Valentine Boyev

CEO at Halo Lab ✦ Helped 500+ companies to raise 💲revenue and investments through digital design and marketing → $500M+ in client total funding

With a passion for creating unique and scalable digital products, I help brands achieve their goals and enhance their online presence.

Key Achievements:

✅ $500m+ in client total funding

✅ 500+ happy clients

✅ 99+ international awards

✅ 120+ glowing reviews


I specialize in:

⤷  Web Design Services: Creating eye-catching and user-friendly websites that grab attention and drive results.

⤷  Website Development: Building strong, reliable websites that fit your business perfectly.

⤷  User Experience Design: Making sure your users have a smooth and enjoyable experience.

⤷  Brand Design: Crafting unique brand identities that really pop.

⤷  Conversion Optimization: Helping turn your visitors into loyal customers.

⤷  Digital Web Solutions: Providing all the web solutions you need in one place.

⤷  Website Redesign for Results: Giving your old website a makeover to boost performance and engagement.

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My Journey

My career began 15 years ago as a UI/UX designer, driven by a passion for creativity and beauty. For me, design is more than a job—it’s a way of life, an ever-exciting, fantastic world.

I believe in thinking outside the box and continuously renewing my knowledge. This mindset has guided me in helping people fall in love with brands and assisting agencies in winning new business.

———————————————————————————

Halo Lab

Another passion I discovered is mentoring young designers at Halo Lab, where I help them become true professionals. Sharing my knowledge not only helps others but also fuels my own learning journey.

———————————————————————————

Have a BIG idea in mind?

Contact me directly: inquiry@halo-lab.com

Co-Founder & CEO

Halo Lab is a full-stack design & development team.

We created digital projects almost every day since 2013.

We work with a diverse range of innovative startups and established companies. We've launched over 350 projects, helping our clients secure a total of $370M in funding. 

Some of our standout projects include:

- Kinetik: A healthcare platform with over 3,500 integrated providers.
- Bookclub24: A German online library for book collectors.
- Raven.gg: A leading brand in custom esports clothing design.
- Mighty Buildings: Pioneers in sustainable 3D-printed houses.

“How much does it cost to design a website?”

Classic answer: “It depends.”

But that’s not helpful, especially when you’re trying to plan budgets and justify ROI to your board or investors.

So let’s break it down.

1. Landing page.
$1000–$5,000
A single conversion-focused page - ideal for campaigns or product launches.
Quick, simple, measurable. But every word and visual must work perfectly together.

2. Small business website.
$5,000 – $15,000
Usually 4–6 pages (Home, Services, About, Contact, maybe a Blog).
You get custom branding, a consistent UI, and a trustworthy structure that helps people understand and act.

3. eCommerce website.
$25,000 – $100,000
Product pages, filters, checkout flow, mobile optimization.
At this range, you’re investing in UX that prevents drop-offs and builds trust.

4. SaaS website.
$75,000 – $300,000
A good SaaS site tells your story, guides visitors to demos, and aligns with your product UI.

5. Enterprise website.
$20,000–$100,000+
Think of this as a digital ecosystem - dozens of templates, multilingual layouts, case studies, and complex integrations.

A website isn’t an expense. 
It’s your digital sales team that works 24/7.
And like any high-performer, it needs training, systems, and strategy behind it.

So the next time someone asks, “How much does it cost to design a website?”
The better question is “How much revenue am I losing by not investing in a site that converts?”

You can calculate the cost of your project on our website using the smart calculator - https://lnkd.in/dZMaFF5E

♻️ Share this to help others estimate better.
🔔 Follow Valentine Boyev for more updates!

CEO @ Halo Lab ✦ Leading a 130+ design-driven B2B software company → 500+ products shipped & scaled

Website design cost

Most MVPs are built to present.

Very few are built to produce.

That’s the difference between a demo and a business.

An MVP doesn’t have to be the smallest version of your product.
An MVP is the smallest collection of components required to provide value.

→ What is the one thing a user will need to do repeatedly?
→ What elements do you need to incorporate into your design so that it runs immediately, independent of any human activity?
→ When is the moment that you will take all of the variables and make one conclusion -insight, application, analysis, and improvements?

When you look at it through this lens, the MVP is a live vehicle.
The intended result is:

1. One workflow: the only way users will need to interact with your product.
2. A single loop that will continue to serve you every time you iterate.
3. The least amount of interference to provide that measure.
4. The most convenient manner to interact with it.
5. One measure of success, not an explanation.
6. Nothing else supports those goals.

This sets the stage for how you build early traction.
You don’t do that by shipping less of your product.
You do that by shipping the right product.

