Overview
Oxygen, a B2B startup from the Y Combinator W2022 cohort, focuses on creating a secure access sharing platform for every manager to share and monitor access with other companies. As the sole designer on the team, I spearheaded the creation of Oxygen, crafting everything from the design system to building both the desktop application and web page from scratch.
the problem
- Data collaboration is a strong demand for modern SaaS companies working with their enterprise customers.
- It is currently extremely difficult to exchange information between enterprises due to different privacy policies.
- Security features to provision access for external users or 3rd party vendors are valued at great cost to companies.
My Role
I was responsible for building the brand of Oxygen from defining its ethos and principles to constructing the design system, which became the foundation for both the website and application platform.
research
Data loss and data leakage is the top concern for organizations as 56.8% of the shared sensitive information are to external users. With these concerns, companies have a few options to choose from, but they are either potential security risks or extremely lengthy processes.
the goal
To avoid falling into the pitfall of having a time consuming process and/or sacrificing security, we wanted our platform to:
- Save time from the back-and-forth legal and IT setup before any external collaboration occurs
- Provision access intelligently for external users
- Balance security and ease of use, providing access provisioning and simplifying authorization
ideation
With these goals in mind, I started building the design system and developing the visual language for Oxygen.
testing
After building out the initial blocks of the design system, I worked in parallel to develop the website and application. Throughout this process, I was testing with accessibility (a11y) in mind while staying true to our established values.
testing
Regrettably, due to the constraints of an NDA, I am unable to publicly showcase the entirety of the final product. However, I am delighted to share a glimpse of what I’ve created within the permissible boundaries of the agreement.
reflection
Working as the sole designer at Oxygen was challenging yet rewarding, particularly with the extensive cross-team communication required with engineers to ensure a product that satisfied everyone. This experience was transformative on a personal and professional level as I immersed myself in the creation of the design system, which catalyzed my new found passion in creating systematic design. Delving into accessibility (a11y) also expanded my knowledge base significantly, and I’m eager to further expand on these skills in future endeavors.