Case studies
Selected case studies from Álvaro Velasco.
Six studies covering twenty years of work. Four are projects (setup, intervention, named decisions, results); the last two are methodologies I keep coming back to.
- Director of UX, senior design partner to the CEO · 2021 – present
The SellerCrowd contribution engine
3x MRR, 65x monthly contributions, zero new headcount.
Five years turning a stalled B2B community into a compounding engine. The depth-weighted gem economy, $19→$37→$47 pricing progression, per-seat enterprise tier, and the structural design decisions behind a flywheel that runs without me.
- Senior Product Designer · 2019
Bringing Fretello to WWDC19
Featured by Craig Federighi during the Apple WWDC19 keynote.
How a guitar-learning app became a Sign in with Apple launch partner and landed on Apple's keynote stage. The redesign that put one-tap sign-up at the centre of the experience.
- Lead Designer · Portal & Casino · 2017 – 2018
The GVC cashier redesign
4x average deposit value, 4x second-deposit rate, time-to-success cut from 20s to under 6s.
Redesigning the cashier across 15 brands at GVC Holdings (FTSE100 regulated gaming). The +/- amount field, the multi-brand button system, the in-context overlay, the design language that quadrupled average deposit value and the second-deposit rate without losing volume.
- Solo, end to end · 2025 – 2026
Building in 2026
A new portfolio, a chatbot in my voice, a lead qualifier that emails me only the conversations worth my time.
The day my portfolio started answering back. From installing Claude Code to a three-layer system: Albot (the chatbot), the scorer, and the digest. The bottleneck was never the code.
- Senior Product Designer · Methodology lead · 2018 – present
Hypothesis-driven design
A way to align a product team around tested beliefs instead of stacks of documentation.
How I run hypothesis-driven design with cross-functional teams. The four-line hypothesis shape, when to validate quantitatively vs qualitatively, and the Fretello iOS notifications prompt as a worked example. Methodology piece, not a one-shot project — this is how I work.
- Senior Product Designer · Fretello · Early 2019
Benchmarking the user experience
Two prototypes, one winning combined design, +35% week-one retention, +20% trial-to-paid.
How I compared two Learn Path concepts at Fretello using SUM (the single usability metric). The Path vs The Birdseye, the combined design that shipped, and the production result behind the WWDC19 story. Cheap, fast objective evidence that doesn't depend on engineering.
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