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Preo

Preo was a mobile ordering platform that enabled customers in bars and restaurants to order drinks directly from their phones and receive real-time notifications when their order was ready for pickup. The goal was to reduce wait times, increase venue efficiency, and improve customer experience in high-volume hospitality environments.

Over six years, we raised $10.8M in funding and ultimately exited through acquisition by Anheuser-Busch.

As Head of Design, I led:

Product discovery and UX strategy
UI design across iOS and Android
Brand and visual identity development
Design system creation and documentation
Cross-functional collaboration with engineering teams
Design team leadership across North and South America (2015–2019)

I was responsible for shaping how the product worked, looked, and evolved.

As Head of Design, I led:

Product discovery and UX strategy
UI design across iOS and Android
Brand and visual identity development
Design system creation and documentation
Cross-functional collaboration with engineering teams
Design team leadership across North and South America (2015–2019)

I was responsible for shaping how the product worked, looked, and evolved.

As Head of Design, I led:

Product discovery and UX strategy
UI design across iOS and Android
Brand and visual identity development
Design system creation and documentation
Cross-functional collaboration with engineering teams
Design team leadership across North and South America (2015–2019)

I was responsible for shaping how the product worked, looked, and evolved.

Type

Product Design

, Brand

Type

Product Design

, Brand

Type

Product Design

, Brand

Tools

Photoshop, Illustrator, Sketch, Figma, Zeplin, Framer, Invision, keynote, Cinema 4D, arnold

Tools

Photoshop, Illustrator, Sketch, Figma, Zeplin, Framer, Invision, keynote, Cinema 4D, arnold

Tools

Photoshop, Illustrator, Sketch, Figma, Zeplin, Framer, Invision, keynote, Cinema 4D, arnold

Challenge

Building Preo required solving for:

High-volume, real-time hospitality environments
Network variability and operational edge cases
User clarity under fast-paced, distracted conditions
Multi-stakeholder alignment (venues, customers, partners)

The product needed to be intuitive for users in loud, crowded bars while also functioning reliably for venue staff and owners.

Approach

From the beginning, I structured design as a system, not a collection of screens.

Key principles included:

Designing scalable UI components that could evolve with the product
Implementing structured design sprints to accelerate problem solving
Embedding design thinking into product development cycles
Creating seamless handoff processes between design and engineering

This allowed us to iterate quickly while maintaining clarity and cohesion across the product.

From the beginning, I structured design as a system, not a collection of screens.

Key principles included:

Designing scalable UI components that could evolve with the product
Implementing structured design sprints to accelerate problem solving
Embedding design thinking into product development cycles
Creating seamless handoff processes between design and engineering

This allowed us to iterate quickly while maintaining clarity and cohesion across the product.

Process & Systems

Design Systems

I built and maintained component libraries to ensure consistency across platforms and teams. This improved collaboration and reduced redundancy in development.

Cross-Continental Team Leadership

Between 2015–2019, I led design teams across North and South America, establishing workflows and communication structures that enabled distributed collaboration.

Design Sprints & Problem-Solving Frameworks

Implemented structured sprint methodologies to move from discovery to validation quickly. This became a core internal process for solving product challenges.

Engineering Collaboration

Established documentation standards and handoff workflows that reduced ambiguity and improved delivery speed.

Outcome

Raised over $10.8 million in venture funding

Deployed product across real-world hospitality environments
Scaled design across international teams
Acquired by Anheuser-Busch

Preo became a defining chapter in my career — not only in execution, but in learning how to build systems, teams, and products from the ground up.

Reflection

Preo shaped how I approach all creative work today. It reinforced the importance of:

Designing systems over isolated outputs
Building processes that scale
Leading with structure in ambiguous environments

The experience of founding and scaling a product company fundamentally informs how I think about design, iteration, and long-term creative infrastructure.