5+ years designing digital products
Your product got you this far. Now it needs to grow with you. I help growing startups make better product decisions so they can reduce design debt, build stronger systems, and keep shipping with confidence.
2 spot available in Sept.
Hi, I'm Joneil and I am a product and visual designer of 5 years specializing in early-stage startups.
I run halo studio where I turn design chaos into something scalable. Learn more.
Let's work together!
GO TO ABOUT
"Working with Joneil frees up your cognitive load. You stop second-guessing design decisions and trust they'll be the right ones."
Jessie & David, Co-founders @ Werk.dance
the problem
Your product isn't failing on execution. It's failing on strategy.
As startups move beyond MVP, product decisions get harder, but shipping more features or moving faster rarely fixes what's actually wrong.
If this feels familiar, you're probably not struggling with design. You're missing clarity, coherence, or constraint somewhere in your product strategy.
What it feels like to build your product
"We're shipping features, but adoption isn't improving."
Your team is moving quickly, but you're not always confident you're building the right things.
"Every new feature feels like starting from scratch."
Without shared patterns and systems, your team keeps rebuilding what they've already solved.
"The way we built our MVP doesn't scale anymore."
What worked for a team of three starts breaking as your company grows and more product decisions need to be made.
What your team feels like
"Everyone has a different idea of what we're building."
Without shared systems, every team starts solving the same problem differently.
"Every week feels urgent."
Customer requests, investor feedback, bugs, and new ideas constantly reshape the roadmap, making it difficult to build intentionally.
What it feels like to be the founder
"Every important product decision comes back to me."
Your team shouldn't need you to move every product decision forward.
"I'm spending more time managing product than leading my company."
The ultimate founder fatigue.
you need to know
These aren't design problems. They're strategy problems.
They show up in one of three places: Clarity, Coherence, or Constraint, rarely all three at once, which is actually good news. It means the fix is narrower than it feels.
They don't go away on their own. The longer they sit, the more they cost.
That's the lens I use with every founder, starting day one, before a single screen gets redesigned.
work with halo studio
Better products aren't built alone.
Great products aren't built by passing work from one team to the next. They're built through conversations, collaboration, and shared ownership.
halo studio works as an embedded product partner, participating in the conversations where product decisions are made—not just the handoffs that happen afterward.
Build the right things
Clarify priorities, validate ideas, and make sure your team solves the right problems before investing time in building them.
Design with confidence
Design product experiences grounded in user needs—not assumptions.
Build systems that scale
Turn reusable patterns, documentation, and workflows into systems your team can rely on as it grows.
Work as one team
Work alongside founders, product, and engineering so better decisions happen earlier—not after handoffs.
"Every sprint should leave your company more capable than it was before."
Joneil, Founder @ halo studio
take action
Choose how you want to work together
Every engagement starts with a Product Deep Dive.
From there, we'll talk through your company and goals on the discovery call and figure out together whether a Standout Sprint or an Embedded Partnership is the right next step.
Diagnose
Product Deep Dive
Find out what's holding your product back—and exactly what to do next.
Best for
Founders who want an expert assessment of their product before deciding what to build next.
By the end of the week, you'll know:
✓ What's creating friction in your product
✓ Where your UX, visual language, and product systems are breaking down
✓ Which problems are worth fixing first
✓ What to leave alone for now
✓ What your team should do next
You'll get:
✓ Product Health Score
✓ Expert product & UX audit
✓ Prioritized action plan
✓ Strategic recommendations
✓ Live walkthrough of the findings
HOW EVERY ENGAGEMENT BEGINS ⭐️
Solve
Standout Sprint
Make your product feel clear, cohesive, and ready for what's next.
Best for
For founders who need a specific part of their product to look better, feel more distinct, or work better.
You'll get
✓Visual and UX redesign of a focused product experience
✓ UX direction + production-ready designs
✓ A cohesive visual language
✓ Reusable UI patterns
✓ Developer-ready documentation & handoff
Typical projects
✓ Visual redesign of an existing product
✓ Redesigning onboarding or key user flow
✓ Refreshing an existing design system's visual language
✓ Preparing a product for launch or fundraising
Starts with a Product Deep Dive
Starting at $3,500
2–3 weeks
"Make this product feel right."
ONGOING partnership
Embedded Product Partnership
Build better product together.
Best for
Startups that want a long-term product partner to guide decisions, design, and systems as they grow.
Typical Projects
✓ Ongoing product design
✓ Product strategy & decision-making
✓ Design system & visual language
✓ Product/design/engineering alignment
✓ Continuous product improvement
Starts with a Product Deep Dive
Starting at $6,500/mo
3-mo minimum
"Stay with us and help us build better."
start here
Not sure where to start? We'll help you choose.
Every engagement starts with a Product Deep Dive. During our discovery call, we'll talk through your company, goals, and what you're trying to solve—then figure out together whether a Standout Sprint or an Embedded Partnership is the right next step.
Continue into an Embedded Partnership within 30 days and your $2,200 Product Deep Dive investment is fully credited toward your first month.
behind the curtain
Why I built halo studio
I founded halo studio because I kept seeing the same pattern across startups.
Product design has changed. AI and no-code tools mean anyone can spin up a screen, a flow, even a working product in a weekend. But building fast and building something that can actually scale are two different things. The bottleneck isn't execution anymore. It's whether the right design thinking is behind it.
Teams weren't struggling because they lacked talent. They were struggling because product decisions lived in people's heads instead of shared systems. Founders became the bottleneck, engineering rebuilt work, and everyone worked hard, just not always in the same direction.
After 5 years designing products alongside founders, product teams, and engineers, I realized I didn't want to build another design studio.
I wanted to build a different kind of partnership.
