--- title: LFGO — Fractional Design & Engineering | Nico van Zyl description: Thought, care and craft for your product. Proactive design and engineering ownership, shipped improvements and a design system for AI-native teams. $5k per month. image: https://nicovanzyl.com/og.png canonical: https://nicovanzyl.com/lfg --- # LFGO — Fractional design & engineering Updated: 2026-10-25. [Canonical service page](https://nicovanzyl.com/lfg). An ongoing, hands-on partnership for founders, startups and AI-native product teams who want proactive product ownership, thoughtful design and shipped improvements. Nico takes products from feeling assembled with AI to feeling considered, with thought, care and craft. ## You built something worth caring about. You’re finding customers, shipping the next release and keeping the whole thing moving. Meanwhile, the awkward onboarding, confusing workflows and unfinished details keep getting pushed to next week. You see them. They bother you too. There’s just always something more urgent. AI helps you get something working quickly. But the experience can still feel assembled: generic screens, disconnected interactions and details nobody has quite thought through. You want your product to feel considered. Distinctly yours. I get close to what you’re building, understand what matters to you and take ownership of improving the experience. I bring thought, care and craft to how it works, reads and responds. From the first impression to the complicated workflows and unexpected states, I want the product to feel like someone understood why each detail was there. Once I understand your direction, I work on autopilot. I spot opportunities, bring ideas, work through the decisions and design, build and ship the improvements myself. You shouldn’t have to write a brief for every task or chase every detail. I keep you informed and bring you in when a decision needs your perspective, with your goals and the product’s best interests guiding the work. Alongside those improvements, I’ll build and evolve a design system for your AI-native team. Shared components, clear principles, documented patterns and practical tools help your people and agents carry the same care into whatever comes next. A foundation that makes consistent work easier and keeps your product feeling like yours. Tell me what you’re building and where you want to take it. I’ll bring the judgment, care and follow-through. Let’s get to work. ## Design & engineering partnership A hands-on partner who gets to know your product, takes initiative and follows the work through. ### Published plans - **Monthly: $5,000 per month.** [Let's Go](mailto:nico@vanzyl.co?subject=LFGO%20partnership%20request) - **Quarterly: $14,000 per quarter.** [Let's Go](mailto:nico@vanzyl.co?subject=LFGO%20quarterly%20partnership%20request) Both plans include the benefits below. The pitch partnership is included only with Quarterly. Plan prices describe the published package; start dates, current openings and additional commercial terms should be discussed with Nico. ### Proactive ownership The work moves forward without you having to manage every task. I learn your product, customers and priorities, find what needs attention and take responsibility for improving it. You stay informed without having to supervise the details. ### Thought, care & craft I take your product from feeling AI-generated to feeling deliberately designed. I work through the flows, language, visual hierarchy, interactions and edge cases so the experience feels coherent, distinctive and cared for. That care reaches into how the product behaves, as well as how it looks. ### Design & engineering, shipped You get working improvements with the implementation taken care of. I explore the options, design the experience and build it directly in your codebase, working through PRs and your team’s review process. The decisions and details carry through into what ships. ### A design system for AI-native teams Your team and agents get shared components, clear design principles, reusable patterns and guidance they can work from. I build and evolve the system alongside your product, keeping it grounded in real use. New features start from a stronger foundation, and what you ship keeps feeling distinctly yours. ### Product judgment You have a fellow founder to think things through with. I consider what customers need, what matters to the business and what it will take to deliver. I bring ideas, challenge assumptions and make thoughtful decisions, involving you where your perspective matters. ### A connected customer experience Your website, product, emails and adjacent touchpoints should feel like the same business. I consider how the whole journey fits together, including chat and agent interactions where they belong. Customers get a