Independent Design Strategist
Service design and experience strategy for emerging brands and growing businesses.
I help you see your business as your customers experience it—then design interventions that actually work.
Your Business Deserves Better Than Guesswork
You know something isn’t working. Conversion is low. Customers churn. Operations feel chaotic. Teams are misaligned. But symptoms aren’t strategies.
Most businesses get advice that sounds smart but doesn’t translate to action. Dense reports that never leave the inbox. Frameworks that don’t fit your reality. Recommendations that assume resources you don’t have.
You need someone who understands strategy and can help you execute it in the real constraints of your business.
Research-Backed Strategy Meets Practical Implementation
I use service design research, behavioral analysis, and systems mapping to identify what’s actually holding your business back—then design solutions your team can implement.
My approach:
- Multi-stakeholder research to understand the full system (customers, team, operations)
- Service blueprints and journey maps that reveal hidden friction points
- Behavioral design interventions backed by evidence, not assumptions
- Strategic frameworks that guide decision-making for 6-18 months
- Implementation support—I don’t just hand you a deck and disappear
I’ve worked across healthcare services, B2B commerce, membership platforms, e-commerce brands, and professional associations. Every engagement is scoped to your specific challenge and capacity.
I also teach interaction design and strategic thinking at the University of Toronto, where I develop frameworks for working in ambiguous problem spaces that I apply directly to client work.
Real Businesses, Real Outcomes
Healthcare Service Redesign
A healthcare services organization’s rapid growth created workflow complexity that needed systematic analysis to untangle. Through contextual research with 13 stakeholders across 5 groups, I mapped the complete case management ecosystem and identified 7 critical friction points. Designed strategic interventions across stakeholder coordination, billing automation, and progress tracking.
Result: 47% improvement in case throughput efficiency, enabling the business to scale through effective delegation.
B2B Marketplace Strategic Pivot
A Series A B2B commerce startup was building in what they believed was an ideal market. Competitive evaluation of 5 market leaders in that industry revealed they were competing in the wrong space. Proposed a product roadmap fit for the desired market, modeling requirements through interactive MVP prototype.
Result: Secured investor approval for new strategic direction.
Membership Platform Conversion Strategy
A professional organization’s strong brand equity wasn’t translating to digital conversion – needed strategic intervention to bridge that gap. Research revealed the barrier wasn’t usability—it was trust. Designed trust-transference intervention using community social proof and ROI transparency, then created design principles that guided platform development.
Result: New platform serving 5,000+ members with improved conversion rates.
How We Can Work Together
Strategy Engagements
Service design research, competitive intelligence, behavioral interventions, and strategic frameworks for emerging brands and growing businesses
Strategy + Implementation
Research, design, and build. For clients who need both strategic direction and execution—platforms, workflows, websites, systems
Focused Consulting
Conversion audits, positioning workshops, competitive analysis, design systems. Targeted engagements for specific challenges
Pricing is consultation-based and scoped to your needs. Past projects have ranged from $3,000 (focused consulting) to $15,000+ (strategy and implementation).
Strategy in Practice, Not Just Theory
I’m Seemin Syed, an independent design strategist working with emerging brands and growing businesses.
I believe strategy without implementation is just expensive advice. That’s why I combine research-backed frameworks with hands-on execution—whether that’s redesigning workflows, building platforms, or creating the systems that help businesses scale.
I teach strategic design thinking at the University of Toronto and apply those same frameworks to client engagements. Currently accepting select projects while exploring senior design strategist roles at consultancies working on complex, multi-stakeholder challenges.