Quoting, Rebuilt for the Field

Send jobs faster. Win work sooner.

Mobile Application

B2B

[2023]

[2023]

📘 Overview

Paint Ace is a mobile app built for painters - not office managers. It allows professionals to scope jobs on-site, add services as they walk through a space, generate a quote instantly, and send it for client approval and payment.

There was no tool like this on the market. Everything else was desktop-based, overly generic, or not tailored to the real-world pace of small service pros.

Our goal: design a seamless, real-time quoting experience that removed friction - not added more.

Services

Product Design, UX Strategy, Interaction Design

Client name

Paint Ace (Startup - Stealth Mode)

Team

Vahan Kirakosyan, Lead Product Designer
Arman Petrosyan, Product Designer
Vahag Melkonyan, Product Designer
Product Manager (Undisclosed)
Founder & CEO (Undisclosed)

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Users & Audience

Primary Users
Independent painters, small painting crews, field estimators

Secondary Users
Back-office admins who reconcile jobs, clients who receive and review quotes

🎯 The Challenge

"I can do the job faster than I can write up the quote."

That’s what we heard from nearly every painter we interviewed.

Most existing tools weren’t mobile-first, took too long to use, or didn’t reflect how painters actually scope projects.

Our challenge was to design a fast, flexible quoting tool that:

  • Let painters add services, hours, and costs in real time

  • Generated clean, client-facing quotes instantly

  • Tracked quote status (won/lost/draft) at a glance

  • Handled deposits and payment without extra apps

🧠 My Role & Team

My Role
I defined the product direction, owned the UX and UI, and led weekly alignment with the CEO and product team. From early discovery to final design delivery, I ensured the experience worked on-site — not just on paper.

Team
Vahan Kirakosyan — Lead Product Designer
Arman Petrosyan — Product Designer
Vahag Melkonyan — Product Designer
Product Manager — Undisclosed
Founder/CEO — Undisclosed

🔍 Research & Insights

We interviewed over a dozen painters and field estimators. We shadowed walkthroughs. We watched them quote on paper, phone, and whiteboard.

What we learned:

  • Speed > customization

  • Most quotes followed the same structure (surface, coats, price)

  • Mobile typing must be minimal — tapping wins

  • Painters needed to control how detailed or simple a quote looked

These insights drove every decision in our architecture and flow.

84%

Used non-mobile tools.

Most painters were still quoting on desktop or paper.

84%

Used non-mobile tools.

Most painters were still quoting on desktop or paper.

64%

Lost time editing quotes manually.

Nearly two-thirds said they regularly forgot to follow up on changes.

64%

Lost time editing quotes manually.

Nearly two-thirds said they regularly forgot to follow up on changes.

73%

Wanted quoting to feel like texting.

They didn’t want a builder. They wanted something lightweight and fast.

73%

Wanted quoting to feel like texting.

They didn’t want a builder. They wanted something lightweight and fast.

68%

Lost leads after sending delayed quotes.

Painters said the longer it took to send a quote, the less likely they were to close the job.

68%

Lost leads after sending delayed quotes.

Painters said the longer it took to send a quote, the less likely they were to close the job.

✍️ Design

We began with simple flow diagrams: from walk-through to quote to payment.

In low-fidelity, we explored:

  • How to add rooms and services in one view

  • Flexible item building with optional detail layers

  • Calendar, delivery, and PO input flows

  • Quick status labels for sorting won/lost/draft quotes

These wireframes helped us validate: could a painter realistically use this during a site visit — with gloves on, or mid-conversation?

Vahan Kirakosyan

Product designer

If you like what you see or have any questions, feel free to send me an email anytime.

Vahan Kirakosyan

Product designer

If you like what you see or have any questions, feel free to send me an email anytime.

Vahan Kirakosyan

Product designer

If you like what you see or have any questions, feel free to send me an email anytime.

🎨 Hi-Fidelity Design

Once the structure held up, we moved into high-fidelity design.

We built a clear and lightweight UI with:

  • Large tap zones for field use

  • Color-coded quote status indicators

  • Responsive quote builder with tabs for notes, colors, and hours

  • One-tap client send, with fingerprint verification

Visual design focused on legibility, trust, and momentum — with a clear CTA always visible.

📝 Case Study Summary

This project started with a simple but powerful insight: quoting a paint job shouldn't take more time than doing the job itself. Most painters still used paper, spreadsheets, or clunky desktop tools — especially in the field. With Paint Ace, we set out to design a mobile-first quoting platform that helped painters move faster, quote smarter, and get paid on the spot.

✅ Outcome

Painters using Paint Ace created quotes 5x faster than their previous method.
Follow-up reminders and clear status tagging improved quote close rates.
Most importantly, users felt confident sending quotes immediately after walkthroughs.

🔁 Reflection

This was a rare case where design actually replaced paperwork.
Our team built something that felt built for the field — not for a desk.
And that made all the difference.

Selected work

[2022 -2025]

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Send jobs faster. Win work sooner.

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Send jobs faster. Win work sooner.

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Los Angeles

Available for work

Let’s create something great together.

I'm not just here to design products; I'm here to connect with people.

Los Angeles

Available for work

Let’s create something great together.

I'm not just here to design products; I'm here to connect with people.

Available for work

Let’s create something great together.

I'm not just here to design products; I'm here to connect with people.