A direction, not a blueprint.
Execit came to IVI with an idea: a platform where experienced executives could offer fractional mentoring to early-stage startups and SMEs who need senior expertise but can't afford a full-time hire. There were no wireframes, no validated features, and no defined user journey — just a two-sided market opportunity and a lot of open questions.
The competitive landscape made the opportunity clear. Platforms like Upwork and Fiverr skew toward junior and mid-level roles. Mentorship platforms like MentorCruise and ADPList lack execution accountability. Enterprise Ireland provides government-backed mentorship but offers no commercial structure. Execit had a real gap to fill — but only if the platform understood both sides deeply.
My job was to answer the open questions through research before touching any design tool. No assumptions, no shortcuts.
Ten interviews. Two sides. One central problem.
Two-sided platforms fail when you design for one side. Before building anything, I needed to understand the motivations, fears, and workflows of both executives and the startups hiring them. I ran 10 structured interviews — 5 executives with fractional or consultancy experience, and 5 SME founders and growth-phase operators.
I transcribed every interview, used AI to surface initial themes, then reviewed each theme against my own reading of the transcripts — adjusting where patterns felt oversimplified or missed the emotional texture of what people were actually saying.
Trust is the real barrier — on both sides. Executives were reluctant to work with the wrong clients. Vague briefs, missed payments, and reputational risk were recurring fears.
SMEs don't know what they need. Founders knew they needed senior help but didn't know how to scope it. The brief creation problem was as significant as the matching problem.
Both sides want structure, not just a marketplace. Execit's differentiation was the scaffolding: contracts, milestones, payment protection — not just matching.
Referrals beat discovery. Executives trust referrals over job boards. Social proof mechanisms needed to be built in from day one.
"You have to be careful about who you work with. There's a lot of noise out there. I prefer referrals, not job boards."
— Executive interviewee"You need the right resource, but your requirements have to be incredibly detailed. If you're loose, you end up in a bad place."
— SME founder intervieweeFour personas. Two markets.
The research consolidated into four distinct personas — two on each side of the marketplace. Each had different motivations, different fears, and different definitions of success.
Purpose over pay. Wants cultural fit and meaningful impact. Needs reassurance that the client is serious and prepared before committing.
Stability plus flexibility. Runs 2–3 fractional roles simultaneously. Wants clear scope, clean contracts, and reliable payments above all else.
Pre-revenue, resource-constrained. Needs hand-holding through scoping. Risk-averse — needs strong trust signals before committing to any spend.
Post-funding, scaling fast. Values speed of matching and executive credibility. Willing to pay for quality if the signal is strong enough.
Five red routes that do the real work.
From the research, I identified the five critical journeys Execit needed to nail before anything else — the backbone of the IA and wireframe scope.
Two journeys. One cohesive system.
The wireframes covered the two primary first-time user journeys. Both converge on the Statement of Work as the shared contract anchoring the engagement.
Executive journey: Receive curated opportunity → review brief with vetting signals → review SoW terms → accept or decline → schedule intro call → finalise SoW.
Client journey: Sign up → create guided brief → review auto-generated SoW → receive curated matches → book intro call → select executive → finalise SoW.
From research to pitch deck.
The prototype was delivered and used by Execit in their investor pitch deck and for early testing with prospective users on both sides of the platform. A Phase 2 — visual design and technical scoping — is under consideration pending further funding.
The AI-assisted synthesis worked well for speed but occasionally flattened emotional nuance. In retrospect, I'd run a quick affinity mapping session with the founders mid-synthesis to pressure-test the themes before they hardened into persona definitions.
I'd also push earlier for Execit to define their monetisation model clearly — earlier clarity would have sharpened the payment flow wireframes significantly.