I'm Usmaan, a product designer based in New York, NY. I own the process end-to-end — research, design, and shipped code — as the sole designer working directly with engineers and founders, across consumer products, non-profits, and e-commerce.
Rented
Client Work
Designing peer-to-peer rental experience for urban renters.
RoleProduct Designer
DurationNov 2024 - Feb 2025
ScopeProduct DesignUser ResearchPrototyping
CollaboratorsSoftware Engineers
ToolsFigmaPlay 2
Overview
Most people own tools and gear they use once, then store forever. Rented lets neighbors lend and borrow instead. I was sole designer across onboarding, browse, PDPs, and profiles, from November 2024 to engineering handoff in February 2025.
Problem
The P2P rental market has two failure modes. Apps like Hygglo front-load heavy verification and lose users before they ever browse. Apps like Craigslist skip trust entirely and feel unsafe at stranger-to-stranger scale. Neither handles the person who wants to rent their drill out on Tuesday and borrow a camera on Saturday.
Onboarding Friction Most platforms front-load heavy verification or skip it entirely. None balance fast onboarding with trustworthiness.
Two-Sided Role Support No platform handles the renter-to-lister duality well. You're either buying or selling, never both seamlessly.
Cross-Category Browsing Every app struggles to make browsing feel clear across wildly diverse item types — tools, cameras, camping gear, party supplies.
1
Onboarding Friction
Most platforms front-load heavy verification or skip it entirely. None balance fast onboarding with trustworthiness.
2
Two-Sided Role Support
No platform handles the renter-to-lister duality well. You're either buying or selling, never both seamlessly.
3
Cross-Category Browsing
Every app struggles to make browsing feel clear across wildly diverse item types — tools, cameras, camping gear, party supplies.
Competitive Analysis
Research
Two rounds of comparative user sessions — Round 1 with 4 participants (3 in-person, 1 async), Round 2 with 3 of the same participants on a revised prototype.
I started by asking how participants used resale platforms they already knew (eBay, Grailed, Depop), then walked them through competitor rental apps before handing them an early Rented prototype to compare directly.
Three patterns held across the sessions:
Minimal Search Won: Cluttered filters and dense forms killed momentum. Participants who used Depop most often cited its search simplicity as the reason.
Role-Switching Is the Point: Every participant described themselves as someone who'd both list and rent depending on the week. Every competitor forced a buyer-or-seller framing.
Long Catalogs Caused Drop-Off: Users got fatigued scrolling flat browse surfaces. Multiple asked for "something at the top that's actually for me."
Conventional auth flow, basic search, simple profile — identifying what needed to change.
Onboarding — SSO front-and-center (Apple, Google, Facebook), followed by a single category prompt — "What are you renting today?" — that gets a new user browse-ready in under a minute without a verification wall.
TProfiles — Tabbed layout (Listed · Currently Renting · History · Reviews) holds both roles as equal rather than defaulting to one. PDP surfaces the lister's profile and rating immediately below the imagery — trust at the point of decision.
Browse — the surface that changed most between rounds.
Round 1 was a flat search-and-scroll catalog. Round 2 added two changes:
"Best Match" section above the catalog, surfacing items matched to a user's budget, timeframe, and location. This came directly from Round 1 — users were dropping off in long scrolls and asking for a curated entry point. Round 2 participants engaged with Best Match first in every session.
Suggestion tags above the search input. Not from user requests — from competitive design reference and a judgment call about whitespace and search friction. Round 2 participants used the tags more than direct text input.
The unresolved piece — filter and sort across mixed inventory — was the surface I wanted more time on. A drill and a tent need filters that share almost nothing.
Outcome
The delivered handoff included 25-30 screens, a reusable component library, annotated flows, and an interactive prototype the team could run on their own devices. The engineering team noted the level of thought put into the UI and how the design translated their goals into something easy to browse and use.
The onboarding flow was the clearest point of differentiation. Hygglo's verification process drew App Store complaints about failed checks and long wait times. Craigslist skips trust infrastructure entirely. Rented landed deliberately between them: two to three steps, immediate verification, instant access, with an account system that gives the platform a trust foundation that scales.
Build paused when engineering reprioritized. The work sharpened how I think about onboarding that earns trust without friction, and browse that holds up across inventory that has nothing in common.
Redesigning a non-profit website to better serve the Muslim youth community.
RoleUI Designer & Project Manager
DurationNov 2023 - Nov 2025
ScopeUI/UX DesignProject ManagementUser Research
PlatformWebflow
ToolsFigmaWebflow
Overview
The National Muslim Youth Association is a non-profit whose website hosts religious teachings, event materials, and program resources visited by youth members nationally. I was brought on to maintain the site, but after assessing its state — cluttered navigation, outdated content, and active malware — I proposed and led a full redesign.
