End-to-end Research, Product Design, Design System

MVP to a finished product in less than 6 months

The startup Latoo Labs, reached out in pursuit of building an app that utilizes and combines different AI Models.

  • Build MVP Version
  • Gather Data
  • Pitch decks for seed-funding
  • Stage A funding concept

 

Everything had to be created from scratch – pitch decks, branding, product design & design system.

WHO: Latoo Labs & KINext

WHAT: End-to-end Research, Product Design, Design System

WHEN: 05/2024 – ongoing

Summary

Latoo Labs approached me with the ambition to leverage the latest advancements in AI technology to create a platform featuring custom assistants and cutting-edge models. Despite operating with limited resources, the project progressed from an MVP launched in January 2024 to a full-fledged app being implemented as of September 2024. The app caters to professionals like doctors, lawyers, marketing agencies, accountants, and assessors. Leveraging tools like ShadCN and React, the app now boasts 14 integrated AI models, workflows, and connectors, paving the way for future scalability, including white-labeling.

01

02

Problem Statement

Starting with an idea that arose from technological advancements – AI Models and features, we took a deep dive into unchartered territory of what’s possible in 2024. The trends were clear – AI is here to stay.

  • Operating in uncharted territory with minimal resources.
  • Started with a small team of three in January 2024.
  • Needed to identify a clear target audience while gathering user feedback from the MVP.
  • Faced challenges in attracting investors, building the app, and scaling operations simultaneously.
  • Required a scalable design system and AI integrations to meet future demands.
v.1 Aphna Release

By April 2024 we came up with a MVP and released it for open-source usage.

03

The Plan

  • Develop an MVP leveraging OpenAI to gather user data and feedback.
  • Identify trends and target user groups from collected data.
  • Secure funding through branding, roadmaps, and pitch decks.
  • Scale the app by redesigning with ShadCN-based design and React.
  • Integrate AI models and third-party services like Zapier, calendars, and CRMs.
  • Prepare the app for future whitelabeling to meet diverse client needs.

User Research

We launched an OpenAI-powered MVP and collected data to determine usage patterns and sentiments. By April 2024, we identified the primary user groups:

  • Doctors
  • Lawyers
  • Marketing Agencies
  • Accountants
  • Assessors (construction, cars, insurance)

Additionally, we got our first enterprise client that required us to plan not only B2C solution, but also B2B one.

04

Roadmap

Following user research, we identified the following priority features for development:

UI Enhancements

  1. Whitelabeling: Enable branding customization for various industries.
  2. Easier Onboarding: Simplify user registration and app setup for different professional roles.
  3. Mobile App: Launch a mobile-friendly version for accessibility on the go.


Functionality Upgrades

  1. More AI Models: Expand the app’s AI capabilities for diverse use cases.
  2. Data Storage: Offer secure and scalable storage for users’ files and workflows.
  3. External Integrations: Support tools like Zapier, email, calendars, CRMs, and custom APIs for workflow automation.
  4. Community with Templates: Build a collaborative space for users to share and leverage prebuilt templates.
  5. Workplaces: Introduce team and company-specific features for collaboration and management.

05

Step 1: MVP Transition to ShadCN & Tailwind CSS
Step 2: The plan for 2025
I’m happy I met Stefan. In Latoo.labs we are developing an AI SaaS-solution and Stefan brought a lot to our team, being a real asset. Not only a fresh UI design came from him. He supported the design thinking process, the ideation of new product features, researching the market for competitor analysis, establishing contacts and much more you would not expect when hiring a UX designer. Coming to his core expertise he quickly brought our vision to life with a fully functional design system, handling everything from UX research to development handover. His expertise as a SaaS product designer and design systems engineer made a huge difference in our progress, and his ability to deliver high-quality results in such a short time was impressive. I highly recommend him to any team looking for a skilled, reliable design professional.
Kurt Schmidt
Entrepreneur | Business Angel & Investor | AI Enthusiast | Consulting in Payments & Banking

Let’s create something great together.

My Process

1. Ideation

Surface real problems, not just feature requests.

Capture user signals (ideas, opportunities, warnings, errors) and convert them into tightly framed problem hypotheses for quick validation.

Key deliverable: tagged idea backlog + 1-page problem brief.

UX boost

idea generation

opportunity

error

2. Business Validation

Make sure the idea matters to users and the business.

Quickly test value and risk: size demand, surface downstream impacts (ops/legal/support), and run lightweight experiments (landing page, concierge MVP, etc.) to validate willingness-to-pay or behavior change before engineering.

Deliverables: business brief (assumptions + TAM snapshot), simple experiment plan, go/no-go recommendation.

validation

valuation

risk assessment 

3. Tech Buy-in

Turn validated value into a predictable engineering plan.

Engineers translate the validated case into a pragmatic technical approach: feasibility checks, data/API contracts, MVP scope, acceptance criteria, and a phased rollout (feature flags / canary / incremental migrations). Align on risks, performance and security requirements so delivery is predictable and debt is managed.

Deliverables: one-page tech spec + sequence diagram, backlog tickets with acceptance criteria, rollout & mitigation plan.

Feasibility

alignment

flagging

4. Stakeholder Buy-in

Secure resources, remove blockers, and de-risk execution.

We synthesize ideation, validation, and technical alignment into a concise decision pack that answers: Why now? What is the financial impact? Who does what? How do we mitigate risk? The pack includes an executive one-pager, ROI/payback scenarios (conservative → aggressive), a resourcing map (teams, capacity), and a phased milestone plan with KPIs. In the decision review, we anticipate objections (cost, scope, system impact) and offer mitigations (phased pilots, lighthouse customers, feature-flagged rollouts). The goal is formal sign-off.

Deliverables: executive one-pager, ROI model, approved resource allocation, milestone sign-off + communication plan.

Success metrics: time to funding decision, % of requested resources granted, milestones met vs committed, realized vs projected impact at Q1/Q4.

pitch

approval

budget

Delivery
Development