About

I'm Ryan Byrne, a Design Lead who turns complex technical products into revenue-generating machines. Over the past decade, I've helped 20+ startups scale from zero to millions in ARR by obsessing over the intersection of user needs and business metrics.

My approach is simple: ship fast, measure everything, iterate relentlessly. I don't believe in pixel-perfect mockups that sit in Figma forever. I believe in getting real products in front of real users and letting data drive decisions.

I specialize in the hard stuff—AI/ML interfaces that don't feel like spreadsheets, fintech dashboards that prevent costly errors, and Web3 experiences that your mom could use. If it's technically complex and needs to scale, I'm interested.

Career Timeline

2024-Now

Design Team Lead • Travefy (Travel SaaS)

  • Modernized an aging SaaS product into a modern platform adopted by solo advisors → large agencies (150+ advisors).
  • Designed and implemented a design system that improved delivery velocity by 40%.
  • Built and scaled a beta testing community from 0 → 500+ users, enabling rapid iteration and validation.
2022-Now

Co-Founder • HourlyRate.ai (Web3 SaaS)

  • Built a decentralized platform helping freelancers value themselves, set rates, and plan their financial futures.
  • Grew to 3,000+ signups in beta.
  • Designed product strategy, core UX, and growth loops.
2019-Now

Co-Founder • 2099 (Design & Strategy Consultancy)

  • Delivered digital strategy and product design for corporates (Standard Bank, Old Mutual, Sanlam, FNB) and startups.
  • Partnered with climate and fintech innovators, including CarbonPath (blockchain carbon credits), Wafunda ISA (student financing), and Meadow (US student debt platform).
2018-2019

Lead Product Designer • Shyft Forex App (Fintech, Standard Bank)

  • Introduced and delivered a design system to unify teams.
  • Helped scale to 100K+ active users.
  • Improved onboarding completion by 35%.
2019-2023

Senior Product Designer (Freelance/Toptal)

  • Led product design for SaaS and fintech clients.
  • Specialized in rapid prototyping, AI feature validation, and design systems.
  • Example: Delivered a 3-day sprint for an AI trip preview prototype, validated by 200+ testers and shipped in 2 weeks.
2017-2019

Senior Product Designer • Byte Orbit (Fintech/E-commerce)

  • Shipped fintech and e-commerce products, including Shyft Forex app (initial phases).
  • Ran workshops, user research, and system design.
  • Designed flows supporting multi-million rand transactions.
2014-2017

Product Designer • Dine4Six & Freelance

  • Designed and shipped startup products, including a social dining app featured across South Africa.
  • Freelanced globally (Bangkok, Cape Town), working on websites, SaaS, and brand design.
2012-2014

Network Engineer → Transition to Design

  • Early career in IT infrastructure (corporate networks, architecture).
  • Transitioned into UX/UI design with Web Courses Bangkok, shipping 50+ small products and learning to move fast, test, and iterate.

What I Do

Strategy

  • Product vision & roadmapping
  • User research & validation
  • Information architecture
  • Design sprints & workshops
  • Competitive analysis

Design

  • Design systems at scale
  • Responsive web & mobile
  • Complex data visualization
  • Rapid prototyping
  • Accessibility (WCAG 2.1)

Leadership

  • Team building & mentoring
  • Cross-functional collaboration
  • Design ops & process
  • Stakeholder management
  • OKR planning & execution

Technical

  • HTML/CSS/JS (can ship code)
  • React/Vue components
  • API design collaboration
  • Performance optimization
  • Analytics & A/B testing

Ready to Scale?

I work with ambitious founders who need to move fast and ship products that generate real revenue. If that's you, let's talk.

Email Me Book a Call
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