I'm Mara — a freelance product designer helping early-stage and scaling teams turn messy problems into clear, considered software.
See selected workA mix of 0→1 products and redesigns of systems people rely on every day. Case studies available on request under NDA.
I've spent ten years designing products at companies like Spotify, Pleo and Framer — and the last four working independently with founders and product teams who need senior design without the overhead of a full-time hire.
My work sits at the intersection of research, interaction design and systems thinking. I like gnarly problems: dense data, regulated industries, workflows that have to be right the first time. I write, I prototype, and I'm happiest embedded alongside engineers.
When I'm not designing, I'm usually sailing badly on the Øresund or tending to an unreasonable number of houseplants.
Engagements typically run 6–16 weeks. I take on two clients at a time so each gets real attention.
Two to four focused weeks to take a fuzzy idea to a validated, high-fidelity prototype. Ideal before a fundraise or a build kickoff.
I join your team part-time as your senior product designer — in your Slack, in your standups, shipping every week alongside engineering.
Auditing, consolidating and documenting your UI into a system that's actually used — with tokens, components and governance that fit your stack.
A rigorous review of your product's usability, backed by user interviews, with a prioritised roadmap your team can act on immediately.
No ceremony for its own sake. A loop that gets tighter the more we learn.
Interviews, data, and a hard look at what's actually being asked. We agree what success looks like before any pixels.
Divergent sketches and rough flows. Lots of options, cheaply. The goal is to find the shape of the right answer fast.
Prototype, test with real users, iterate. Detail work on interaction, motion and copy until it feels inevitable.
Specs engineers actually want, pairing through implementation, and a measured launch so we know what worked.
Mara doesn't just design screens — she reshaped how we think about the product. Our activation rate went up 27% in the quarter after launch.
The first designer I've worked with who genuinely understood our engineering constraints. Specs were so clear we shipped a week early.
She asked questions no one on our team had thought to ask. Six months on, the agronomists still say the app "just makes sense."
Tell me a little about your product and where you're stuck. I reply to every message within two working days.
hello@maralindqvist.design