Build the smallest collection of components that can generate value for others and is therefore your MVP.
That is the difference between a demo and a business.

🔔 Follow Valentine Boyev for more updates!

The MVP You Actually Need

Most leaders will agree that "good UX matters."

But few can prove it in financial terms.

That’s where growth is slowly leaking.

When design is measurable, it is also scalable.
When it is scaleable, it is a competitive advantage.

This is what the math shows:

✦ Each $1 spent on UX returns between $2 and $100. (Forrester)

✦ A load time faster by 0.1 seconds can boost conversion up to 10%. (Deloitte)

✦ 18% of customers abandon the website because the site is hard to use. Baymard Institute)

✦ Companies with design maturity outperform similar companies by 2x in revenue and shareholder returns. (McKinsey Design Index)

So why measure your UX ROI?
Because if you do not measure it, design becomes "subjective."

When you measure it, you have a lever to influence:

1. Conversion rates and average order value.
2. Operational efficiency and support costs.
3. Customer lifetime value and churn.

Here’s how leading companies do it:

1. Benchmark experience metrics – funnel conversion, time-to-task, support volume.
2. Make UX optimizations – simplify flows, reduce friction, increase clarity.
3. Measure the delta – either revenue, savings or time.
4. Quantify into dollars.

UX isn't about how good your product looks.
It's about how much it earns.
When organizations measure that, UX is no longer subjective.

♻️ Share this to help others measure UX ROI.
🔔 Follow Valentine Boyev for more updates!

A few months ago, one of our partners came up with a challenge.

"We’ve raised our Series A, we have product-market fit, but we’re stuck in endless design-dev loops. Can we ship an MVP that investors can demo this quarter, not next?”

We delivered it in 42 days.
Here’s what actually made it possible.

1. 10-day strategy sprint.
We used a pre-built discovery framework with templates for personas, flows, and decisions on technology stacks.
We only focused on the unknowns and skipped documenting the things that the team has already validated.
The result was a 70% faster alignment phase while maintaining context.

2. Parallel design & development.
In traditional teams, design "hands off" to devs, and that is where weeks go to die.
We run parallel pipelines: The dev team starts building the architecture and reusable components in parallel.
We do design QA in a sprint and not at the end.
The result: Reduced the cycle from design → dev delay from 3 weeks to 10 days.

3. Reusable design systems.

4. Senior leads keep hands-on.
Every project has a lead designer, tech lead, and PM who stay involved daily, not just at kickoff.
You speed delivery up by removing the invisible friction between discovery, design, and dev.

At Halo Lab — Your Digital Partner, we build like product teams.

If you’re a founder racing toward your next funding milestone, DM me.

🔔 Follow Valentine Boyev for more updates!

Pavle Lucic

Senior UI/UX Designer @ Toptal | Prototyping, Branding, UI Development

I am a Senior UI/UX Designer at Toptal, a network of the world's top 3% of software engineering, design, and finance talent. With over 10 years of experience in the design industry, I have a proven track record of creating visually engaging and user-friendly interfaces for in-car navigation systems, SaaS apps, and marketing websites.

My background in business and economics gives me a unique perspective on how to design UX and UI that are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also functional, efficient, and user-friendly. I am passionate about solving complex problems, collaborating with diverse teams, and learning new skills. I am also Adwords Search Certified, which demonstrates my ability to optimize the online presence and performance of my clients. My goal is to help tech companies increase their revenue by improving the user experience of their products.

Senior UI/UX Desiger

This is how I work now:

1. Think
2. Write
3. Plan
4. Ask
5. Wait
6. Then design

It’s slower. But it works.

Because UX isn’t just what you make.
It’s what you understand first.

(Repost ♻️)

P.S. What is your process?

Senior UI/UX Product Designer | UX Strategy | Figma

No alternative text description for this image

This might be a controversial post but it's true.

I don't have a formal design degree.

I'm pretty sure a lot of self-taught designers experience this too.

Examples:

Every time I share my work online, someone asks "where did you study?"
I can feel the judgment coming.

Every time I'm in a room with "formally trained" designers.
I hear the whispers: "They probably just watch YouTube tutorials."

Every portfolio review, every job interview, someone implies "you're not a real designer without the credentials."

But then...They see just ONE of my projects and:

That skepticism closes immediately
I get genuine compliments in my DMs
I get referrals + new client inquiries

So...

Why do we judge credentials before we judge the work?
Especially with creative fields? 😊

Fear that talent and hustle might matter more than a piece of paper. 
Which, honestly, they often do.

To my fellow self-taught designers who've "made it work" I love you. 

Keep building. Keep proving that skills speak louder than diplomas.

Keep letting your work change people's minds. It's worth it.

