# thisisfranciswu (@thisisfranciswu.bsky.social)

Profile: https://sifa.id/p/thisisfranciswu.bsky.social
Headline: Senior Product Designer → PM | 0→1 & Early PMF | Previously: PM at Acquisio (acq. Web.com) | Montreal
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

## About

I've spent 25 years closer to product decisions than most designers ever get.

At Acquisio, I held the PM title while we built Promote — a machine-learning ad platform for SMBs — from scratch. We owned the full funnel: ML-automated campaigns, conversion-optimized landing pages, and Twilio-powered call attribution that proved ROI to an audience that had been burned by agencies their whole lives. The product was acquired by Web.com. I've also designed systems that saved enterprise customers an estimated $140K per transaction cycle, unified fragmented product portfolios into coherent design systems, and written more Gherkin than most PMs will ever see.

I'm a product designer making the deliberate move to PM — not because design stopped mattering, but because I want to own the problem, not just the solution. I'm drawn to 0→1 and early-PMF environments where the lines between product, design, and strategy are still usefully blurry, and where being able to run discovery and open Figma and write a spec in the same afternoon is an asset rather than an anomaly.

Based in Montreal. Open to remote.

## Career

- **Independent Builder at Otzio** (Apr 2026 - Present)
  Took a personal pain point to monetized SaaS in six weeks using AI-assisted development, shipping near-daily. Pivoted early to a private RSS feed, leveraging podcast apps' playback instead of competing with read-it-later apps' built-in TTS. Owned the full lifecycle solo, recruiting early users via targeted Reddit outreach.
- **Product Designer at Negosh.com** (Jan 2025 - Apr 2026)
  First design hire at Negosh, a brand licensing marketplace startup. Designed across the full product surface — from early-stage flows to UI — while staying close to product decisions in a small, fast-moving team. Conducted market and domain research to inform design direction.
- **Senior UX Designer at OneSpan** (Jul 2020 - Jan 2025)
  Designed and maintained design systems that accelerate OneSpan's product design and development. Directly contributed to the design of almost all of OneSpan's portfolio of products.
- **Product Manager at TrackTik** (Jul 2019 - Jun 2020)
  Owned a security workforce management product area end-to-end: triaging feature requests, preparing scope of work documents for professional services, and joining enterprise client calls to gather and clarify requirements. Supported engineering with ticket clarification and QA processes, and presented roadmap recommendations to internal stakeholders.
- **Product Manager at Acquisio** (Jun 2015 - Jul 2019)
  Led product, design, and delivery of Promote — a self-serve, ML-powered Google Ads platform for SMBs built from scratch on Acquisio's ML infrastructre — from 0 to acquisition by Web.com.
  
  Across a team of 8-12, I owned the full PM function: user research and discovery, roadmap definition and prioritization, writing specs, and coordinating engineering. I also served as lead designer and front-end integrator — compressing cycles that normally require handoffs across three separate roles.
  
  What we shipped:  ✔︎ Zero-friction campaign launch requiring only a vertical, geolocation, and budget — getting SMBs from signup to live campaign in minutes  ✔︎ A localization-ready UI that shipped in English and French without per-language design rework  Outcome: Acquired by Web.com to address an underserved SMB advertising market.
- **Lead UX Developer at Qwalify** (May 2012 - Jun 2015)
  A talent engagement platform used by brands such as Home Depot, Scotiabank, and Roots Clothing Company. Developed its design language system and its front-end. Learned BDD-related tools to increase development velocity by 15%.
- **User Experience Designer at UrbanOrca** (Jan 2012 - May 2012)
  UrbanOrca was a friend finder and social network where I had learned to design and integrate within the Django web development framework. For the first time, also had the opportunity to work with, and learn from, a technically-savvy product manager.
- **User Experience Designer at SocialGrapes** (Jul 2010 - Jan 2012)
  An oenophile's social network, which received honourable mention by Robert Scoble during the 2010 San Francisco Vintners Market. Developed design language system for both web and mobile apps while also developing the web app’s front-end and design language system.
- **Web Design Integrator at City Realty** (Feb 2010 - Jul 2010)
  City Realty is a New York City-based real estate listings site where I further refined my skills in web design and front-end development.
- **Web Designer and Front-End Developer at Webdweller** (Oct 2009 - Feb 2010)
  Webdweller was a brand engagement platform where I further refined my skills as a web designer and front-end developer specializing in designing for the Ruby on Rails web development framework and using CSS preprocessors. Beyond front-end development, tasks also included wireframing and paper prototyping.
- **Web Designer/Programmer at Standout Jobs** (Oct 2007 - Oct 2009)
  A recruiting portal Acquired by Talemetry. Learned front-end development within a Ruby on Rails stack. Further integrated myself into the development team by learning to work with GitHub while developing Standout Jobs’ design language system.
- **Web Designer at Spherika** (Feb 2007 - Oct 2007)
  Spherika is a Web agency where I learned to design for the Web at scale. My duties included design and CMS integration, JavaScript development, email campaign creation, and site and email analytics.
- **Web Designer and Integrator at Wine Price Exchange** (Sep 2004 - Oct 2006)
  Wine Price Exchange was a wine cellar management and appraisal app. At the company, I focused my web design skills into application design while working with developers. These skills included wireframing and prototyping, design integration into PHP. There, I continued to champion business blogging and usability.
- **Customer Support, Data Entry, Software Development, Marketing at Mediagrif Interactive Technologies** (Jun 1998 - Sep 2003)
  Mediagrif operated a B2B marketplace for electronic component resellers. Provided customer support, often technical in nature. Performed database entry before improving its workflow and rebuilding its core tool to increase database entry speed by 500%. Joined its marketing department and further developed skills in web design and brand development. Subsequently engaged in blogging and usability evangelism within the organization.

