Juan Coleman

Overview

Proximie is a real-time AR-powered surgical collaboration platform enabling remote guidance, training, and skills assessment. I joined as first design hire and grew into Head of Design, building the team during 10x company growth (3 to 150+ people globally).

My progression:

• Lead Designer (April 2018 – June 2019): First design hire, transformed proof-of-concept into FDA/CE compliant platform
  
• Lead Product Manager & Designer (June 2019 – April 2021): Sole product owner and designer through Series B, wearing both hats simultaneously
  
• Head of Design (April 2021 – February 2022): Built and led design team
  
  

Key outcomes:

• Led design through £118M in funding (Series B: £38M, Series C: £80M closed 4 months post-departure)

• Secured Fortune 500 partnerships: Johnson & Johnson, Stryker, Abbott, Medtronic
  
• Platform now supports hundreds of weekly surgeries across global hospital network
  
• Scaled design from zero to full team (1 Lead UX, 1 UI Designer, 1 Mid-level UX)
  
  

The Challenge

The business problem: Early-stage surgical collaboration platform needed transformation from proof-of-concept to enterprise-ready medical device meeting FDA/CE compliance for global hospital deployment.

Technical complexity:

• Real-time multi-party video collaboration in critical surgical environments
  
• Regulatory compliance (FDA/CE) for medical device classification
  
• Privacy and security requirements for hospital networks
  
• Need for partnerships with Fortune 500 medical device companies
  
  

Strategic Approach

As Lead Designer (2018-2019)

• Conducted ethnographic research in operating theatres to understand surgical workflows
  
• Designed complex real-time collaboration: scaled from 1 to 4 live surgical feeds
  
• Expanded remote interaction capabilities to 50+ viewers with annotations, AR hand guidance, 3D scan manipulation
  
• Built design system using anatomical component approach for consistency and efficiency
  
• Established research-driven design process
  
  

As Lead Product Manager & Designer (2019-2021)

• Operated as both product owner and lead designer simultaneously during this period
  
• Led product through Series B fundraising (£38M) as sole product owner/designer
  
• Established product vision and roadmap balancing clinical needs with business strategy
  
• Brought users directly into retrospectives to build engineering team empathy
  
• Managed relationships with Fortune 500 medical companies during partnership development
  
  

As Head of Design (2021-2022)

• Hired and led design team (3 direct reports)
  
• Defined design vision and established team rituals
  
• Created career development frameworks
  
• Built culture of experimentation in risk-averse medical environment
  
• Contributed to Series C preparation through design leadership establishing enterprise credibility
  

Results

Business Impact:

• Series B: £38M raised (as sole product owner/designer)
  
• Series C: £80M raised 4 months post-departure (foundation built during tenure)
  
• Fortune 500 partnerships secured: Johnson & Johnson, Stryker, Abbott, Medtronic
  
• Platform deployed across global hospital network supporting hundreds of weekly surgeries

Product Evolution:

• 4 simultaneous live surgical feeds (started with 1)
  
• 50+ remote viewers with real-time interaction
  
• AR hand guidance for surgical precision
  
• 3D scan (CT/DICOM) manipulation and overlay
  
• Scheduling, library, and social engagement features
  
• User and organisational administration for hospital deployment

Team Growth:

• Scaled company from 3 people to 150+ globally during tenure
  
• Built design function from zero (as first design hire)
  
• Hired and led design team: 1 Lead UX, 1 UI Designer, 1 Mid-level UX
  
• Established design operations and systems enabling rapid scaling

Regulatory Achievement:

• FDA/CE compliant platform for medical device classification
  
• Met privacy and security requirements for hospital network deployment