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Overview Problem Research Insights Design Process Solution Impact Reflection

UX Design · Website Redesign · Climate Tech

Nexstera
Tech

Designed a website for a lithium-ion battery AI startup — helping secure $65K in seed funding and a 120% increase in investor engagement.

My Role
UX Designer
Team
5 designers · 2 PMs · Founding team
Timeline
Jan – Mar 2024 (8 weeks)
Tools
Figma · Illustrator · Miro
Context
Early-stage climate
tech startup
Focus
Investor & Education
page design
Funding Impact
$65K seed funding
secured
Engagement Lift
120% increase in
page interactions

Introduction

How might we build investor trust while educating the public about battery safety?

Nexstera Tech is a climate-tech startup using AI to detect lithium-ion batteries in waste facilities, reducing fire risk and improving safety. Their AI product, Pyrotack, identifies batteries before they cause harm in processing facilities.

As a UX Designer, I contributed to ideation and design system development, and owned the Education & Investor page — shaping how Nexstera communicates its mission, credibility, and business value. I worked closely with designers, project managers, and Nexstera's founding team to align design decisions with funding and growth goals.

My final design contributed to $65,000 in seed funding and a significant increase in investor engagement.

Problem Identification

Understanding
the problem.

Improper disposal of lithium-ion batteries in waste facilities leads to fires, equipment damage, and millions of dollars in losses annually — posing serious safety, environmental, and financial risks. As lithium-ion batteries become increasingly common, waste management systems struggle to reliably detect and remove them.

Nexstera addresses this with Pyrotack, but as an early-stage startup, they faced the challenge of communicating complex technology in a way that builds investor trust while remaining accessible to the public. Their existing site struggled in three critical areas:

01
No Investor Resources
The site had no dedicated investor page, making it difficult to showcase traction, business value, and funding potential to prospective backers.
02
Missing Educational Content
Lithium-ion battery technology is widely misunderstood, yet the site offered little educational material to inform users and build credibility.
03
Weak Design Foundation
Inconsistent design, poor hierarchy, and limited polish reduced brand credibility and user confidence in the platform.

User Research

Let's dive deeper
into the data.

To empathize with the target users, I deployed three research methods to understand both investor expectations and the experience of a curious first-time visitor.

🗺️
Journey Mapping
Mapped the end-to-end journeys of two distinct users — an investor and a curious visitor — to identify friction points and emotional gaps at each stage.
🔍
Competitive & Market Analysis
Analyzed 6 competitors in the battery and sustainability space to understand effective layout, tone, and content patterns across the industry.
📐
UX & Content Audit
Conducted a full audit of Nexstera's existing web content and user flow to identify areas for simplification, clarity, and credibility improvement.

Competitive Landscape

I analyzed 6 companies in the battery and sustainability space to understand what effective digital presence looks like in this sector.

Nuvola Tech
SafeCoat™ DDS spray-on battery separator improving safety, energy density, and manufacturing efficiency.
Li-ion Tamer
Off-gas monitoring to prevent thermal runaway — offering up to 30 minutes of early warning for battery fires.
Li-Cycle
Battery recycling provider collecting and processing lithium-ion batteries to recover materials and support safer disposal.
Battery Recyclers of America
Canadian recycler active in the U.S., recovering 95%+ of materials from spent lithium batteries using shredding and chemical leaching.
InfraTec
Industrial infrared systems for battery production — improving manufacturing efficiency rather than end-of-life safety.
Redwood Materials
Founded by former Tesla CTO JB Straubel — major lithium-ion recycling and materials supply recovering critical metals from end-of-life batteries.

Key Opportunities from the Audit

Content
Make the site more engaging and credible — simplify text, add personality and visuals, and highlight media coverage to build social proof.
Structure
Improve navigation with clear actions, dedicated pages for battery types, step-by-step processes, FAQs, and intuitive dropdown menus.
Design
Adopt minimalistic layouts with purposeful visuals and videos to clearly communicate product functionality without overwhelming users.

Key Insights

Three findings that shaped
every design decision.

01
Users prioritize clarity over complexity
Technical depth is only valuable if it's understandable. Simplified storytelling consistently outperformed dense technical explanations in user comprehension.
02
Investors require a dedicated journey
They need fast access to traction, credibility signals, product value, and clear contact pathways — a general site wasn't enough.
03
Competitor differentiation is critical
Strong visual identity and brand storytelling significantly impact trust and perceived legitimacy in the climate tech space.

Design Process

Creating the blueprint.

I started transforming concepts into tangible ideas — exploring features, refining layouts, and iterating through sketches. I built low, mid, and high fidelity wireframes in Figma, adding new pages including Product, Education, FAQ, Investor, and Contact.

Home
Product
Investor
Education

Solution

Introducing Nexstera Tech's
new website.

A modern, investor-ready platform designed to balance technical depth, clarity, and credibility — creating a seamless experience for both investors and the general public.

💰
Dedicated Investor Page
Clearly presents traction, Pyrotack's value, and business potential — designed specifically to support funding conversations and investor outreach.
📚
Educational Content Hub
Simplifies technical concepts about lithium-ion battery risks and Pyrotack's AI detection — building public awareness and credibility.
📖
Streamlined Product Storytelling
Translates Pyrotack's complex technical functionality into accessible, engaging narratives that any visitor can understand.
🧩
Modular, Scalable Design System
A cool green palette reflecting sustainability and innovation — ensuring visual consistency and long-term adaptability as Nexstera grows.
Clear Calls to Action
Intentional engagement pathways that drive user flow from initial awareness through inquiry and conversion — for both investors and the public.

Impact

Redesigning the website contributed directly to measurable results.

The redesigned experience significantly improved brand credibility, investor confidence, and storytelling clarity — with outcomes that directly supported Nexstera's funding goals.

$65K
secured in investment funding directly supported by the redesigned investor page
120%
increase in page interactions and engagement following the website launch
40%
reduction in navigation friction through cleaner storytelling and intuitive structure

Reflection

What I learned &
what comes next.

Working on Nexstera was an incredible experience, and I'm especially proud of owning the Investor page design, which had tangible real-world impact by helping secure funding.

Leading the Investor and Education page design while collaborating with designers, project managers, and the Nexstera founding team taught me a lot about aligning design decisions with business goals. The Nexstera team described the launch as a "monumental step toward attracting investors and global interest."

The next phase is to transition the design into a live website using Webflow, expanding reach and making the platform fully interactive. Given more time, I'd invest further in user testing across both investor and public-facing audiences.

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