TREVOR BORDEN,

Design Engineer

I'm a freelance designer with a particular love for prototyping in code. I bring vague concepts to life and confidence to validation cycles. I'm happy you're here.

Designing on the web since the early 2000s, I bring over a decade of experience partnering with founders and product leaders at companies ranging from early pre-funding startups to multi-billion-dollar organizations. See a few of my recent projects below.

See work

TWO STYLES OF WORKING TOGETHER

Strike Team

Fast, focused, non-disruptive. I partner with founders, CEOs, and product leaders to rapidly build prototypes that validate ideas and bring clarity—without slowing down your existing teams. I come in focused, deliver fast, and can either hand off clean deliverables or stay on to help move them toward production.

Embedded Designer

Temporary team expansion—without a full-time hire. Sometimes what a team really needs is extra firepower for a few months. I embed with your product team to augment capacity, inject design-engineering thinking into workflows, and ensure front-end and prototype work level up.

Recent Work

Procore Construction Network

Embedded Design

As the principal designer, I led discovery, vision casting, and internal alignment for the Procore Construction Network—a free online business directory that connects general contractors, specialty contractors, owners, architects, and vendors on one platform.

I used the RITE research method and prototyped the first version in full HTML and CSS, so I could quickly iterate on designs immediately after collecting feedback from users.

As the designer I owned the final polish of what was actually shipped—I rolled up my sleeves and made the changes to the actual repo. The project launched in 2021 and I oversaw front-end implementation to ensure design quality and mobile-friendly experiences.

View Prototype

Procore unified platform shown on desktop, tablet, and smartphone

Get Sh!t Done

Strike Team

I worked directly with Robert Hohman, cofounder of Glassdoor, in a focused, two-person strike team to explore and validate a new to-do app concept inspired by Getting Sht Done*. The goal was speed and clarity—testing the idea early without pulling in a broader team or burning unnecessary resources.

Together we aligned on the core problems worth solving, mapped key journeys and information architecture, and evaluated the saturated to-do market to understand where a new approach could realistically stand out.

Get Sh!t Done new task with due date calendar

Get Sh!t Done New Project screen (light)

Toro TMS

Embedded Design

I was responsible for the front-office product experience at Toro TMS over a 4.5 year contract, partnering closely with founders, product, and engineering from the company's earliest days through meaningful scale. During that time, Toro grew from $0 to $10M in ARR.

I designed many of the platform's most widely adopted features—work that was consistently cited by customers as a primary reason for choosing Toro. I extended beyond feature design to define the product's foundational interaction patterns, establish the initial design system, and ensure design decisions scaled as the product and customer base grew.

In addition to the core product, I designed and built Toro's first marketing website, shaping how the company presented itself to the market and supporting early customer acquisition. Throughout the engagement, I took responsibility not just for design direction, but for the quality of what actually shipped—working closely with engineering to ensure the front-end experience matched intent, behavior, and business needs.

How my design impacted Toro's reputation

“Only one word for TORO TMS experience: Wonderful.”
Wanda C.PayrollFebruary 20, 2025

“The very best TMS we have used!”
Shelby L.Compliance ManagerJuly 24, 2023

“The dispatch calendar has also helped us earn more money, which offsets the cost.”
Shelby L.Compliance ManagerJuly 24, 2023

“By far the best and easiest TMS system I have worked with.”
Kasia C.Office Manager and operations managerOctober 15, 2024

“Very user friendly. We have an older work force and everyone was able to transfer to this system with ease.”
Michelle M.Financial DirectorJanuary 8, 2024

“Ease of use and time savings.”
Mike S.Operations ManagerOctober 13, 2023

“Only one word for TORO TMS experience: Wonderful.”
Wanda C.PayrollFebruary 20, 2025

“The very best TMS we have used!”
Shelby L.Compliance ManagerJuly 24, 2023

“The dispatch calendar has also helped us earn more money, which offsets the cost.”
Shelby L.Compliance ManagerJuly 24, 2023

“By far the best and easiest TMS system I have worked with.”
Kasia C.Office Manager and operations managerOctober 15, 2024

“Very user friendly. We have an older work force and everyone was able to transfer to this system with ease.”
Michelle M.Financial DirectorJanuary 8, 2024

“Ease of use and time savings.”
Mike S.Operations ManagerOctober 13, 2023

Let's Build Something

Have a project in mind? Let's start a conversation about how we can work together. The best way to connect is via LinkedIn.

Connect on LinkedIn