Case Study — Product & UX Strategy

CheckingIn
From "Many Hats" to
Scaled Design Leadership

UI/UX Designer & Product Owner (Co-PO) · 2022

Role

UI/UX Lead & Co-Product Owner

Sector

Mental Health · Indigenous Communities

Year

2022

Scope

Product Strategy · White-Label Design · Research

01 — Origin

Joining at inception — and wearing every hat.

I joined CheckingIn at its inception. Because the startup lacked a structured team in the early days, I functioned simultaneously as UI/UX Lead and Co-Product Owner — shaping the product vision while also defining how it would be built and shipped.

As the company scaled and the team formalized, I transitioned to focusing exclusively on Product Design, ensuring the vision we built together survived the scale.

02 — The Strategic Pivot

Three moves that redefined what CheckingIn was.

Cultural Migration

Spearheaded the pivot from a generic corporate HR tool to a culturally resonant mental health platform for Indigenous Nations.

White-Label Architecture

Designed a modular system that allowed for rapid deployment across different Nations — giving every community a unique visual identity while sharing a unified core.

Stakeholder Orchestration

Partnered directly with the CEO to define the roadmap and manage the backlog, balancing technical feasibility with cultural sensitivity.

03 — Process

Working side by side with the CEO.

In the early days, CheckingIn didn't have an official Product Owner. I worked directly alongside the CEO on every feature — defining scope, prioritizing the backlog, and shaping concepts before they were ever handed off to the development team.

This Jira board reflects that process in practice: a Design Sprint where Nation-specific customization work, onboarding flows, and check-in features were tracked, refined, and moved through to delivery together.

CheckingIn Jira board — Design Sprint backlog managed alongside the CEO

Design Sprint board — backlog co-managed with the CEO before the team had a formal Product Owner.

04 — Research

Listening directly to the communities we built for.

Designing for cultural sensitivity meant designing with the communities themselves — not just for them. I conducted user testing sessions directly with participants to validate features like the Trust Tree and check-in flows before they shipped.

Mirian conducting user testing sessions for CheckingIn

Conducting user test sessions — validating trust and check-in flows with real participants.

05 — Product in Action

The Check-In Tool, in a Nation's App.

A quick walkthrough of the Check-In tool as it lives inside one of the deployed Nation apps — showing the white-label core in action, from daily check-ins to the Trust Tree experience.

Skills Applied