Problem
Years of content updates without structural cleanup left the site hard to navigate. Parents couldn't find teaching materials. Youth skipped the site entirely. The WordPress build had malware issues that made maintenance risky. The site needed to be rebuilt from the ground up — new platform, new IA, new design system.
Old NAA UINew NAA design
Wireframe & Development
I began working on wireframes for the new website, researching and solving the major pain points users were facing. Once the board approved the final wireframes, I developed the site on Webflow — incorporating the organization's logo colors and assets, introducing additional colors for the interface, and prioritizing accessibility across screen sizes, particularly mobile devices and tablets.
User Research
While developing the new website, I conducted user research groups. I collaborated with small focus groups, providing them with an early prototype. This helped me understand how users navigated and interacted with the site, and compare their behavior against the old website.
Research insight map
Research groups revealed three recurring friction points: people needed clearer paths to updates, easier access to materials, and a mobile experience that felt more engaging.
01
Parents
Event announcements
Parents found it difficult to stay up to date with events happening at their local mosque.
Navigating the website
Many parents had limited technology experience, making page navigation feel unclear.
Essential materials
Important resources were difficult to find and access from the old website structure.
02
Teachers
Teaching materials
Teachers needed a faster way to locate presentations and class resources.
Class data entry
Inputting class data into national spreadsheets was difficult alongside lesson prep.
Navigation
Teachers also ran into the same navigation issues parents experienced.
03
Youth
Engagement
Youth visitors did not find the old website exciting enough to return often.
Mobile access
Many accessed the website on mobile, where key materials were harder to reach.
The redesigned site launched June 2024 on Webflow, migrated from a WordPress installation with recurring malware, broken plugins, and scattered account access. Webflow's built-in security infrastructure resolved the vulnerability cycle that had periodically taken the site offline.
Within months of launch, traffic increased by 30%, returning visitors grew by 10-15%, and page views rose by 15%, tracked through Webflow analytics and compared against the WordPress baseline. The navigation redesign was the primary driver. Focus group observation showed that critical pages required 5-6 clicks on the old site, with important links continuously buried behind expanding dropdown menus and new content. The redesign brought priority destinations forward and cut that to 2-3 clicks.
My time with the National Muslim Youth Association concluded in November 2025.
On The Run Studio is a design studio that began as a personal project to curate and share images that inspired me and my work. Over time, the page grew and built a community of like-minded individuals who found inspiration in the posts. Along the way, I designed and produced products and merchandise inspired by these influences. On The Run Studio continues to share, inspire, and grow the community while connecting with brands and companies to assist in web design and development.
On The Run Studio Mobile UI
Merchandise
For 2 and a half years, I designed and produced merchandise inspired by my upbringing and the images I had curated. I started off with a t-shirt and a mug. For the t-shirt, I created a design that was simple and clean — the graphic was inspired by the Unisphere in Flushing, NY. For the mug, I placed the early On The Run Studio logo on the front.
Web Development
The On The Run Studio website was hosted on Shopify initially for the first year and a half. The following year, I redesigned and hosted the website on Squarespace. After another year and a half, I moved to Framer for a few months. Currently, the website is hosted on my own domain and is built with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Design Studio
On The Run Studio is continuing as a design agency to assist brands and companies to strategically design and develop their websites. The agency provides a full-service design and development solution, from initial design to launch and ongoing maintenance.
Outcome
What started in March 2021 as a personal moodboard, sharing images that inspired me and shaped my design vision, grew into a community of like-minded individuals, from 50 to 5,000 followers in a year and a half of consistent posting.
That growth translated beyond the page itself. The limited-run merchandise I designed and produced, from the Unisphere-inspired t-shirt to the early-logo mug, sold to community members as far as France, Spain, and the U.K., a clear signal of the reach the brand had built in a short period of time, well beyond a local audience.
Each rebuild taught me more about the craft, and working across Shopify, Squarespace, and Framer gave me firsthand fluency in the platforms most brands actually build on. That range turned On The Run Studio into the foundation for the work I do today: a full-service agency that partners with brands and companies to strategically design and develop their websites, from initial concept through launch and ongoing maintenance.
Web Design & Marketing for a Brooklyn-based brand.
RoleWeb Designer
DurationNov 2025 - Present
ScopeWeb DesignCampaignsMarketing
CollaboratorsBrand Founder
ToolsFigmaShopify
Overview
Adsum is a Brooklyn, NY-based brand. I design landing pages for new collections, sales, and events on an ongoing timeline. Additionally, I assist with launching new campaigns and assist with outreach. I work closely with the brand's founder.
