Fund distribution for digital access fund
My Role
Senior Product designer
Tools
Figma
Timeline
September - December 2025
Description
Orthrus is an investment operations platform built for venture funds to manage deal pipelines, fund data, communication, and internal workflows in one system. It supports complex, multi-strategy operations by bringing structure to how teams track, coordinate, and act on investment activity.
Context
I joined Orthrus after being approached by the team on LinkedIn. Within two weeks, I was onboarded and immediately started working across an already live platform with a few active users.
My initial focus was split across two parallel tracks: refining existing product surfaces that were straining as the platform scaled, while simultaneously scoping and designing new features. This required ramping understanding existing design and technical constraints, and making improvements without disrupting established user workflows.
This context shaped much of my work at Orthrus, balancing speed, system integrity, and long-term scalability from day one.
The Challenge
Orthrus had grown into a broader operating system for capital formation, but its UI and experience were still optimized for an earlier, simpler version of the product. As new capabilities were introduced, the lack of structural clarity began to impact usability, scalability, and future development. Hence the need for improvement and restructure.
Constraints
Designing Orthrus meant working with some realities. Early users already had established mental models and workflows. Features were shipping continuously, increasing surface area. Access was role-based, meaning the same interface behaved differently depending on context.
On top of that, technical capabilities shaped what could change quickly and what required slower updates. These constraints were the framework that helped make each design decision intentional
PHASE ONE - REFINING THE FOUNDATIONS
Before Orthrus could meaningfully grow, its core surfaces needed to be clearer, more predictable, and more cohesive. “Foundations” in this context meant navigation, hierarchy, core workflows, and the mental models users relied on daily. Refinement wasn’t only about visuals, it was about removing ambiguity, reducing cognitive load, and creating a system users could trust as complexity increased.
The Side Navigation
As Orthrus expanded beyond a single workflow, the sidebar became the primary way which users accessed pipelines, funds, communication tools, and analytics. However, the existing navigation UI was outdated, reflected feature accumulation rather than user intent, making it harder for users understand hierarchy, or move confidently between related tasks.
Before introducing new system capabilities, the navigation needed to become a scalable, predictable foundation rather than a static list of links.
Redesign Approach
I approached the sidebar as a navigation system, not just a UI component. This meant defining a clear information architecture, establishing reusable navigation primitives, and designing states and behaviors that can scale with future features without breaking anything.
Key decisions included:
Separating primary navigation, secondary (child) navigation, and flyouts
Designing the sidebar as a collapsible system with expanded and collapsed states
Treating each nav item as a component with defined variants and interaction states, rather than a one-off visual element
Early Orthrus sideNav
Orthrus SideBar Redesigned
Component Architecture
The redesigned sidebar was broken into composable elements:
Nav item molecule with default, hover, active, and focused states
Expandable parent items that revealed child navigation without losing context
Fly-out panels to preserve access to deep navigation when collapsed
Consistent icon + label to maintain recognition across states
This allowed navigation behavior to remain predictable regardless of depth or screen status
The Homepage
Initial pilot testing with a small set of companies revealed that while the homepage surfaced relevant data, it wasn’t effectively supporting decision-making or action.
On the main dashboard, key sections like tasks, activities, meetings, and calls were presented in a single, long scrollable list. Although this ensured visibility, it made prioritisation difficult. Important information blended together, requiring users to scroll extensively to identify what mattered most, with no clear visual hierarchy to guide attention.
In addition, when users land on a screen without data, there is little to no guidance on what to do next. The absence of empty states, prompts, or contextual actions meant the dashboard did not support progression especially for new or less frequent users.
Orthrus Home page before Improvement
Impoving the Homepage: From Linear Scroll to Modular System Architecture
I redesigned the Orthrus dashboard from a linear activity feed into a modular, state-driven system that prioritises urgency, clarifies ownership, and handles empty and edge states, making it scalable for future updates
I restructured the dashboard into role-based modules (Tasks, Meetings, Deals, Emails, Broadcasts, Invites), each with its own section
Why this matters
Reduces cognitive load by chunking information
Allows users to mentally “switch modes”
Makes the dashboard scalable as more features are added
Edge Case Considerations
If one module has no data (e.g., no meetings this week), it doesn’t collapse the entire dashboard
Modules can independently show empty states without affecting others
Prevents a lot of data source from one section to the experience
Orthrus Home page redesign
Rationale behind some design decision
Introducing time based grouping ( I.E This week and Upcoming) does the following;
Supports how fund managers naturally plan work (now vs next)
Prevents future tasks from distracting from urgent execution
Makes the dashboard useful at both daily and weekly cadences
Edge Case Considerations
If “This Week” has no items, the system gracefully promotes Upcoming Activities
Avoids empty screens while still preserving urgency hierarchy
Organizing tasks into state driven tabs (I.e Internal, Assigned, To-do, To review) meant that
Decision Fatigue would be reduced by clarifying actions
Separates “I need to do this” from “I need to review this”
Makes the dashboard useful at both daily and weekly cadences
Edge Case Considerations
If “This Week” has no items, the system gracefully promotes Upcoming Activities
Avoids empty screens while still preserving urgency hierarchy
Scalability and Future-Proofing
The redesign was intentionally built to scale:New modules can be added without rethinking the layout
Existing modules can grow without breaking hierarchy
Data density can increase without collapsing usability
Empty State Iterations
The Email Builder
Previously, the email builder dropped users into a blank canvas while essential metadata such as recipients, sender details, and subject was in a separate section. This separation was unfamiliar as the familiar flow of email creation is to add metadata first before adding content. This flow required users to constantly switch contexts just to complete a single send. Also, new users might find it difficult getting s tarted with building a mail..as not everyone is familiar with building a mail but rather with writing a mail.
Email Builder Before Iteration
Impoving the Email Builder Design
I redesigned the email builder from a blank, tool-first canvas into a guided, component-based workflow that reduces errors, supports new users, and scales for advanced use cases like templates and automation.
Email Builder After Iteration
Introduced a Get Started Screen
Before this redesign, Orthrus had no dedicated onboarding experience. Users were dropped straight into the dashboard, users were expected to self-discover critical actions thus creating friction, confusion, and a high risk of early drop-off.
I introduced a dedicated “Get Started” experience that guides users through a small set of high-impact actions, turning the first session into a structured activation flow instead of an overwhelming exploration task.
Driving Engagement Through Clarity
These redesigns collectively reshape Orthrus from a set of powerful tools into a more cohesive system. By clarifying priorities, guiding first actions, and reducing unnecessary context switching, the product better supports how users actually work day to day.
The result is a more focused dashboard experience, faster task completion, and increased engagement across core workflows, laying the foundation for stronger retention and, more meaningful product sessions.
