SaaS
Sonary — Marketing Website
Sole designer since 2019 on Sonary's SaaS comparison platform — 37 verticals, ~3,000 CMS pages, three major redesigns.
Context
Sonary is a SaaS software comparison and review platform for SMBs, published by Ryze Beyond. The site covers 37 verticals (AI, E-commerce, Design, Development, Finance, HR, IT, Productivity, Sales & Marketing, and more) through buying guides, side-by-side comparisons, editorial reviews, and category lineups. It complements Sonary Dashboard — the software subscription tracker from the same publisher, shipped in 2026.
Role
Sole designer on the site since 2019. Three major redesigns spaced roughly two years apart, each running from research through post-implementation design QA. Between redesigns, continuous iteration: new pages, new features, incremental improvements.
Approach
Constant benchmarking of domain references (G2, Capterra, Software Advice) cross-referenced with Dribbble and Pinterest to avoid the "directory" look. On the latest redesign, the research phase was accelerated with Midjourney, Firefly and Figma AI for moodboards and concept exploration.
The design system was built for the site starting in 2019 (color tokens, Inter typography, radius, light and dark modes) — later extended to the Sonary Dashboard product shipped in 2026. Components were designed from day one as editable templates so the content team could add reviews without design intervention.
Key challenge
Designing a system that could absorb the site's growth — 37 very different verticals (finance, AI, HR, e-commerce…) and close to 3,000 CMS-generated pages — without losing consistency or editorial tone. Every template needed to feel warm and inviting despite the functional density (comparison tables, review cards, scoring, lineups).
Addressed through a strict smart-component hierarchy and a library of editorial patterns (illustrated headers, quote blocks, category chips) that break up the dense sections.
Deliverables
Templates covering homepage, article hub, article, review, comparison, alternative/lineup, about and category pages — close to 3,000 pages generated through the CMS across 37 verticals.
Notable components: homepage, 37-category mega menu, review card, comparison table, interactive lineup — all built as smart components reused across templates.
Five breakpoints designed systematically (Desktop 1920, Laptop 1280, Tablet landscape, Tablet portrait, Mobile 375). WordPress → Webflow migration on the latest redesign, with a full design system rebuild in Webflow and handoff to the content team. Cross-functional work with PM, front-end and back-end developers, content writers, marketing and SEO.
What I took from it
Seven years on the same site taught me that a design system lasts when it makes the team autonomous — content, marketing, developers — not when it piles on rules.
