My Design and Product Portfolio
Hi! My name is Mark Koester. I’m designer and technologist based in Venice, California. I help companies and startups build user-centric products.
Here is a selection of my recent product and design work:
Funding Innovation Network
About: AI-based startup assessment algorithm coupled with startup KPI tracking and funding CRM Responsibilities: The underlying objective Funding Innovation Network (FIN) is to improve the startup investing experience for both founders and investors. As the product lead, I served primarily as Head of Product and UX Designer. I brought together a multi-disciplinary team of designers, developers and data scientists to explore potential opportunities around a data-centric investment startup community platform. Primarily, I helped the company founders through a series of cycles targeting market validation with an MVP, User Research with a dozen customer interviews, and User Design iterations and User Testing. The final result was a complete strategic plan, a product development roadmap, and a high fidelity clickable prototypes. Status: Production URL: http://fi-network.com.
PhotoStats.io (iOS + Android)
About: App to Track, Store and Visualize All of Your Photo Data Responsibilities: I came up with the original idea for this product and did 25 customer interviews before designing and creating the v1 with basic photo stats. V2 included machine learning for automated tag. Status: Production URL: www.photostats.io.
Bailiwik (iOS + Android)
About: A community chat service bringing neighborhoods together Responsibilities: I provided design, strategy and development services. I provided a design audit and UX review as well as helped convert and launch a version for Android on Google Play. The app includes a dynamic map feature for finding community and neighborhood chat groups and then chatting and sharing content with that community. Status: Production URL: www.bailiwik.com/
Biomarker Tracker (iOS + Android)
About: A data-driven wellness product focused on blood tests. Responsibilities: I worked with two other co-founders on a multiple month UX and design research project. We talked to 15+ target users, including doctors and patients, lead synthesis, developed our open source database of blood test references, and created and tested our first clickable prototype. Status: Never Launched. URL: http://www.biomarkertracker.com/
IRMMW-THz 2020 (Web)
About: 45th International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter, and Terahertz Waves is a leading technical conference devoted to the field of ultra high frequency electronics and applications. Responsibilities: I designed and implemented a robust registration and online schedule/agenda for a 700+ paper virtual event, integrating Zoom and Remo. Status: Production. URL: https://irmmw-thz.org/
BookLoversCon (Web, iOS + Android)
About: Premium Romantic Writers and Readers Conference Responsibilities: I worked with the business owner and executive team to design and launch their conference website and apps. I helped integrate different user needs for an event targeting authors, publishers and readers alike. Status: Production. URL: https://www.bookloverscon.com/
BasicAI / BasicFinder (Web + Service Design)
About: Data labeling software platform Responsibilities: As a bi-lingual product manager and UX designer, I helped finalize a major UX redesign by translating this working into a product road map for Chinese developers. I provided a comprehensive product review, including usability and service assessments as well as security check’s. I then setup and put in place a bilingual issue and product management system. Status: Production. URL: http://basic.ai