I’m a fractional product designer.
I work with small teams building software around complicated, high-stakes work: lending, compliance, healthcare, construction, and other places where documents, deadlines, and unclear handoffs can cause real problems.
I work on the gap between “the technology can do this” and “this is how a person gets their job done.” That is where I come in.
Am I the right fit for you?
I have a viable product idea, but the team cannot decide what to build first.
You have the capability, the customer problem, and enough evidence to move. But the team keeps circling “What if…,” “What about…,” and “Could it be…?”
The real issue is: every possibility is getting treated as equally important, so nothing moves.
I need someone to turn the problem into a clear first move.
You want a leader who can make sense of the research, show the tradeoffs, make a recommendation, and keep designers and engineers moving together.
You do not need every answer on day one. You need a clear place to start, something real to learn from, and a team that can keep moving.
This is probably a fit if you need senior product leadership before you are ready to hire full-time.
See the Drawhub case study →What I do
I help teams turn complicated work into software people can actually use.
Most of the work I do starts with a process that is held together by some mix of spreadsheets, PDFs, email, tribal knowledge, and people checking in on each other.
The team may know there is a problem. They may have a rough product, a backlog, or a dozen feature ideas. But they have not agreed on how the work really moves through the system—or what the product needs to do about it.
I get into that with you.
I talk to the people doing the work. I map the workflow. I look at where a document gets lost, where someone has to stop and ask a question, where a status means different things to different people, and where the “simple” feature gets complicated in real life.
Then I help the team make decisions and build the right thing.
Not just screens. The workflow behind the screens.
About me
I’m Nathan Thomas.
I have spent more than ten years designing software across fintech, healthcare, enterprise SaaS, and early-stage products.
I have worked on loan origination, compliance workflows, clinical tools, portfolio monitoring, design systems, and construction-lending software. Different industries, but usually the same underlying job: take a process that is difficult to understand and make it clear enough for people to move through with confidence.
I am methodical. I care about the details. I also know a team cannot wait forever for a perfect answer.
So I do the work, show what I found, make a recommendation, and help the team move.
If you are building software around complicated work, let’s talk.
You do not need a perfect brief. You just need a real problem, access to the people who understand it, and a willingness to figure it out.