Dashery MVP
Dashery is a B2B2C platform that allows creators to build personalized storefronts to easily sell custom merch to their fans.
As lead designer on a small cross-functional team, I guided the design vision for a white-label storefront solution that would give mid-tier creators brand ownership and personalized support. The MVP shipped in 6 months and launched in January 2025.
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Company
Dashery (Articore)
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Industry
E-Commerce (B2B2C)
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Platform
Website
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Project
Case Study
Project Context
The Growth and Community teams identified an opportunity gap at the intersection of three converging forces: the expanding creator economy, a strong affiliate base actively requesting features the TeePublic marketplace couldn’t support, and increasing competition.
I was the lead designer on a small, cross-functional team alongside a director of product, a director of engineering, a product designer, and two technical leads, to build and ship a new creator-focused platform within a 6-month timeline.
Problem Space
Inadequate creator features: TeePublic’s artist tools were built for a marketplace, not a brand-building platform. Creators had no control over their storefront’s domain, colors, layout, or pricing margins.
Competitor complexity: TeePublic’s simplicity was a core positive sentiment among artists on the platform, and we aimed build a new creator experience that continued to feel easy to use.
Reusing infrastructure: The creator MVP had to utilize existing design system and order fulfillment infrastructure, which meant stretching current functionality to support an all-new platform.
Discovery & Research
The team approached discovery continuously through multiple channels. Surveys provided early quantitative signal about what creators needed most, while account managers, who maintained ongoing relationships with artists and affiliates, surfaced firsthand feedback about platform pain points.
I helped guide user advisory board discussions with a curated group of creators to validate product decisions in real time. This feedback loop helped ensure the MVP reflected real creator needs rather than internal assumptions and priorities.
Defining The Scope
Scoping the MVP was a cross-functional effort between product, engineering, and design. Working within a 6-month timeline and the constraint of building on existing infrastructure, the team pressure-tested each potential feature against time, resources, and the core validation goal.
Non-essential features were cut entirely for launch, and rather than building custom infrastructure, the team opted to use third-party services to keep the timeline intact. What remained was a tightly-focused roadmap: functional Dashery storefronts, one-click setup for existing TeePublic artists, custom subdomains, dark and light theme support, custom pricing margins, and store publishing controls.
Design & Iteration
The TeePublic team was already working on a storefront redesign for TeePublic when discussions around a new creator platform began to emerge. Many of the unused ideas explored for the TeePublic redesign found a new place in Dashery.
By prototyping Dashery stores using existing TeePublic components, icons, and interaction patterns, the team was able to get a working prototype in just a few days, while simultaneously validating the concept with users quickly.
One meaningful tradeoff was that the storefront management experience initially lived within TeePublic rather than as a fully standalone experience. The team knew it would introduce some confusion for users, but it was an acceptable amount of friction for the short term.
Cross-Functional Collaboration & Handoff
The team held daily standups to keep everyone aligned on timelines and blockers, consistently paired on features daily, and reduced weekly meetings.
Product discovery for each product initiative kicked off in a staggered timeline, with significant overlap between design and development at any given point. This kept the team moving fast, but there were moments where new learnings from one feature kickoff surfaced constraints that required revisiting design decisions already in progress elsewhere.
The team navigated these challenges by keeping communication open and committing to unblocking each other’s work.
📊 Project Results & Impact
The MVP validated Dashery’s model by expanding TeePublic’s creator base, with the majority of users being new. This earned continued investment for the platform.
1,200+ active selling accounts since inception, with the majority new to the Articore ecosystem
ATG ASX 1HFY26
Generated $1.3M in marketplace revenue in its first year
ATG ASX 1HFY26
Disclaimer: Some specific project metrics are confidential.
