Sagar Sharma

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Proving Real Market Demand Before the Product Was Built

The goal was to help people trust a product they couldn't see yet, as it was still in development, while giving the founders stronger proof of real customer demand for investor conversations.

[My Role]

Solo Product Designer

[Project Timeline]

Jan 2026 - Mar 2026

[Project Scope]

Research • Product Strategy • UX/UI

[00] TL;DR

Challenge

The product was still in manufacturing, making it difficult to build customer confidence and demonstrate genuine market demand to investors.

Key Decision

Replaced passive email waitlists with paid reservations and transformed engineering sketches into the website's primary visual language.

Impact

Preorder reservations gave antimattr's founders verifiable proof of demand for investor conversations. Bounce rate fell from 75% to 46% across 4,000 visitors over 2 months, measured before any marketing spend and the improved demand validation contributed to antimattr securing backing from 2 investors.

[01] The Challenge

Before launch, antimattr wasn't trying to improve a website. It needed to solve two business challenges that would directly influence product adoption and future fundraising.

Challenge 1

In an investor meeting, one question exposed the real gap: "Anyone can join a waitlist. We need proof people will actually pay for this." The founders couldn't confidently demonstrate market demand to investors because existing signals weren't reliable enough for the founders to confidently demonstrate product-market interest during investor conversations.

Challenge 2

Visitors were leaving the website before they had enough information to understand or believe in the product. The high bounce rate and short session duration suggested a much bigger problem: people weren't gaining enough confidence to continue exploring, making it difficult to build meaningful demand before launch.

[02] Research & Insights

[02.01] Research Finding 1

"Joining an email waitlist takes only a few seconds. It tells us who's curious, not who's serious."
~ Founder discussion

Discovery - Email signups measure curiosity because they require almost no commitment. They don't reliably indicate whether someone is genuinely interested in buying the product.

"Joining an email waitlist takes only a few seconds. It tells us who's curious, not who's serious."
~ Founder discussion

Discovery - Email signups measure curiosity because they require almost no commitment. They don't reliably indicate whether someone is genuinely interested in buying the product.

[02.02] Research Finding 2

"I like the idea, but I can't picture what I'm actually getting."
~ User interview

Discovery - The absence of real product photos increased uncertainty. People wanted confidence that the product was real before they could trust it.

"I like the idea, but I can't picture what I'm actually getting."
~ User interview

Discovery - The absence of real product photos increased uncertainty. People wanted confidence that the product was real before they could trust it.

[03] Opportunity Space

[03.01] Opportunity Area 1

Instead of immediately choosing a solution, I explored the factors that influence whether a user action represents genuine intent.

Commitment

Friction

Cost

Reversibility

[03.02] Opportunity Area 2

To understand how confidence could be built without a finished product, I explored the factors that influence trust in pre-launch products.

Transparency

Visual Evidence

Product Clarity

Credibility

[04] Evaluating Solution Directions

[04.01] Opportunity Area 1

Explored different ways to increase the quality of the demand signal without relying on assumptions

Email Waitlist

Commitment

Friction

Cost

Reversibility

Long Interest Form

Commitment

Friction

Cost

Reversibility

Early Reservation (paid)

Commitment

Friction

Cost

Reversibility

**A paid reservation was selected because it has the potential to create a stronger signal of genuine market demand than an email signup, giving the founders more reliable evidence for future investor conversations.

[04.02] Opportunity Area 2

Explored different approaches to help people understand and believe in the product before it reached the market

Prototype Sketches

Engineering sketches, CAD Visuals, manufacturing progress

Transparency

Visual Proof

Clarity

Credibility

Social Proof

Posting/building in public, blogs

Transparency

Visual Proof

Clarity

Credibility

Live Prototype Experience

Community meetups, early prototype demos, founder sessions

Transparency

Visual Proof

Clarity

Credibility

**The website focused on engineering sketches because they were the strongest way to explain an unfinished product before launch. Prototype showcases and community events complemented this by testing real customer interest and encouraging early reservations.

[05] Design Solutions

[05.01] Early Reservation

Replaced passive email signups with paid reservations to measure genuine customer commitment instead of surface level interest.

Trade off 1: Accepted higher commitment and lower conversion volume in exchange for stronger market validation.

[05.02] Reducing Drop-Off at Payment

After launch, people were dropping off at payment with no way to follow up. Splitting the form captured name and email first, turning a silent drop-off into a recoverable signal.

Trade off 2: Adding a step before payment meant slightly more friction, but it let intent be captured even from people who needed more time to decide.

[05.03] Product Sketch

Turned engineering sketches into a consistent visual language, helping explain an unfinished product while strengthening the antimattr brand.

Trade off 3: Instead of presenting an idealized product through renders, we chose to reveal the product through engineering sketches, sacrificing polish to reduce uncertainty.

[05.04] Live Prototype experience

Introduced community events where people could explore early prototypes, meet the founders, and reserve the product before launch.

[05.05] Sketches as a Brand Language

Instead of treating engineering sketches as temporary placeholders, I turned them into a consistent visual language that explained ideas, illustrated concepts, and reinforced the antimattr brand

[06] Impact

[Business]

2

Investors + YC F26 backed antimattr

Preorder data added real proof to strengthened investor conversations.

[Website]

75% → 46%

Bounce Rate Reduced

Engineering sketches encouraged visitors to explore the product longer.

[Business]

35%

Early Reservation at live Events

Prototype live sessions/meetups converted attendees into early customers.

[Website]

~17%

Drop-Off Recovery Rate

Nearly 1 in 6 abandoned checkouts converted after a single follow-up.

**Bounce rate and reservation metrics tracked via website analytics across ~4,000 visitors, March–May 2026, prior to any marketing spend. Directional insights supplemented by 20–30 informal usability sessions (friends, family, early community) reviewing the live site.

[07] Reflection

Commitment is a stronger signal than curiosity

Email signups looked encouraging on the surface, but they couldn't answer whether people were genuinely willing to buy. Measuring commitment proved more valuable than maximizing sign-up volume.

Constraints can become a design advantage

The lack of product photography initially felt like a limitation. By embracing engineering sketches, it became an opportunity to create a distinctive visual language for the brand.

Business problems need business metrics

Solving the website wasn't enough. The design had to improve measurable business outcomes like market validation, investor confidence, and customer commitment. That validation later became part of antimattr's YC Fall 2026 application.