Pond is an all-in-one AI platform that helps early-stage AI projects overcome key challenges. It supports builders through project seeding, community backing, infrastructure, go-to-market strategy, and the path to product-market fit. By connecting AI with Web3-native capital and distribution, Pond allows teams to focus on building while it handles funding, scaling, and growth.
Process
Studio Salt supported Pond from the ground up to bring their all-in-one AI platform to life. We designed a seamless experience across different types of users, including developers, investors, and AI product users. The challenge was designing a complex product ecosystem that met the needs of each user while keeping the experience consistent and intuitive.
Our Contributions • Designed the AI agent chat experience, product launch market, and hackathon platform from 0 to 1 • Produced demo videos that went viral on X, with the agent chat demo reaching 177.4K views in its first week • Built a scalable visual identity and design system
For early startups like Pond, the priority is not to build overly complex features, but to ensure users can get started easily and have a smooth, focused experience. Our goal was to reduce friction, build trust, and help users understand value within seconds.
Through in-depth user interviews and competitive research, we identified major gaps in how early-stage AI projects are launched and discovered. Founders often struggled to communicate their project’s potential in a crowded and fast-moving space. Investors lacked reliable signals to assess momentum or credibility. Community members and contributors had few chances to discover promising ideas or get involved early.
For the launch market, we focused on transparency, clarity, and early traction signals. Project pages were designed to surface key details at a glance—token pricing, countdown timers, seeding progress, and contribution caps. Wallet integration was smooth and secure to reduce transaction friction. To build trust, we highlighted team credibility through linked social accounts and surfaced community activity. We also introduced tagging and filtering to improve discoverability in a growing ecosystem.
For builders, we created a guided project creation flow that walked them step-by-step through launching a compelling project. From mission and roadmap to tokenomics and mechanics, each section was crafted to support clarity and reduce the cognitive load of launching in public. This helped teams move faster while presenting their ideas with confidence. We also introduced a discussion thread feature that allowed creators to communicate directly with community members. These open, sincere conversations helped teams gather feedback, build trust, and better prepare for future launches.
For the hackathon platform, our strategy focused on activation, visibility, and long-term engagement. We lowered the barrier to entry with simple creation tools and made it easy to browse projects by category, tech stack, or trending status. Each project page included team members, documents, media, and verified social media accounts to build momentum and transparency around ongoing work.
To encourage community participation, we created opportunities for every user to feel involved. Users could vote for their favorite projects, share the event with friends, and invite others to join their teams. The team invitation flow supported collaboration and helped Pond grow its user base while increasing engagement across the ecosystem. Pond continues to grow, and we’re proud to have played a foundational role in their journey. Our collaboration with Pond demonstrates how thoughtful design can drive early traction and long-term growth. By aligning user needs with product clarity, we helped shape an ecosystem that empowers AI builders to launch, scale, and succeed.
Li and Studio Salt gets startups and the founder struggles because they asked good questions about the problem we were attacking and then quickly turned around a design helped us reach our first big enterprise client.
Aaron Ware
@EarnWhere
Li and Studio Salt is awesome to work with and is a top tier design studio. Extremely happy with the work they has produced! You will not be disappointed.
Steve Bauman
@ste_bau
Li and Studio Salt did an amazing job on the UI design for Shipto.me. They were super professional, quick, and really understood exactly what I was looking for. They went above and beyond my expectations—I was so impressed, I hired Studio Salt again for another project!
Alex B
Co-founder of ShipToMe
Working with Studio Salt was a pleasure for us. They really cared about our satisfaction and delivered materials that made our team super happy. I'd work with them again for new projects.
Gülcan Yayla
Co-founder & CEO of Rise In
Studio Salt team exceeded all my expectations. They took my vision and turned it into a beautiful, functional website with flawless execution. As a startup founder, I couldn’t have asked for a better partner to bring my ideas to life.
Peter Heimerdinger
Founder & CEO of Heimify
Highly recommend for reliable, expert designs! Li & team consistently meets deadlines and maintains utmost professionalism in every project. She truly knows what she’s doing.
Alexis Papageorgiou
@papa_gorgeous
Before, our site didn't look professional and had a high bounce rate. Since the redesign we finally started getting Leads via our website. Thank you!
