The idea for AgencyReviews.io came directly from a customer, a startup founder who had struggled to find the right agency for design and development.
He shared a common pain:
“There’s no credible place to find honest reviews from other founders. I ended up hiring based on hype and regretted it.”
This wasn’t a one-off case. I heard the same complaint in multiple startup forums and founder circles:
No platform for verified service reviews
Too much noise on Twitter and Discord
Existing directories lacked depth, clarity, or trus
That customer insight sparked the foundation of this product, a review-first, trust-driven discovery platform.
Before designing, I spent time validating the idea and understanding the problem from all angles.
What I did:
Interviewed 20+ startup founders, agency leads, and early-stage investors
Collected real stories of poor agency experiences and unclear expectations
Mapped out gaps in platforms like Clutch, Upwork, and random Notion lists
Defined two primary personas:
Founders looking for credible agencies
Agencies needing proof to stand out without ads
Key insights:
Founders trust peer feedback over testimonials
Agencies want qualified leads, not traffic
Mobile and clarity-first design were non-negotiables
There was no G2-style site for services, only SaaS
These findings confirmed that the problem was real and widespread.
With a validated idea, I led the full product design and experience strategy, shaping everything from UX flows to interface tone.
What I built:
Structured the platform:
Discover agencies → Read verified reviews → Submit your review → Agencies claim their profile
Designed clean, modular UI for agency cards, categories, and filters
Created verified review workflows using email or LinkedIn
Introduced smart, contextual review prompts:
What problem did they solve?
What was the outcome?
Would you recommend them?
Optimized the entire experience for mobile-first users
Built a scalable design system in Figma for fast iteration and dev handoff
Collaborated closely with the dev team for implementation and testing
This wasn’t just about interface it was about crafting a credible system founders could trust.
We launched the MVP in just 6 weeks and the results validated the vision:
Early outcomes:
40+ verified reviews submitted within weeks
Agencies started claiming profiles without any outreach
2.1x increase in average session time due to improved discovery flow
Bounce rate on mobile dropped significantly
Verified reviews received 3x more engagement
Agencies began reporting inbound leads driven purely by review visibility