clearer, more consistent experience as they move between them. ### Checks & follow-through I check the work in context, paying attention to accessibility, responsiveness, performance and the states people encounter beyond the happy path. I follow changes through release and use feedback to guide what needs attention next. ### A partner for your pitch (Quarterly only) You can include me as your fractional design and engineering partner in your pitch deck, with a clear account of my role and contribution. Investors can see who is taking ownership of that work. Included with the quarterly partnership. ## Start a conversation [Email Nico](mailto:nico@vanzyl.co?subject=LFGO%20partnership%20request) ## Background I’ve always been a builder at heart. Making things and finding ways to make them better gives me real joy. That’s what’s kept me hands-on, working alongside technical founders, building design systems and shipping products. I like getting close to what you’re building, understanding why it matters to you and finding the details and connections that could make it better. I’ll bring ideas, have an opinion and do the work. That’s the part I enjoy. [About](https://nicovanzyl.com/?from=lfg) · [Principles](https://nicovanzyl.com/principles?from=lfg) · [Work](https://nicovanzyl.com/work?from=lfg) ## Testimonials > Nico is the best designer I’ve worked with. He turns requirements into thoughtful, visually compelling work and brings creativity, professionalism, and an openness to feedback to every project. Laura Beaumont · Manager at Simvida > Nico's approach is world-class. Ask him about future-proofing your products and then pay close attention to what he recommends. Marc Viljoen · Head of Digital Operations, Imagemakers > Nico has a modern, progressive approach and it's highly refreshing. Not only does he produce excellent results, he's up to date with all the latest technology, very reliable and a pleasure to work with. Mandy Robinson · Senior UX Designer > Nico is a design and development partner you can point at a problem, and know it will be taken care of while also bringing a great vibe to the team. Jon Ambler · Co-Founder, Tuesday Innovation > His rare blend of design and development skills enable him to build complete solutions that will save you time and money. Ewald Horn · Independent Consultant > Shoutout to Nico van Zyl for delivering on time, every time, and somehow making my designs look better. Have only met a handful of devs of his calibre in my time—he is at the top. Anja van Staden · Independent Designer > He's easy to work with, a great communicator and easily the most design-conscious developer I've worked with. Your product design team will love him. Oliver Williams · Founder > His design skills (both from a UI and UX perspective) were unbelievable and negated the need to hire a UI/UX person—which is a big win for a newer company. Tomislav Batev · CTO, Stream In a world where everything is the same, be the exception, not the rule. [Structured service and offers](https://nicovanzyl.com/lfg.json) ## FAQ ### Is LFGO a good fit for my product? LFGO is a good fit when you need a hands-on partner to help shape your product and make the experience feel considered. That might mean clearer onboarding, smoother workflows, more thoughtful details or a stronger design system. It is especially useful when you want someone to take ownership of both the design and the implementation. ### How much time will you need from me? We establish your direction, priorities and how you like to work. From there, I take initiative, share progress and bring you in when a decision needs your perspective. You shouldn’t need to write a brief for every task or manage the day-to-day details. Your goals guide the work. ### How do the monthly and quarterly plans differ? Monthly is $5,000 per month. Quarterly is $14,000 per quarter. Both include proactive ownership, design and engineering, and a design system for your AI-native team. Quarterly also includes me as your fractional design and engineering partner in your pitch deck, with a clear account of my role and contribution. Ask a freeform question in the FAQ on [LFGO](https://nicovanzyl.com/lfg#scribe). Freeform answers are generated by Scribe, an AI guide. Server-side agents can use the [FAQ API](https://nicovanzyl.com/openapi.json). [FAQ and agent access](https://nicovanzyl.com/faq.md) · [Full profile context](https://nicovanzyl.com/llms-full.txt) · [Agent guide](https://nicovanzyl.com/llms.txt) ## Page structured data ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://nicovanzyl.com/lfg#page", "url": "https://nicovanzyl.com/lfg", "name": "LFGO — Fractional Design & Engineering | Nico van Zyl", "description": "Thought, care and craft for your product. 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