Blue Tip Investments

Blue Tip Investments was a DESIGNATION (now the Flatiron School) capstone project to design an equity crowdfunding platform for micro-investing in early-stage startups.

The design challenge was fundamentally one of access and trust: how do you bring non-expert investors into a space defined by complexity, jargon, and high barriers to entry — and make them feel informed enough to act? The project was fully conceptual, which meant the team could focus entirely on first-principles thinking about the problem rather than inheriting the constraints of an existing product.

The complete UX process documentation for this project lives at the direct link below.

Read the complete case study

    • Daryle M. // UI Designer

    • Caitlin B. // UX Designer

    • Tom K. // UX Designer

    • James R. // UX Designer

  • Led UI design within a four-person team spanning UX research and design. Conducted research interviews to map the specific knowledge gaps and psychological barriers preventing non-expert investors from participating in startup investing. Developed personas and opportunity frameworks, then moved through iterative prototyping and prototype-testing interviews to validate design decisions. Synthesized research into a platform concept centered on progressive disclosure of complexity — surfacing the information investors needed at each decision stage without overwhelming them at entry

  • The Blue Tip concept addressed the core tension in accessible investing: reducing the barrier to entry without dumbing down the information serious investors need. The resulting platform design demonstrated high-impact potential for bringing a new class of micro-investors into the startup ecosystem. As a fully conceptual project, it represents the clearest expression of pure design thinking in this portfolio — unconstrained by legacy systems, technical debt, or stakeholder compromise.

  • An obvious passion for the user-centered design process

    "Daryle is an exceptional UX professional with a keen eye for detail and an obvious passion for the user-centered design process. He has demonstrated a consistent ability to influence product strategy by leveraging data and insights, along with a natural ability to clearly articulate the rationale behind his decision-making. I have no doubt that Daryle's experience will help elevate any design/product team and I am thankful for the opportunity to have worked with him."

    — Dion Alexander, Product Design Consultant

  • The ability to translate complex problems into ultra-intuitive, elegant solutions

    "One of Daryle’s standout strengths is his ability to simplify complex problems and translate them into ultra-intuitive, elegant solutions. He demonstrated this by taking a predominantly paperwork, owner-to-renter process and transformed it into a mobile-first experience. He also brings a deep understanding of accessible design and was instrumental in guiding both our design and engineering teams toward building inclusive components that serve a broad range of users."

    — Ben Richard, Product Design Leader

  • Thinks about the entire 360 of his work

    "Daryle is a superb human being, kind, funny and caring. He brings those qualities, plus his incredible design skills, to his work day in and day out. Daryle thinks about the entire 360 of his work, from the impact his designs have on engineering to how the end user will experience them. He took the lead on accessibility for our team, continually sharing valuable guidance with designers and others in a way that was easy to understand and act on. On top of all that, he always has a smile and a music recommendation (probably someone you’ve never even heard of) at the ready."

    — Sara Womack, UX Writer & Content Strategist

  • The first designer I've worked with who was interested in the data behind the designs

    "Daryle is a very skilled designer who devotes a lot of time working with engineers and other designers to build sophisticated UI. He was involved with several projects I worked on, and I couldn't get over just how many designs he created that covered every aspect of the feature. His designs are clean and very pleasing to the eye. I appreciated that he was always available to answer questions whenever needed. He was also the first designer I've worked with who was interested in the data behind the designs. Highly recommended!"

    — Marty Miller, Senior Android Developer

  • Valiantly represents the customer throughout the product experience

    "I had the pleasure of working with someone that was both a brilliant designer and friend. Daryle and I collaborated for over a year across various projects and building out our design system. Daryle is incredible at providing thoughtful feedback, and I was most stricken by how valiantly he could represent the customer throughout the product experience. His positive attitude will be missed, but I look forward to following his impeccable DJ holiday sets. I highly recommend Daryle if you need a great design lead!"

    — Chije Wangati, Senior Product Designer