Pavle ❤️

Most designers aren't designers.

(they're technicians who happen to use design tools)

Yesterday I lost 2 hours on a shelf.

Just me obsessing over form and function.
And here's the thing...

That "is" design.

Not the logo you send on Friday.
Not the mockup in your portfolio.
Not the deliverable in your inbox.

Design is how you "think."

- How you can't ignore a bad detail.
- How you see a room and want to fix it.
- How you solve problems no one asked you to solve.

Just think about this:

1. The Bauhaus school understood this.
↳ They didn't teach "tools." They taught living.

2. Japanese carpenters understood this.
↳ No nails. No shortcuts. Every cut is intentional.

Design is form.
Design is function.
Design is creation.

It doesn't "clock in and out."

If you only design when you open your laptop...
And stop when you close it...

You're not a designer.
You're a technician who uses design tools.

Nothing wrong with that.

Just don't confuse the two.

P.S. Agree or disagree? 👇

Loading states matter.

Blank screen = user thinks it's broken.

Progress bar = user knows how long.
Spinner = user knows something's happening.
Skeleton screen = user sees structure forming.
Instant feedback = user doesn't notice the wait.
Steps = user knows where they are ("Step 2 of 4").
Active waiting = user is entertained while waiting (tips, facts).

Never leave users guessing.

Show them the system is working.
Even if it takes time, show progress.

(Repost further ♻️)

17 genuine tips for using illustrations to improve UX

(I wish someone told me number 8 sooner)

1. Empty states feel less scary
2. Error messages feel friendlier
3. Users remember visuals 6x better
4. Onboarding completes 40% more
5. They reduce mental effort instantly
6. They help users know where they are
7. You will add illustrations way too soon
8. They reduce support tickets by 30-40%
9. Permission requests make more sense
10. Complex steps feel simpler with visuals
11. They answer questions before users ask
12. Visual metaphors beat long explanations
13. Users understand faster than reading text
14. They build trust during frustrating moments
15. Empty spaces feel intentional instead of broken
16. They guide without overwhelming with instructions
17. Strategic placement turns confusion into confidence

Repost this free value for others ♻️ Thank you!

P.S. Hey, which one (1-17) do you like most?

If there's one thing I'd eliminate in UX design...

It's birthday pickers like this. You know the ones:

1. Scroll wheels flicking through 40+ years to find 1986
2. Calendar grids tapping "previous month" 480 times
3. Three separate dropdowns, praying the order is right

There's a much better way.

It's called "TIF = Text Input First". 
Rooted in real behavior.
Backed by research. 

TIF is simple:

1. Let users type their birthday
2. Auto-format date as they go
3. Offer a picker as backup only

Why it works:

People know their birthday by heart.
Typing takes 2 seconds.

Scrolling through a picker takes 15+ seconds of frustration.

Hope this helps! (Repost if so ♻️)

P.S. Anything worse than a scroll-wheel date picker?

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I was in a meeting last week.

One designer talked for 60 of them.

References to everything. 
"What if we..." on repeat.

Opinions on everything.

Loud. 
Confident. 
Influential.

Everyone nodded along.

Then someone asked:
"So who's going to build this?"

Silence.

The loud one? 
"I'm more of a strategy person."

The quiet one in the corner?

She opened Figma.
Had 3 options ready.
Built while they debated.

That's when I realized:

The best designer in the room?
Often the one who says the least.

Repost this ♻️ if you've seen this happen too.

Good UX is boring.

Users complete tasks without thinking.

They don't notice the design. They just finish.

Bad UX is memorable.
Users remember frustration. Confusion. Friction.

Stop trying to impress users.

The best interfaces are simple.

P.S. When was the last time you noticed good UX?

A client came to me with a "broken" product. 

Here's what happened:

They spent 8 months building an app.

It worked perfectly. But nobody used it.

Refund requests? Daily. 
App store reviews? 2.1 stars.
Support tickets? 200+ per week. 

They thought the product was broken.

It wasn't.
The design was.

I changed 5 things:

1. Moved the main CTA
2. Simplified the onboarding
3. Fixed the mobile navigation
4. Added visual feedback on buttons
5. Reduced the menu from 15 items to 4

4 weeks later?

Retention doubled.
Reviews jumped to 4.4 stars. 
Support tickets dropped 73%. 

Same code. Same product. Same features. 

I didn't "make it pretty."
I made it usable.

That's what designers actually do.

Repost ♻️ if this changed how you see design.

P.S. Have you ever blamed your product when design was the problem? 😊

My first client ever:

"Make the logo bigger."

Quoted Steve Jobs.
I argued for 20 minutes. 
Sent 5 articles about white space. 

They made it bigger themselves in PowerPoint.