One that helps startups make better product decisions, put the right systems in place, and leave every team more capable than when we started.
That's why halo studio works as an embedded product partner.
My goal isn't just to improve the product you're building today. It's to improve how your team builds products tomorrow.
Joneil
Founder, halo studio
5+ years in startup product design
THEY BUILt better products with me
“
Working with Joneil frees up your cognitive load. You stop second-guessing design decisions and trust they'll be the right ones. She has a spot-on instinct for how people move through a product, while making it look and feel great.
She's also incredibly collaborative, easy to work with, and always moving things forward. If you get the chance to work with her, take it.
Jessie M. & David O.
— Co-founders, Werk
“
Joneil communicated design intent clearly and made handoffs incredibly efficient, so it was always clear what we were building and why.
She was collaborative, thoughtful about engineering tradeoffs, and consistently pushed for reusable patterns over one-off solutions. Her attention to detail made the product feel polished and intentional.
Hector L.
— founding software engineer
“
In our time working together, Joneil was instrumental in translating product ideas into production-ready designs. She was an excellent collaborator, bringing a wide range of design explorations to our reviews and clearly articulating the UX and UI tradeoffs behind each decision.
She was also a key contributor to our design-to-development workflow, writing clear handoff documentation and aligning our Figma design system with our component library in code to uphold design quality as the product scaled. She's the kind of designer whose impact shows up well beyond the interface.
Steven H.
— Product Lead
the method: Design Operating System (Design OS)
Every great product team needs a
shared way of working.
01 / align
Understand where the company is going before changing how it designs.
Outcome: Everyone agrees on where the company is headed.
02 / Diagnose
Understand how your design currently works.
Outcome: A complete map of what's broken, what's working, and what's missing.
03 / Architect
What operating system does your company actually need?
This includes: Design system strategy, Design principles, Documentation strategy, AI workflow strategy, etc.
04 / Codify
Create consistency at scale
This includes: Design system, Components, Patterns, Documentation, Product features, Accessibility improvements, Developer handoffs
05 / Optimize
Once the system exists, let's improve it.
Questions become: Where are engineers getting stuck? What's slowing releases? What keeps getting redesigned?
06 / DELIVER
The company becoms more capable every month.
Create: Documentation, Decision logs, Design Brain, AI workflows, Team guidelines, Office hours, Critiques
FAQ
Things you might be wondering
I'll talk through your company and goals on the discovery call and recommend the best option for you.
How is Halo Studio different from an agency or freelancer?
Halo Studio isn't a traditional agency that takes a brief and hands back designs, and it's not hourly freelance execution. I work alongside your team—participating in product conversations, helping make decisions, designing the right solutions, and building systems your team can continue using. The goal isn't just to deliver better screens; it's to help your team build better products with more confidence.
We already have a design system. Do we still need Halo Studio?
A design system can make your product more consistent, but it doesn't solve every product problem. Halo Studio looks at how your team makes product decisions, how design and engineering collaborate, and whether your systems actually support the product you're trying to build. If your existing system is working well, we'll build on it rather than reinvent it.
Why can't we just move faster?
Because moving faster isn't always the same as making progress. When teams lack clarity around what to build, why they're building it, or how pieces of the product should work together, moving faster can simply mean creating more rework. Halo Studio helps your team create the clarity and systems needed to move with more confidence, not just more speed.
How involved will you be?
The Product Deep Dive is a focused one-week diagnostic. The Standout Sprint is a focused two-week design engagement. The Embedded Partnership is much more collaborative...
Can I reach you outside regular hours?
Halo Studio isn't an on-call design service. I'll establish communication and working hours with your team at the beginning of an engagement, with communication primarily happening through our agreed channels. For an embedded partnership, you'll have regular touchpoints and a predictable cadence for reviews and decisions.
What if we don't agree on a design direction?
That's part of the process. Design decisions shouldn't come down to personal preference. I'll explain the reasoning behind different directions, the tradeoffs involved, and how each option supports the product and user goals. If we disagree, we'll use the problem we're trying to solve to guide the decision—not whoever has the strongest opinion.
Do I need an internal product team?
Halo Studio can work with founders, engineers, product teams, or existing designers. The right setup depends on the engagement and where your company is today. For an Embedded Partnership especially, the strongest results happen when there's an engaged founder or team that can collaborate and make decisions quickly.
How do we get started?
Start by booking a discovery call. We'll talk about your company, product, team, what's working, where you're stuck, and what you're trying to accomplish. Every engagement begins with a Product Deep Dive—from there, we'll figure out together whether a Standout Sprint or an Embedded Partnership is the right next step. If we're not the right fit, I'll tell you.
Do we have to start with the Product Deep Dive?
Yes. Every engagement starts with a Product Deep Dive—it's how we get aligned on what's actually going on before deciding what to do about it. From there, we'll figure out together whether a Standout Sprint or an Embedded Partnership is the right next step.
What's included in the Product Deep Dive?
You'll get a Product Health Score, UX and product audit, prioritized roadmap, strategic recommendations, and a live walkthrough with an action plan. It's designed to tell you what's holding your product back, what to prioritize, and what to do next—without committing to a larger engagement. $1,900 · 1 week.
What's the difference between the Product Foundation Sprint and the Embedded Partnership?
The Standout Sprint is for a specific problem with a defined outcome. It's a flat two weeks at $3,500.
What happens after the 3-month minimum?
After the initial three months, we'll review what we've accomplished, what your product needs next, and whether continuing together makes sense. There's no expectation that you stay indefinitely. The goal is to build a stronger product and a more capable team—not create dependency on Halo Studio.
let me organize your design chaos.
Let's work together.
Book a discovery call
halo studio
Product Design partnership for founder-led creator economy startups moving beyond MVP.
FOLLOW