Ostrich

Ostrich is a London property marketplace built around a simple idea: not every homeowner is ready to sell, but many are curious about what their home is worth and who might want to buy it. Owners create a private listing that only registered buyers can see. Serious buyers can submit offers directly, without the home ever appearing on Rightmove, Zoopla, or through an estate agent. No agents, no public listings, no pressure. Just a different way to explore your next move on your own terms.

I joined Ostrich as Lead Designer in May 2024, when the company was eight people, and spent nearly two years there as it grew to fourteen. The product expanded from a handful of North London boroughs to a much wider geographical footprint in that time. As the sole designer, I worked across both sides of the marketplace: the buyer experience (browsing, onboarding, viewings) and the seller experience (listing, offers, dashboards). The scope extended well beyond product design into brand identity, the design system, marketing campaigns and emails through Mailchimp, the Help Centre, and operational tooling. Getting both sides of the marketplace to work together, at different scales and with different levels of engagement, was the central design challenge throughout.