Janu Lingeswaran
Founder of Feather Flow
Studio Salt elevated our brand with a sophisticated new logo and refined newsletter design. Their eye for detail and collaborative approach made the process seamless, delivering outstanding results that transformed our publication's visual identity.
Marketing Brief
@mktbriefing
Studio Salt designer is incredibly talented and creative. I hired them to design the landing page and they delivered outstanding results! They were going above and beyond my expectations. I highly recommend her to anyone in need of design work.
Aditya Saxena
Founder of pmfm.ai
I thoroughly enjoyed working with your team, and will look for what to work together again in the future!
Sanket Patel
Founder of Ingredicheck
Amazing work! I'm working to implement your design...your design is much more clear than where I started!
Michael Breazeale
Founder of Spark Cashflow
Working with Studio Salt has been a pleasure, they are fast and efficient! Li consistently stays ahead of industry trends and provides insightful guidance that elevates the final product.
Zane Greuning
@zanevangreuning
Li and Studio Salt made an awesome design for my landing page and completly overhauled my onboarding. It really drove conversions and kickstarted PhotoQuest! I'm really excited to continue to work with Li and her team.
Thomas Schuehly
@tschuehly
Oh my god! This is so great. I think my eyes just had a micro orgasm. That would be a cool marketing slogan for you :D
Pete
Founder of the SEO Wizard
This is super cool, and super professional. I think you have nailed the brief, in terms of similar to VC sites.
Laurie Owen
@imlaurieowen
Next case study
Let’s work together!
Pond is an all-in-one AI platform that helps early-stage AI projects overcome key challenges. It supports builders through project seeding, community backing, infrastructure, go-to-market strategy, and the path to product-market fit. By connecting AI with Web3-native capital and distribution, Pond allows teams to focus on building while it handles funding, scaling, and growth.
Process
Studio Salt supported Pond from the ground up to bring their all-in-one AI platform to life. We designed a seamless experience across different types of users, including developers, investors, and AI product users. The challenge was designing a complex product ecosystem that met the needs of each user while keeping the experience consistent and intuitive.
Our Contributions • Designed the AI agent chat experience, product launch market, and hackathon platform from 0 to 1 • Produced demo videos that went viral on X, with the agent chat demo reaching 177.4K views in its first week • Built a scalable visual identity and design system
For early startups like Pond, the priority is not to build overly complex features, but to ensure users can get started easily and have a smooth, focused experience. Our goal was to reduce friction, build trust, and help users understand value within seconds.
Through in-depth user interviews and competitive research, we identified major gaps in how early-stage AI projects are launched and discovered. Founders often struggled to communicate their project’s potential in a crowded and fast-moving space. Investors lacked reliable signals to assess momentum or credibility. Community members and contributors had few chances to discover promising ideas or get involved early.
For the launch market, we focused on transparency, clarity, and early traction signals. Project pages were designed to surface key details at a glance—token pricing, countdown timers, seeding progress, and contribution caps. Wallet integration was smooth and secure to reduce transaction friction. To build trust, we highlighted team credibility through linked social accounts and surfaced community activity. We also introduced tagging and filtering to improve discoverability in a growing ecosystem.
For builders, we created a guided project creation flow that walked them step-by-step through launching a compelling project. From mission and roadmap to tokenomics and mechanics, each section was crafted to support clarity and reduce the cognitive load of launching in public. This helped teams move faster while presenting their ideas with confidence. We also introduced a discussion thread feature that allowed creators to communicate directly with community members. These open, sincere conversations helped teams gather feedback, build trust, and better prepare for future launches.
For the hackathon platform, our strategy focused on activation, visibility, and long-term engagement. We lowered the barrier to entry with simple creation tools and made it easy to browse projects by category, tech stack, or trending status. Each project page included team members, documents, media, and verified social media accounts to build momentum and transparency around ongoing work.
To encourage community participation, we created opportunities for every user to feel involved. Users could vote for their favorite projects, share the event with friends, and invite others to join their teams. The team invitation flow supported collaboration and helped Pond grow its user base while increasing engagement across the ecosystem. Pond continues to grow, and we’re proud to have played a foundational role in their journey. Our collaboration with Pond demonstrates how thoughtful design can drive early traction and long-term growth. By aligning user needs with product clarity, we helped shape an ecosystem that empowers AI builders to launch, scale, and succeed.
