Independent Product Engineer · Design + Code
I help small software teams find and fix the friction in their products. From confusing onboarding and clunky workflows to improvements that never quite make the roadmap.
One person for product thinking, design and frontend engineering.
RecentlyRedesigning and rebuilding Print Evolved's internal production platform
The problems
You've built something people use. But there are probably parts of the experience that could work harder.
People are interested enough to try your product, but don't always reach the moment where it becomes useful.
A confusing workflow, complicated setup or unclear feature keeps generating the same questions.
Your team is busy building what's next, while the things that would make the existing product better keep slipping down the list.
You can see the problem. Finding the right solution, designing it and making time to build it is another matter.
That's where I come in.
Selected work
I've worked across SaaS products, operational tools and creator platforms, designing experiences and building the interfaces behind them.
MVP product design · Decode · 2023
Long courses rarely get finished, and heavy LMS tools are hard for creators to use. I defined the product structure around short "nuggets" and designed the creator and learner flows end to end.
Outcome: a clickable prototype the founder used to validate the concept and prioritise build phases.
Own product · Design + React Native · 2023
Podcast discovery is passive, and listening is cut off from community. I designed the listening, discovery and community flows, then built the front end in React Native.
Outcome: a working prototype covering onboarding, feed, player, comments and queue.
How I help
I work directly with founders and small product teams to improve the software they've already built.
Sometimes that means digging into an onboarding flow to understand why users get stuck. Sometimes it's simplifying a complicated interaction or giving an important feature the attention it deserves.
I bring the product thinking, design and engineering together, so we can move from identifying a problem to doing something about it.
The work typically covers
Ways to work together
You don't need to commit to a huge redesign or a long engagement.
One problem. One focused improvement.
Got a feature or flow that isn't working as well as it should?
We'll look at the issue, agree on a manageable improvement and work towards a concrete outcome. Depending on the scope, that might be a redesigned experience, a frontend change shipped to your codebase, or a clear plan for a larger fix.
From £550 +VATper fixed-scope engagement
A little more attention for your product, every month.
For teams that regularly have things worth improving but never quite have the capacity.
Reserve a day of my time each month to tackle a prioritised product improvement, whether that's improving onboarding, refining an existing feature or working through a particularly frustrating bit of UX.
You get someone who becomes familiar with your product, understands what you're trying to achieve and can keep making useful progress.
From £500/month +VATOne reserved day per month
For larger problems, we'll agree a separate scope and price before starting. No vague promises to redesign an entire product in a day.
About
I'm Patrick, an independent product engineer based in the UK.
I enjoy getting into the details of how products work. Understanding the people using them, figuring out where things get frustrating and finding ways to make the experience better.
I'm equally comfortable sketching out an improved user journey, working through an interaction in Figma or building it in the codebase.
I work directly with the people behind the product. No account managers, unnecessary process or elaborate handoffs.
I work across product design and frontend engineering, mostly with React · Next.js · TypeScript · Figma
FAQs
That's my main focus. I think there's a lot of value in making an existing product better, although I'm open to interesting new product work too.
Yes. I work across design and frontend engineering. Depending on the project, I can work in your existing Vue.js or React/Next.js codebase or provide designs ready for your team to implement.
That's fine. We can start with a particular area of concern and work out what needs attention. If the problem requires deeper investigation, I'll recommend that before committing to a build.
We'll scope it properly. Small improvements can fit into a focused engagement. More involved work gets a separate estimate rather than being squeezed into an unrealistic promise.
Yes. I offer a limited number of monthly product improvement slots, alongside one-off engagements.
Maybe you know exactly what needs fixing. Maybe you just have a feeling something could work better.
Tell me a little about it and we can work out whether I'm the right person to help.
A short conversation. No lengthy pitch or commitment.
