
As the sole designer and full-time early employee on a 4-person team, I owned end-to-end design across the product for 6 months. Beyond the interface, I ran competitive research across 8+ platforms, contributed to product strategy in daily team meetings with the founder, and produced materials that took the product in front of investors and international audiences.01End-to-end UX and UI design of the web application
02Competitive research across HypeAuditor, Nox, Sprout Social, Semrush, Audiense, Meltwater, BuzzSumo, and Brandwatch
03Product strategy collaboration in daily meetings with founder Saejoon
04Company intro deck and investor demo pitch
05EU demo — pitched live by Saejoon at a European event (streamed on YouTube)
06Korean landing page design and marketing positioning
04 Direction
We built a three-panel web app where marketers could research YouTube creators in the middle panel, view full creator profiles and data in a right side panel, and link their Google account to work in Docs and Sheets directly within the tool — eliminating the need to switch between tabs entirely. Instead of making creator discovery better, we brought the entire marketer workflow into one place.04 Direction
We built a three-panel web app where marketers could research YouTube creators in the middle panel, view full creator profiles and data in a right side panel, and link their Google account to work in Docs and Sheets directly within the tool — eliminating the need to switch between tabs entirely. Instead of making creator discovery better, we brought the entire marketer workflow into one place.05Impact
Hifen filled a genuine gap in the Korean market — the only creator research tool with Korean language support, a non-paywalled model, and a workspace integration that eliminated tab-switching. Marketers adopted it, the product attracted additional funding after the initial constraint, and it remains live today at ugwanggi.com. The most significant strategic impact: proving that Korean marketing agencies would adopt a purpose-built tool when existing global platforms ignored their language.05Impact
Hifen filled a genuine gap in the Korean market — the only creator research tool with Korean language support, a non-paywalled model, and a workspace integration that eliminated tab-switching. Marketers adopted it, the product attracted additional funding after the initial constraint, and it remains live today at ugwanggi.com. The most significant strategic impact: proving that Korean marketing agencies would adopt a purpose-built tool when existing global platforms ignored their language.LiveStill Liveugwanggi.com — active product
8+Platforms ResearchedCompetitive analysis informing every design decision
6 MonthsTimelineResearch to shipped product
LiveStill Liveugwanggi.com — active product
8+Platforms ResearchedCompetitive analysis informing every design decision
6 MonthsTimelineResearch to shipped product
06Approach and Rationale
The competitive research showed complexity was a shared failure across the category — Sprout Social overwhelmed users with menus, Semrush required steep learning curves, Audiense was difficult to navigate. Hifen went the opposite direction: clean, minimal, opinionated interface that anyone could use without onboarding. Reports and Google Docs/Sheets exports were kept fully open — no paywalls — to reduce friction and accelerate adoption.06Approach and Rationale
The competitive research showed complexity was a shared failure across the category — Sprout Social overwhelmed users with menus, Semrush required steep learning curves, Audiense was difficult to navigate. Hifen went the opposite direction: clean, minimal, opinionated interface that anyone could use without onboarding. Reports and Google Docs/Sheets exports were kept fully open — no paywalls — to reduce friction and accelerate adoption.Google Integration as the Killer Feature
The insight from research was that marketers didn't just need better discovery — they needed their workflow. By linking Google accounts, Hifen brought Docs and Sheets into the product. Marketers could save research, build tables, and draft campaign briefs without leaving the tool. This was the feature that separated Hifen from every competitor in the space. Going Korean-first wasn't just a language decision — it was a deliberate positioning choice that made Hifen the only viable option for an underserved market.Google Integration as the Killer Feature
The insight from research was that marketers didn't just need better discovery — they needed their workflow. By linking Google accounts, Hifen brought Docs and Sheets into the product. Marketers could save research, build tables, and draft campaign briefs without leaving the tool. This was the feature that separated Hifen from every competitor in the space. Going Korean-first wasn't just a language decision — it was a deliberate positioning choice that made Hifen the only viable option for an underserved market.
07Final Solution
A three-panel web application targeting Korean marketing agencies and brand marketers. Creator discovery, campaign management, Google workspace integration, and direct creator contact — all in one interface.07Final Solution
A three-panel web application targeting Korean marketing agencies and brand marketers. Creator discovery, campaign management, Google workspace integration, and direct creator contact — all in one interface.
Discovery
Discovery
Profiles
Profiles
Folders
Folders
08 — Outcomes: What Worked
A list of pointers that worked.01Marketers actively adopted the tool — confirmed real demand for an all-in-one creator research solution
02Korean language support filled a genuine gap — Hifen was the only viable option for Korean agencies
03Product attracted additional funding and continues to grow
04No-paywall approach and minimal UX reduced friction and accelerated early adoption
Limitations & Second-Order Effects
A list of things that we realised.01Global expansion didn't happen — product remains Korea-focused despite the EU demo and initial international ambitions
02No formal design system was established, creating visual inconsistencies that accumulated over the 6-month build
03X flows were not properly documented during the build, making handoff and iteration harder
08 — Outcomes: What Worked
A list of pointers that worked.01Marketers actively adopted the tool — confirmed real demand for an all-in-one creator research solution
02Korean language support filled a genuine gap — Hifen was the only viable option for Korean agencies
03Product attracted additional funding and continues to grow
04No-paywall approach and minimal UX reduced friction and accelerated early adoption
Limitations & Second-Order Effects
A list of things that we realised.01Global expansion didn't happen — product remains Korea-focused despite the EU demo and initial international ambitions
02No formal design system was established, creating visual inconsistencies that accumulated over the 6-month build
03X flows were not properly documented during the build, making handoff and iteration harder
09 — Reflections: What I'd Do Differently
Better UI execution: The interface worked but lacked visual polish. With more time and a stronger design system, the product could have felt significantly more premium. Proper UX flows upfront: Building without documented flows created gaps in edge case coverage and made it harder to communicate design intent to engineers. Design system from day one: No formal system meant inconsistencies compounded over 6 months. Cleaner file organization: The Figma file grew organically and became harder to navigate.What I Learned
Thinking from a marketer's perspective: This project fundamentally changed how I approach B2B design — understanding the workflow, not just the feature. A marketer's day is about efficiency and switching costs, not UI preferences. Competitive research as design input: The 8-platform research directly shaped every product decision. Seeing what didn't work for users was more valuable than any design trend.09 — Reflections: What I'd Do Differently
Better UI execution: The interface worked but lacked visual polish. With more time and a stronger design system, the product could have felt significantly more premium. Proper UX flows upfront: Building without documented flows created gaps in edge case coverage and made it harder to communicate design intent to engineers. Design system from day one: No formal system meant inconsistencies compounded over 6 months. Cleaner file organization: The Figma file grew organically and became harder to navigate.What I Learned
Thinking from a marketer's perspective: This project fundamentally changed how I approach B2B design — understanding the workflow, not just the feature. A marketer's day is about efficiency and switching costs, not UI preferences. Competitive research as design input: The 8-platform research directly shaped every product decision. Seeing what didn't work for users was more valuable than any design trend.The biggest lesson from Hifen: the best product decisions came from research, not intuition. Every major design choice — no paywalls, minimal UI, Google integration, Korean-first — was grounded in what the competitive analysis showed wasn't working for marketers elsewhere. Letting research drive the product is what made Hifen genuinely different, not just different-looking.
The biggest lesson from Hifen: the best product decisions came from research, not intuition. Every major design choice — no paywalls, minimal UI, Google integration, Korean-first — was grounded in what the competitive analysis showed wasn't working for marketers elsewhere. Letting research drive the product is what made Hifen genuinely different, not just different-looking.