Li and Studio Salt gets startups and the founder struggles because they asked good questions about the problem we were attacking and then quickly turned around a design helped us reach our first big enterprise client.
Aaron Ware
@EarnWhere
Li and Studio Salt is awesome to work with and is a top tier design studio. Extremely happy with the work they has produced! You will not be disappointed.
Steve Bauman
@ste_bau
Li and Studio Salt did an amazing job on the UI design for Shipto.me. They were super professional, quick, and really understood exactly what I was looking for. They went above and beyond my expectations—I was so impressed, I hired Studio Salt again for another project!
Alex B
Co-founder of ShipToMe
Working with Studio Salt was a pleasure for us. They really cared about our satisfaction and delivered materials that made our team super happy. I'd work with them again for new projects.
Gülcan Yayla
Co-founder & CEO of Rise In
Studio Salt team exceeded all my expectations. They took my vision and turned it into a beautiful, functional website with flawless execution. As a startup founder, I couldn’t have asked for a better partner to bring my ideas to life.
Peter Heimerdinger
Founder & CEO of Heimify
Highly recommend for reliable, expert designs! Li & team consistently meets deadlines and maintains utmost professionalism in every project. She truly knows what she’s doing.
Alexis Papageorgiou
@papa_gorgeous
Before, our site didn't look professional and had a high bounce rate. Since the redesign we finally started getting Leads via our website. Thank you!
Janu Lingeswaran
Founder of Feather Flow
Studio Salt elevated our brand with a sophisticated new logo and refined newsletter design. Their eye for detail and collaborative approach made the process seamless, delivering outstanding results that transformed our publication's visual identity.
Marketing Brief
@mktbriefing
Studio Salt designer is incredibly talented and creative. I hired them to design the landing page and they delivered outstanding results! They were going above and beyond my expectations. I highly recommend her to anyone in need of design work.
Aditya Saxena
Founder of pmfm.ai
I thoroughly enjoyed working with your team, and will look for what to work together again in the future!
Sanket Patel
Founder of Ingredicheck
Amazing work! I'm working to implement your design...your design is much more clear than where I started!
Michael Breazeale
Founder of Spark Cashflow
Working with Studio Salt has been a pleasure, they are fast and efficient! Li consistently stays ahead of industry trends and provides insightful guidance that elevates the final product.
Zane Greuning
@zanevangreuning
Li and Studio Salt made an awesome design for my landing page and completly overhauled my onboarding. It really drove conversions and kickstarted PhotoQuest! I'm really excited to continue to work with Li and her team.
Thomas Schuehly
@tschuehly
Oh my god! This is so great. I think my eyes just had a micro orgasm. That would be a cool marketing slogan for you :D
Pete
Founder of the SEO Wizard
This is super cool, and super professional. I think you have nailed the brief, in terms of similar to VC sites.
Laurie Owen
@imlaurieowen
Next case study
Let’s work together!
Pond is an all-in-one AI platform that helps early-stage AI projects overcome key challenges. It supports builders through project seeding, community backing, infrastructure, go-to-market strategy, and the path to product-market fit. By connecting AI with Web3-native capital and distribution, Pond allows teams to focus on building while it handles funding, scaling, and growth.
Process
Studio Salt supported Pond from the ground up to bring their all-in-one AI platform to life. We designed a seamless experience across different types of users, including developers, investors, and AI product users. The challenge was designing a complex product ecosystem that met the needs of each user while keeping the experience consistent and intuitive.
Our Contributions • Designed the AI agent chat experience, product launch market, and hackathon platform from 0 to 1 • Produced demo videos that went viral on X, with the agent chat demo reaching 177.4K views in its first week • Built a scalable visual identity and design system
For early startups like Pond, the priority is not to build overly complex features, but to ensure users can get started easily and have a smooth, focused experience. Our goal was to reduce friction, build trust, and help users understand value within seconds.
Through in-depth user interviews and competitive research, we identified major gaps in how early-stage AI projects are launched and discovered. Founders often struggled to communicate their project’s potential in a crowded and fast-moving space. Investors lacked reliable signals to assess momentum or credibility. Community members and contributors had few chances to discover promising ideas or get involved early.