## Skills

### Technical
- Accessibility
- CSS
- Figma
- Front-end Development
- Github
- HTML
- JavaScript
- jQuery
- Mobile Applications
- Ruby on Rails
- SQL
### Business
- Agile Methodologies
- Go-to-Market Strategy
- Market Research
- Online Marketing
- Product Development
- Product Management
- Product Strategy
- User Stories
- Web Analytics
- Writing
### Creative
- Design Systems
- Design Thinking
- Information Architecture
- Photoshop
- Product Design
- Prototyping
- Usability
- Usability Testing
- User Experience Design (UED)
- User Research
- UX
- UX Design
- Wireframing
### Interpersonal
- Communication
### Community
- Community Building
### Other
- B2B Software
- B2C
- Business-to-Business (B2B)
- Capybara
- Creative Problem Solving
- Design Guidelines
- Design Tools
- Domain-Driven Design (DDD)
- Facebook Marketing
- Functional Requirements
- Gherkin
- Human Interface Design
- LESS
- Localization
- Mental Models
- Mobile Design
- Online Marketplace
- OOUX
- Pricing Strategy
- Product Launch
- Product Road Mapping
- Product Strategies
- Prompt Engineering
- SASS
- Slim
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
- Startups
- Storytelling
- Strategic Thinking
- Stylus
- Systems Thinking
- User Flows
- User Story Mapping
- Web Applications
- White Label

## Credentials

- Domain Driven Design: Fundamentals — Udemy (Jun 2023) https://www.udemy.com/certificate/UC-fdff18d6-3f98-4c4b-9ade-bc5e0ac17e73/
- Object-Oriented UX (OOUX) Fundamentals — Udemy (May 2023) https://www.ude.my/UC-130b4e96-03fd-4008-a3db-3de6190fb108
- Software Product Management Capstone — Coursera (Mar 2020) https://coursera.org/share/55bc815dd2716c72f2fd7662443d527d
- Software Product Management Specialization — Coursera (Mar 2020) https://www.coursera.org/account/accomplishments/specialization/E29M3WMUKLDR
- Reviews & Metrics for Software Improvements — Coursera (Feb 2020) https://coursera.org/share/3911328ab0de954843496da003c0f3bb
- Agile Planning for Software Products — Coursera (Jan 2020) https://www.coursera.org/account/accomplishments/verify/JHGBHJX7A4NP?utm_medium=certificate&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=copybutton_certificate&utm_term=long
- Software Processes and Agile Practices — Coursera (Jan 2020) https://www.coursera.org/account/accomplishments/verify/SNC9E4K63X6Y
- Introduction to Software Product Management — Coursera (Jan 2020) https://www.coursera.org/account/accomplishments/verify/DXT5NRLR68QC
- Client Needs and Software Requirements — Coursera (Jan 2020) https://www.coursera.org/account/accomplishments/certificate/ZQW5PW73GLU9
- AI For Everyone — Coursera (Mar 2019) https://www.coursera.org/account/accomplishments/verify/CE3M7NM25VTZ
- The Music of the Beatles — Coursera Verified Certificates (Jul 2015) https://www.coursera.org/account/accomplishments/verify/Y3LJNCG245WQ
- Gamification — Coursera (Oct 2012) https://www.coursera.org/course/gamification

## Education

- **Champlain College** — DEC (1994 - 1998)

## Languages

- English (native)
- French (limited working)

## Links

- linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisisfranciswu
- Website: https://thisisfranciswu.com