I'm a digital product designer who's been helping startups go from 0 to 1, both as sole IC and in player-coach roles. I've worked in Europe, the Middle East, and in the United States for startups, agencies, and Fortune 500s.
I design
software
for humans.
Who I am →
Where I've been →
Most recently, I was the Director of (digital product) Design at Carmatic, a SaaS platform for car dealerships.
Formerly at Protonn, Eat App, Mirum, Booking.com, Machinima, and a graduate of Adeo Ressi's Founder Institute.
Work I've done →
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Building for Auto Dealerships at Carmatic
Carmatic, funded by Ibex Investors, is SaaS for automotive dealerships. I took Carmatic from 0 to a successful launch at NADA 2023 as the only designer, where we signed the largest dealer group in Staten Island as a customer. -
Going From Zero to One at Protonn
Protonn, funded by Binny Bansal and Matrix Ventures, built an operations and marketing platform for independent professionals. As player-coach of a remote design team of 5, I shepherded the team to a successful launch on iOS, while also building out the team and managing a design intern program. -
Building the Design Team at Eat App
Eat App, funded by 500 Startups, is the Middle East's leading restaurant reservations platform. As player-coach of a design team of 5, I thought a lot about how we could reduce friction within the organization, and especially between engineering and design, to create more value and allow our teams to scale. -
Building a New B2C Product at Eat App
Eat App, funded by 500 Startups, is the Middle East's leading restaurant reservations platform. As player-coach of a design team of 5, I spearheaded a redesign of our B2C apps which would allow users to discover new restaurants and book them more easily. -
SABB Mobile App Redesign
SABB, the Saudi Arabian arm of HSBC, is one of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's largest banks. I worked as IC in a team that was boxed in by constraints, something that teams working in finance are familiar with. We managed to launch the highest rated HSBC mobile experience worldwide, and is still in use today. -
Booking.com Search Card Redesign
Booking.com, a subsidiary of the Priceline Group, is the world's largest accomodations OTA. As an IC on a team dealing specifically with Tablet Web, I built out a new search results experience, tested it, and ultimately found that it wasn't good enough for production.
Let's chat →
hello@charlesl.am
+1 (626) 215 2672
Or, if you'd prefer, let's connect on LinkedIn.