Subtitle: Video Influencer Marketplace & Analytics Platform Role: Head of Design (Sole Designer) Timeline: 2018 → 2020 URL: https://hunterandbard.com/portfolio/vyrill
Spearheaded by Daina Reed prior to Hunter & Bard, this engagement established the entire design foundation for Vyrill from the ground up. By defining the product strategy and shipping 20+ screens for their dual-sided marketplace, Daina's work helped secure 'Cool Vendor' recognition from Gartner, laying the groundwork for the strategic frameworks we use at the agency today.
Brands struggled with fragmented workflows for influencer marketing, juggling multiple tools for discovery, communication, and licensing of user-generated video content. This inefficiency cost brands time and missed opportunities, while influencers lacked a centralized platform to monetize their content effectively.
While Vyrill had successfully built the core technology for video analytics, the user interface remained fragmented, hindering enterprise adoption. The mission was to build a foundational design architecture from the ground up. Meaning, establishing the company's first unified design system and research methodology. This wasn't just about adding features; it was about creating a scalable visual and functional language that could support a rapidly growing global marketplace.
Research across 10+ competitor platforms identified fragmented communication as the primary friction point for enterprise users. The solution involved architecting an integrated messaging system that consolidated discovery, negotiation, and licensing into a single, unified interface.
Impact: This strategic consolidation eliminated the need for external tools, allowing brands to move from initial discovery to signed licensing agreements within a single session.
Research revealed micro-influencers (10k-25k followers) drove 3.8% engagement vs. 2.0% for larger accounts. The product strategy was intentionally pivoted to prioritize discovery and filtering systems for these high-engagement creators, providing brands with a higher ROI-per-dollar spent.
Impact: The platform's discovery engine became optimized for high-value outcomes rather than vanity metrics, directly influencing Vyrill's competitive positioning in the creator economy.
Competitive analysis showed brands needed confidence in influencer authenticity. Interfaces were designed showcasing Vyrill's proprietary metrics: Brand Safety scores, bot detection, sentiment analysis, and FTC compliance indicators.
Impact: This visual data framework became a patent-pending technology and a key market differentiator, cited by analysts as a primary reason for Vyrill's \"Cool Vendor\" status.
"She researched the market place and use cases, collaborated with our engineers and marketers very effectively to entirely re-design our (complex) platform. Her strengths are the ability to step back and consider the 'big picture' to inform the design and product interactions while also paying attention to detail." — Barbara Rosario, CTO & Co-Founder at Vyrill Inc.
"Daina was one of our first early UI/UX designers on the team, who helped us start defining our product design and strategy at Vyrill. Strongly recommend Daina. She has both startup and big corp experience." — Ajay Bam, CEO & Co-Founder at Vyrill Inc.
Hunter & Bard is a San Francisco-based B2B strategy consultancy founded in 2011 by Shira Abel. We help deep-tech and enterprise SaaS companies fix their positioning, sharpen their messaging, and close $100K+ deals.
We work with B2B leaders who are tired of being overlooked, underestimated, or mistaken for their competitors. Our specialty is turning complex, technical products into clear, compelling stories that win enterprise deals.
We believe that perception drives revenue. If your buyers can't tell you apart from the next vendor in 30 seconds, you have a positioning problem — not a marketing problem. We fix that.
Perception = (Story × Visibility) ÷ Noise
This framework drives everything we do. Your story has to be sharp. Your visibility has to be strategic. And you have to cut through the noise — not add to it.
Shira Abel — Founder & CEO. Kellogg MBA. 20+ years in B2B marketing. Former CMO. Keynote speaker. Published in Forbes, HuffPost, and Wired. Specialist in enterprise positioning and perception strategy.
Daina Reed — Founding Designer & Partner. 15+ years in product and brand design. Former Senior Product Designer at Dun & Bradstreet. Specialist in enterprise UX, visual identity, and design systems.