Landing Pages
I designed landing pages for the brand's new collections and releases, as well as for the holiday sale announcements. Each page is crafted to match the brand's visual identity while driving conversion.
Size Filter Feature
Size Filter
I built a size filter feature from scratch for the collection pages that surfaces only in-stock sizes, so customers see what's actually available instead of landing on sold-out options. It cut wasted clicks and helped shoppers find their size faster.
Additional Work
Beyond web design, I have created graphic designs for the brand's email announcements — including Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns — and assist with ongoing marketing outreach and social media content.
Campaigns & IG Posts
Outcome
Working directly in Shopify alongside the founder, I design and ship collection pages on an ongoing cadence — from new releases to seasonal sales. The size filter I built from scratch surfaces only in-stock sizes, cutting wasted clicks and helping customers find what's actually available instead of landing on sold-out options.
To sharpen the product experience, I reworked the page layout so dense supporting details — the size chart, product details, and shipping & return policies — collapse into accordion dropdowns. That keeps the core product description front and center and shortens the path from viewing an item to adding it to cart and completing checkout.
Beyond the site, my work across email campaigns, Instagram posts, and ongoing website updates has helped drive sales and deepen customer engagement — keeping the storefront and outreach moving in sync.
WCM Connect App
Project
Improving the patient experience through a clearer onboarding, dashboard, and appointment scheduling experience.
RoleDesigner
TimelinePersonal project
ScopeUI DesignResearch
CollaboratorsIndependent
ToolsFigma
Overview
Healthcare applications should help patients feel informed and in control—not overwhelmed. While reviewing WCM Connect's App Store reviews, I noticed recurring complaints around authentication friction, confusing navigation, and difficulty accessing important health information. Rather than redesigning the entire application, I focused on the moments that shape a patient's first impression and everyday experience.
This case study explores how thoughtful interaction design, clearer information hierarchy, and better system feedback can reduce friction throughout the patient journey.
Problem
Patients rely on WCM Connect to manage appointments, medications, and communicate with their care team, yet many users reported struggling with basic tasks. Through App Store review analysis, three themes consistently appeared.
Difficult navigation — Important information such as medications, appointments, and messages required too many steps to access.
Limited feedback — The app often left users uncertain whether actions had completed successfully.
App Store review analysis
Three themes consistently appeared across user feedback.
01Authentication friction
Repeated login issues, confusing verification flows, and unclear error messages.
02Difficult navigation
Medications, appointments, and messages required too many steps to access.
03Limited feedback
Users were often uncertain whether actions had completed successfully.
Pain point themes
Research & Direction
I began with publicly available App Store reviews rather than assumptions. Login failures, password reset frustration, confusing onboarding, slow appointment access, difficult messaging, and unclear dashboard organization showed where patients struggled most.
That analysis shaped three redesign goals: simplify onboarding without sacrificing trust, improve dashboard usability so key information is immediate, and make scheduling easier end to end.
Three principles guided every screen — clarity over complexity (one primary action per view), accessible healthcare (type, spacing, and contrast for all ages and technical comfort), and building confidence through clear system feedback.
Solutions
The redesign focused on improving three high-impact areas of the patient experience:
Onboarding — Simplified authentication, clearer hierarchy, and improved system feedback to reduce first-time friction.
Dashboard — Reorganized information around patients' most common tasks, making appointments, medications, and test results easier to access.
Appointment Scheduling — Streamlined booking with a clearer step-by-step flow, simplified provider selection, and more reassuring confirmation states.
Accessibility
Healthcare products serve users with a wide range of technical abilities. The redesign emphasizes:
Larger touch targets
Improved typography hierarchy
Higher color contrast
Clearer labels
Reduced cognitive load
Consistent spacing throughout the interface
Design Systems
To maintain consistency, I established a small component system including:
Buttons
Form fields
Cards
Status indicators
Navigation components
Appointment cards
Message previews
This improves scalability for future product development.
Outcome & Reflection
This redesign explored how thoughtful UX improvements can make healthcare feel more approachable and less overwhelming. Rather than introducing new features, the focus was on improving the experience patients already rely on every day.
By simplifying onboarding, reorganizing the dashboard around high-priority tasks, and streamlining appointment scheduling, the redesign reduces friction while helping patients access important information with greater confidence. Clearer visual hierarchy, consistent system feedback, and accessible interface patterns contribute to an experience that feels more intuitive and reassuring.
Working on this project reinforced an important lesson: designing for healthcare isn't just about creating clean interfaces—it's about reducing uncertainty. Patients often interact with healthcare products during stressful or time-sensitive moments, making clarity and trust just as important as functionality.
This project strengthened my ability to translate qualitative user feedback into meaningful product decisions, balancing user needs, accessibility, and business constraints to create a more thoughtful patient experience.