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Carta

Investor UX Redesign

Make portfolio the default level of work.

Role
Product Designer
Duration
2018 – 2020
Platform
Web · Enterprise SaaS
Team
Investor Services cross-functional team (PM, Engineering, Design)
Users
General Partners, Investment Team members, Investor Operations
Focus
Enterprise · FinTech · B2B

I owned research synthesis, information architecture, and end-to-end portfolio UX.

Investor UX Redesign

Overview

A homepage request became a three-phase product strategy: dashboard, portfolio management, then CRM.

Carta had company data. Investors needed portfolio answers.

3 phases
Dashboard → Management → CRM
2 shipped
Dashboard and management
WIP
Investor CRM

Problem

Company Pages Could Not Answer Portfolio Questions

Investors could inspect one company at a time, but not what changed across the fund or where attention was needed next.

  1. No portfolio-level change signal
  2. Core questions required navigation detours
  3. The landing page showed logos, not decisions

Core decision

Start at the Portfolio

I replaced the logos page with a holdings workspace where investors could scan, filter, compare, and act without dropping to company detail first.

Principles

  1. Portfolio metrics lead the hierarchy
  2. Filters stay attached to the table
  3. Summary rows keep scale visible while scanning
Portfolio context stays visible from filter to total.

Product evolution

Visibility Was Not Enough. Data Had to Be Editable.

Phase 2 moved from portfolio visibility to portfolio operations: edit investment details, preserve history, and make changes auditable.

  1. Edit cost, value, ownership, and share classes
  2. Keep the history behind every change
  3. Use the same portfolio structure for current and future work
Editability and history turn portfolio data into a source of truth.

Current state

Two Phases Shipped. CRM Next.

Dashboard and portfolio management shipped. The same architecture extended into scenario modeling, pre-deal companies, and investor CRM.

3 phases
One connected roadmap
2 shipped
Dashboard and management
Next
Scenario + CRM

Reflection

Key Learnings

  1. 01

    Start at the Decision Level

    Portfolio-first IA matched the level where investors actually worked.

  2. 02

    Phases Keep Strategy Shippable

    Each release delivered value without breaking the longer roadmap.

  3. 03

    Source of Truth Requires Editability

    Users trusted data they could correct and audit.

Next project

Capital Call Workflow

Carta

Read the case study→