Product Strategy & Design

Focusing on consumer products in health, wellness, personal finance, travel, and media.

Vlad Margulis
Founder
I spent the first decade of my career in Product Design and UX at Adobe, Google, Pandora, and Airbnb. I then co-founded a health and fitness startup, which was acquired by Weight Watchers in 2015. For the last ten years, I have held executive leadership roles at Weight Watchers, Human Interest, and Course Hero.

As a consultant, I provide strategic product advice and design leadership. I help consumer companies define their product strategy, better understand their customers, align their user experience with top business metrics, scale their processes, and optimize engagement loops and growth funnels.
Recent collaborations
GE Healthcare Logo
Designing and prototyping innovative product ideas that leverage AI to streamline the oncology patient journey across key medical specialists.
AirHelp Logo
Helping develop mobile strategy and leading UX execution for a new app, collaborating closely with internal product leadership and an external agency.
Sunny Logo
Collaborating with leadership to shape product strategy and define the UX vision for a new platform focused on enhancing social connectedness.
The Lasso Logo
Leading design strategy for a two-sided marketplace for car sellers and buyers.
Kiltro Health Logo
Developing a new wellness app focused on habits that reduce stress & boost energy.
What our partners think

"Vlad played a crucial role in shaping the strategy. His extensive experience and knowledge were invaluable to the team, guiding critical decisions that have set the foundation for success."

Monika Laskowska-Kac

Head of Product
AirHelp

"VC Design Lab has been instrumental in bringing Sunny's first product to life, 0-1. Vlad embedded vetted Design/UXR talent and expertly guided design strategy to shape a complex science program into an engaging app."

"Vlad is an extraordinary Product Builder. He can understand customer needs, get a vision for how this translates into a business and then define and execute a product direction."

Sam Shank

Ex-Head of Guest Experience
Airbnb

“VC Design is a powerful combo of design strategy and execution. They quickly honed in on the right problems to solve to drive key metrics."

Nate Mihalovich

CEO
The Lasso

“Vlad has the intuition, insight, and creativity to turn product vision into sticky feature ideas. He's one of the best designers in building zero to one products."

We are not a traditional agency that works from the outside.
We work in close collaboration with in-house teams and partner to envision, design, prototype, and launch new products. We build multidisciplinary teams tailored to the specific needs of each project and organization. We understand that launching a new product is only the beginning, and we are committed to ensuring long-term value and success.
Services we provide
Product Strategy
I will collaborate with your team to transform market opportunities and customer insights into a comprehensive, actionable product strategy and compelling brand narrative that drives business success.
Product Design
I will help translate the product vision into a tangible user-centric product architecture, and a cohesive customer experience. I will guide the team in executing user flows, navigation, micro-interacitons and visual language to ensure everything aligns with customer’s goals and business objectives.
Engagement & Growth
I will evaluate the current product and identify key opportunities for engagement, retention and the first-time user experience, proposing new solutions for high-impact experiments. 
Team Building & Coaching
I will work with and evaluate your current team, identify gaps, and help fill openings through strategic hiring or tapping into my network of specialized contractors. Together, we’ll refine team dynamics, streamline processes, and align product and UX priorities with business goals — driving faster, more focused execution with greater confidence.
Fractional or Interim Head of Design
I will work with your leadership team 1-3 days per week to shape design strategy, lead execution, manage the design team, and recruit top talent for key roles. 
Our approach

Customer Insight

Customer insight is the foundation of our approach. We aim to gain a deep understanding of the customer and the nuances of their environment. We look at a spectrum of customer data to uncover insights and identify promising product opportunities.

Product Innovation

We focus on blending technology with design to push boundaries and redefine product categories. Our team thrives on leveraging data, the latest tech capabilities, and intuitive design thinking to meet current customer expectations and position products for future possibilities.

Product Design

Our approach is grounded in a strong connection with the customer and speed to market. We believe in lightning-fast iterations, maniacal attention to craft, and an unwavering pursuit of the most simple, intuitive solution that addresses core customer needs.

Previously built products at these companies
Airbnb LogoGoogle LogoGoogle LogoAdobe Logo