My latest client:
"Make the logo bigger."

I said: "Let's test it. I'll send you 2 versions. You pick."
They picked the smaller one.

What changed?

I stopped convincing. 
I started collaborating.

People don't resist ideas. They resist being told what to do.

Give them ownership. 
Watch them choose wisely.

♻️ Repost if you wish you knew this earlier.

Entry-level means no experience.

It's for juniors to begin their careers, learn, and grow.

Yet job posts say:

"Entry-level position"
"Requirements: 3-5 years experience"

That's not entry-level. That's mid-level.

Stop lying in job descriptions.
You're not finding candidates because you're asking for the impossible.

Entry-level = zero experience required.

If you need experience, it's not entry-level.

(Repost for job seekers ♻️)

P.S. Have you seen this contradiction in job posts?

Mini-masterclass on receiving design feedback:

(save this for your next critique)

Well-delivered feedback = great insight
Well-received feedback = great growth

That being said... Let's dive into 5 levels of receiving feedback:

Level 1: Defensive 
↳ "But here's why I did it this way..." 
↳ You're protecting ego, not improving work

Level 2: Silent 
↳ You nod. You take notes. You change nothing. 
↳ Feedback theater. Everyone sees through it.

Level 3: Selective 
↳ You only hear what confirms your choices 
↳ Cherry-picking isn't growth

Level 4: Receptive 
↳ You listen. You ask questions. You implement. 
↳ This is where most good designers live.

Level 5: Hungry 
↳ You seek feedback before anyone offers it 
↳ "What's not working? Where did you struggle?" 
↳ This is where great designers live.

Getting feedback is a skill. Just like giving it.

And most of us never practiced receiving.
We just practiced defending.

Time to switch.

Repost this ♻️ for your design team.

P.S. What level are you at right now (1-5)? No judgment 👇

Old design workflow:

1. Sketch idea
2. Open Figma
3. Design for hours
4. Export and code
5. Test and iterate

New workflow with Claude:

1. Describe idea to Claude
2. Claude codes it fast
3. See design instantly
4. Iterate with prompts
5. Ship faster

I made glass icon effects this way.

No design tools. 
Just conversation.

The bottleneck shifted from execution to clarity of thought.

Can you describe what you want clearly?

That's the new design skill.

(Repost this shift ♻️)

P.S. How has your workflow changed with AI?

I just found out the best color generator for designers.

uicolors. app/generate

Save it for later or repost ♻️

Three reasons Inter dominates:

It's variable

One font file. 
It's optimized.
Multiple widths. 
Multiple weights. 
Smaller load times.

Letter spacing, x-height, character distinction all tuned for screens.

It's free
No legal.
No licensing. 
No procurement. 
Just download and use.

Hard to compete with that combination.

P.S. What font makes your product memorable?

Feedback feels personal.

It's not.

They're critiquing your design. Not you.

Hard to separate:

"This button is unclear" = design feedback
"You made this unclear" = feels like attack
Same words. Different interpretation.

Train yourself to hear:

"The layout is confusing" not "You're confused"
"This needs work" not "You're not good enough"
"Try another approach" not "You failed"

Your design is separate from your worth.

(Repost if this resonates ♻️)

P.S. Does feedback feel personal to you?

Here's the biggest lesson my son taught me:

Yesterday, I cut my finger.

He saw blood. He didn't freeze. He didn't cry.

He ran to get a napkin. 
Wrapped it around my finger. 
Taped it with whatever he found.

Then he grabbed a pen.

And drew a little stick figure on the bandage.
A tiny man.

"That's you, daddy. So you're not alone."

I looked at this ridiculous napkin-bandage. 
Tape peeling off. 
Little man with "hair".

This is what support actually looks like.

Show up. With what you have. 
And make sure they know they're not alone.

That little stick figure?

Best medicine I ever got.

Repost this ♻️ to spread a good message today.

"Wait, you actually use AI for prototyping?"

I get this reaction a lot from other designers.

Yes, I use AI tools daily. 

When did it become normal for designers to hide that they use AI? 
Like it's some dirty secret that makes your work "less valid"?

And...

↳ I prototype 10x faster than I did 2 years ago. 
Yes, full flows in minutes. 
Yes, clients can't tell the difference. 

↳ I refine everything myself. 
I bring the soul. 
AI gives me the skeleton. 
Never shipping raw AI output. 

So to answer this once and for all:

"Is it cheating?"
"Is AI doing your job for you?"
"Is your work even original anymore?"

No. It's leverage.

Try it. 
You'll see.

It's not that scary. 

(Repost if it hits home ♻️)

P.S. What's YOUR resistance to AI prototyping?

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