Real stories from early users
These are real-world sessions where founders, business owners, and advisors used the Value by Design system in prototype form.
Strategic Clarity and Time Savings
Ellora Coupe
Founder of Her Own Space
Challenge
- Needed to sharpen audience understanding and design marketing strategy around real needs rather than assumptions
- Wanted to translate strategic thinking into practical tools and stronger product ideas
- Sought to reduce decision-making and development cycles significantly
What Ellora said
"Working with Value by Design has fundamentally sharpened how we think about our audience and how we design our marketing strategy around real needs rather than assumptions. The approach brings clarity fast. What would previously have taken months of discussion and iteration now takes days, without losing depth or rigour."
"Chris has a rare ability to connect strategic thinking with practical tools, helping us translate insight into stronger product ideas and more focused solutions. The time saving alone has been extraordinary, often reducing our decision making and development cycles to a fraction of what they were."
"He is thoughtful, ahead of the curve, and deeply attuned to how this market is evolving. An exceptionally valuable professional to work with, and someone I would confidently recommend to any organisation serious about building relevant, well positioned products."
Outcome
Ellora experienced a fundamental shift in how her team approaches audience understanding and marketing strategy. The process transformed months-long discussions into days of focused work, while maintaining depth and rigour. The time savings were extraordinary, with decision-making and development cycles reduced to a fraction of their previous duration. The strategic insights translated directly into stronger product ideas and more focused solutions.
SaaS Launch Under Pressure
Matt Milloy
SaaS Advisor and Founder - Refurb & Retrofit
Challenge
- Preparing to launch a new product in just a few weeks
- Needed sharper, sector‑specific messaging and a fast way to test ideas before going to market
What Matt said
"I reached out to Polything because of their extensive experience in strategic-level marketing. They understand how to take difficult chunks of information and transform them into usable plans."
"It helped us resolve issues about understanding what the benefits of our product were and provided us with more insight into potential messaging that we hadn't considered."
"If we can accelerate this process by using this tool, then Polything have done us an immeasurable amount of assistance."
Outcome
Matt left the process with clear messaging angles tailored for each sector and a structured approach to rapidly test these messages before launch. This enabled his team to move forward with confidence and clarity, maximising their product's impact from day one.
Building an AI Network Assistant
Gavin McWhirter
Founder developing an AI "Network Assistant" / "Wingman" for business networks
Challenge
- AI product idea with lots of potential but lacked focus
- Needed clarity on value, audience, and positioning — typically requiring long advisory sessions and manual write‑ups
What Gavin said
"It condensed what would normally be around two weeks of work into about two hours."
"This reels that down to clarity in a very short space of time, with the evidence behind it to support that."
"It's really helpful to go through that and see an output and go, that's really interesting, useful."
"It drives thinking really quickly. It's really good."
"You're accelerating that ability and that process down to 90 minutes, two hours."
Outcome
Through our session, Gavin gained a clear, actionable value proposition for his Network Assistant, identified and prioritised key customer segments, and developed a sharper narrative for tackling churn reduction and member engagement. The process also surfaced insights from disengaged members and provided a framework for onboarding and ongoing engagement — delivering results that would typically take weeks, in just a couple of hours.
Advisor Network Possibilities
Gordon Carmichael
CEO and Director, UK Business Advisors
Challenge
- Exploring how the tool could empower advisors and their SME clients
- Assessing depth and quality of customer avatar research and whether it delivers actionable, non‑generic insights
What Gordon said
"The avatar research is quite impressive, really. It's just the level of detail, isn't it?"
"Having seen what I've seen, I would certainly consider buying it, yes."
"If I've got £695, I think that could be good money well spent."
"I enjoyed that. Very interesting. I'm happy to help."
"We should have a conversation related to how this could be potentially deployed within UK Business Advisors… there could be a thing."
Outcome
Gordon's experience opened up a clear use case: the product can serve as a powerful diagnostic and strategy‑shaping tool for advisor networks. He saw first‑hand how it surfaces real business challenges, supports more tailored client engagement, and helps advisors move from generic advice to actionable, data‑driven recommendations. He noted the potential for the tool to open opportunity and get more consultants, emphasising its value as a door‑opener for new business relationships and as a foundation for long‑term client support.
Complex Service, Multiple Roles
Cristina Riddell
Operations / EA working across several clients
Challenge
- Manages a virtual EA business serving diverse clients across roles, industries, and requirements
- Hard to clearly summarise and structure service offerings across multiple domains and client types
What Cristina said
"It's mind‑blowing just how it takes out all the information… it looks a lot deeper into everything. It's a huge difference on the structure, the type of questions."
"I get the most feedback about being overwhelmed by daily admin tasks. This helps them feel more in control and frees up their time for what matters most."
"It will make a huge difference on the type of post, the content, on how to really reach and touch people… when you're really talking to their pain points, that's what really gets them."
Outcome
Cristina's session demonstrated how Value by Design excels in untangling complex, service‑heavy roles. The platform helped her identify patterns across her varied client base, clarify the value she delivers, and uncover new positioning angles, even when her work was spread across several clients and sectors.
Cristina noted, "It does help them look more professional, they feel more in control, to be able to concentrate to grow their business and obviously get more done." The process distilled weeks of research and experience into actionable insights, saving significant time and providing a clear, professional structure for marketing and client communications.
By leveraging Value by Design, Cristina can now clearly articulate her services to different audiences, highlight tangible benefits (time savings, reduced stress, focus on growth), and confidently position her business to attract the right clients.