This is an illustrative exercise about a hypothetical freelance interface designer, not a BrandKernel customer story or a report of measured results. BrandKernel has no customer case studies yet. Use the sample language below to develop a positioning draft you can check against your own work.
The starting point is familiar: you can offer several design services, but your introduction gives a prospective client little help deciding which problem to bring you. This workshop follows one possible direction: interface design for early SaaS teams whose onboarding includes a complex setup task.
For another explicitly fictional exercise, read the illustrative BrandKernel positioning example.
Start With a Specific Design Situation
Imagine a freelance interface designer considering work with early SaaS teams. The proposed focus is onboarding: helping a team explain the steps a new user needs to take to set up its product. The designer needs to decide whether that focus fits their actual experience before publishing it.
A broad starting statement might be:
“I provide UI/UX design, branding, websites, and creative solutions for businesses of all sizes.”
This lists services but leaves the reader to work out the fit. Which business situation should prompt a conversation? What would the designer take responsibility for?
A more specific draft is:
“I design onboarding interfaces for early SaaS teams, focusing on setup flows, screen hierarchy, and instructions for new users.”
The revision adds a buyer, a project context, and a concrete contribution. It also leaves out a conversion or retention promise. A designer can show decisions about screen hierarchy; a claim about retained users would need separate evidence.
Treat this as a candidate direction. If your work supports another problem more strongly, change the problem rather than stretching the description to fit.
Choose the Direction Before Polishing the Sentence
Use these questions to decide whether the proposed focus deserves a place in your public positioning:
- Demonstrable work: Can you show relevant screens, explain your role, and describe the decisions you made? Use work you can share, with permission where needed. Identify concept projects as concept projects.
- Buyer understanding: Can you explain a setup difficulty in the buyer's terms, such as users needing instructions to connect a data source? Avoid assuming every SaaS team has the same problem.
- Access to buyers: Where could you speak with founders or product leads about that situation? Name a reachable group or channel rather than an imagined market.
- Deliverable scope: Can you define the design work, required inputs, and handoff? Separate interface design from development, product strategy, or research you do not provide.
Write an answer beside each question. An empty answer points to work to do: gather an example, talk with a buyer, or narrow the scope. For a longer drafting exercise, use the brand positioning statement workshop.
Turn the Draft Into Useful Public Copy
A headline needs to identify your focus quickly. A portfolio introduction has room to explain your contribution. A proposal must connect that contribution to a particular project. The following are sample drafts for the same hypothetical direction.
LinkedIn Headline
Before: “Freelance designer | UI/UX | Branding | Creative problem solver”
Proposed draft: “Freelance interface designer for early SaaS teams | Onboarding flows and product setup”
The draft gives a reader a project category to associate with the designer. Use that category only if you want those projects and can support the description with relevant work.
Portfolio Introduction
Before: “I create beautiful, intuitive digital experiences that help businesses grow.”
Proposed draft: “I work with early SaaS teams on onboarding interfaces. My focus is the setup sequence: what each screen asks a new user to do, how instructions are presented, and how the interface explains the next step.”
This describes work a reader can inspect. Under the introduction, place an actual relevant project or a clearly labeled concept. Explain your role, the constraints, and why you chose a particular sequence. If you have no relevant example, treat building or selecting one as a next task.
Proposal Opening
Before: “I'm excited to bring your vision to life through exceptional design.”
Proposed draft: “Your brief describes a setup flow that asks users to connect a data source before they can explore the product. I propose reviewing the existing sequence and designing the agreed setup screens, with annotations for your developer. We would confirm the screen scope, required inputs, and review process before work begins.”
This sample assumes that the brief actually describes that setup task. Replace it with the client's stated problem. The opening names an activity and a deliverable while leaving scope decisions available for discussion.
Check the Promise Against Your Work
Read each draft beside your portfolio and service scope. Underline every phrase that needs support. For “onboarding interfaces,” identify relevant work. For a stated method, explain how you actually perform it. For a result claim, locate records that support the result and your contribution to it.
A simple worksheet keeps the review concrete:
- Onboarding interface design: Look for relevant screens and a clear account of your role. If support is missing, use a broader supported category or label a concept project.
- A focus on setup flows: Look for an explanation of sequence and instruction decisions. If support is missing, develop the example before presenting it as a specialty.
- Developer handoff: Look for a deliverable you know how to prepare and agree with the client. If support is missing, adjust the proposal scope.
Record uncertainty in your working notes: “I need to check whether this buyer group uses the term onboarding,” or “My strongest examples are settings screens, not setup flows.” Those notes give your next conversation or portfolio edit a purpose.
For a broader review of your public materials, the small-business brand audit checklist offers additional prompts.
Ask Readers to Explain the Offer Back to You
Share the draft with someone familiar with the buyer's work. Ask: “What would you hire this person to do?”, “Which part is unclear?”, and “What would you want to see before contacting them?” Keep their actual wording in your notes.
Then choose an observable editing checkpoint. Does the revised headline name the same audience as the portfolio? Can a reader identify the deliverable from the proposal opening? Can you point to support for each public claim? Track the answers and the changes you make; they are more useful for this exercise than assuming inquiries or rates will improve.
If readers interpret the offer differently from what you intend, revise the confusing phrase and ask again. Feedback about wording is an input to the draft. Decisions about demand require conversations about real needs, buying constraints, and alternatives.
Keep Pricing as a Separate Decision
A clearer offer can make scope easier to discuss, but it does not tell you what a client will pay. Price the actual engagement using the work involved, your costs, capacity, responsibilities, and relevant market information. State assumptions and exclusions so the client can understand the quote.
For the hypothetical setup project, first agree on the screens, available research, review rounds, and handoff. A claim that a positioning sentence earns a particular rate would skip those decisions.
Use the Worksheet Alongside a Broader Brand Process
The questions in this article are a positioning worksheet. To explore the broader product process, see the BrandKernel method. The first-party guide to how BrandKernel works explains the product and current offer.
Start with a draft you can support, adapt it to your public touchpoints, and keep a record of what your work and reader feedback suggest changing next.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to serve only SaaS companies?
No. SaaS onboarding is the context for this exercise. Choose an audience and problem that fit your experience, interests, and access to buyers. A focus can describe a project type or approach as well as an industry.
What if I do not have a relevant client project to show?
Use a clearly labeled concept project to demonstrate your thinking, or choose a direction supported by work you can already share. Describe the project's status and your role accurately. A concept can illustrate design decisions without establishing a customer result.
How can I tell whether the new statement is clearer?
Ask readers to explain whom you serve and what they would hire you to do. Compare their answers with your intended offer. Check that your headline, portfolio, and proposal use compatible language and that each claim has support.
Does more specific positioning justify raising my prices?
It does not establish a price by itself. Evaluate scope, effort, costs, responsibilities, and relevant market information. Use positioning to explain the work you offer, then make and communicate the pricing decision separately.
Is this worksheet the BrandKernel product process?
It is an independent instructional exercise. The BrandKernel method describes the product's broader process, and the first-party guide explains its current features and offer.