Optimizing an alternative investing platform
We partnered with SageStreet to expand access to commercial real estate investing while meeting the expectations of experienced investors.
Our work focused on creating a cohesive onboarding experience, improving transparency across the investing flow, and designing a scalable system that builds trust and supports long-term portfolio management.
Role
Creative director
Product design lead
Scope
Design system
Software UX/UI
Web design & dev
I served as the product design and brand lead, responsible for defining the user journey, exploring multiple conceptual paths, validating feasibility with engineering, and shaping the strategic design direction with leadership. Along the way, I built and mentored a supporting design team, partnered with compliance and legal partners, and helped translate complex financial structures into clear, human-centered digital experiences.
The engagement began with mapping the full investor lifecycle. Through this work, we differentiated the needs of first-time investors from repeat participants, revealing key friction points during accreditation, funding, and investment selection. These insights shaped how we structured the onboarding and educational moments within the product.
From there, I explored a broad range of conceptual paths — sketching early flows, prototyping alternative onboarding experiences, and testing approaches to risk and transparency disclosures. Competitive analysis of fintech and real estate investment platforms helped identify gaps in clarity, positioning, and trust-building, which guided our design hypotheses.
Collaboration was central. I worked daily with engineering to confirm feasibility and simplify complex requirements. Compliance and legal partners were embedded early to ensure regulatory alignment without burdening users. As the team grew, I hired and mentored additional designers, helping establish a shared design language and elevating the product’s craft level.
This momentum led to the creation of a scalable design system supporting form patterns, data visualization components, security cues, and standardized structures for investment summaries, performance dashboards, and risk disclosures. The system allowed us to iterate quickly as SageStreet expanded its offering and introduced new products.
The redesigned SageStreet platform delivered a streamlined investor onboarding experience that reduced friction and built trust from the first interaction. Clear, interactive portfolio dashboards gave investors immediate insight into performance, risk, and projected returns.
The new design system enabled SageStreet to scale confidently — supporting rapid product expansion and improving internal alignment across engineering, compliance, and leadership. By elevating transparency and usability, the platform positioned SageStreet as an approachable yet credible player in the alternative investment space, helping the business appeal to newer investors while meeting the expectations of seasoned ones.
© 2026 Pete Duncan