For the launch market, we focused on transparency, clarity, and early traction signals. Project pages were designed to surface key details at a glance—token pricing, countdown timers, seeding progress, and contribution caps. Wallet integration was smooth and secure to reduce transaction friction. To build trust, we highlighted team credibility through linked social accounts and surfaced community activity. We also introduced tagging and filtering to improve discoverability in a growing ecosystem.
For builders, we created a guided project creation flow that walked them step-by-step through launching a compelling project. From mission and roadmap to tokenomics and mechanics, each section was crafted to support clarity and reduce the cognitive load of launching in public. This helped teams move faster while presenting their ideas with confidence. We also introduced a discussion thread feature that allowed creators to communicate directly with community members. These open, sincere conversations helped teams gather feedback, build trust, and better prepare for future launches.
For the hackathon platform, our strategy focused on activation, visibility, and long-term engagement. We lowered the barrier to entry with simple creation tools and made it easy to browse projects by category, tech stack, or trending status. Each project page included team members, documents, media, and verified social media accounts to build momentum and transparency around ongoing work.
To encourage community participation, we created opportunities for every user to feel involved. Users could vote for their favorite projects, share the event with friends, and invite others to join their teams. The team invitation flow supported collaboration and helped Pond grow its user base while increasing engagement across the ecosystem. Pond continues to grow, and we’re proud to have played a foundational role in their journey. Our collaboration with Pond demonstrates how thoughtful design can drive early traction and long-term growth. By aligning user needs with product clarity, we helped shape an ecosystem that empowers AI builders to launch, scale, and succeed.
Li and Studio Salt gets startups and the founder struggles because they asked good questions about the problem we were attacking and then quickly turned around a design helped us reach our first big enterprise client.
Aaron Ware
@EarnWhere
Li and Studio Salt is awesome to work with and is a top tier design studio. Extremely happy with the work they has produced! You will not be disappointed.
Steve Bauman
@ste_bau
Li and Studio Salt did an amazing job on the UI design for Shipto.me. They were super professional, quick, and really understood exactly what I was looking for. They went above and beyond my expectations—I was so impressed, I hired Studio Salt again for another project!
Alex B
Co-founder of ShipToMe
Working with Studio Salt was a pleasure for us. They really cared about our satisfaction and delivered materials that made our team super happy. I'd work with them again for new projects.
Gülcan Yayla
Co-founder & CEO of Rise In
Studio Salt team exceeded all my expectations. They took my vision and turned it into a beautiful, functional website with flawless execution. As a startup founder, I couldn’t have asked for a better partner to bring my ideas to life.
Peter Heimerdinger
Founder & CEO of Heimify
Highly recommend for reliable, expert designs! Li & team consistently meets deadlines and maintains utmost professionalism in every project. She truly knows what she’s doing.
Alexis Papageorgiou
@papa_gorgeous
Before, our site didn't look professional and had a high bounce rate. Since the redesign we finally started getting Leads via our website. Thank you!
Janu Lingeswaran
Founder of Feather Flow
Studio Salt elevated our brand with a sophisticated new logo and refined newsletter design. Their eye for detail and collaborative approach made the process seamless, delivering outstanding results that transformed our publication's visual identity.
Marketing Brief
@mktbriefing
Studio Salt designer is incredibly talented and creative. I hired them to design the landing page and they delivered outstanding results! They were going above and beyond my expectations. I highly recommend her to anyone in need of design work.
Aditya Saxena
Founder of pmfm.ai
I thoroughly enjoyed working with your team, and will look for what to work together again in the future!
Sanket Patel
Founder of Ingredicheck
Amazing work! I'm working to implement your design...your design is much more clear than where I started!
Michael Breazeale
Founder of Spark Cashflow
Working with Studio Salt has been a pleasure, they are fast and efficient! Li consistently stays ahead of industry trends and provides insightful guidance that elevates the final product.
Zane Greuning
@zanevangreuning
Li and Studio Salt made an awesome design for my landing page and completly overhauled my onboarding. It really drove conversions and kickstarted PhotoQuest! I'm really excited to continue to work with Li and her team.
Thomas Schuehly
@tschuehly
Oh my god! This is so great. I think my eyes just had a micro orgasm. That would be a cool marketing slogan for you :D
Pete
Founder of the SEO Wizard
This is super cool, and super professional. I think you have nailed the brief, in terms of similar to VC sites.
Laurie Owen
@imlaurieowen
Next case study
Let’s work together!