Unlogged: making a Java devtools plugin feel native to the IDE.
Across two years at Unlogged, I owned plugin UX inside IntelliJ IDEA, the marketing site, and the product's visual identity—making record/replay, runtime mocking, and automated test generation approachable for Java teams.
Role
Product Designer
Two surfaces, one developer story.
Unlogged is an open-source IntelliJ IDEA plugin that helps Java developers mock, monitor, replay, and test production traffic locally—with one-click JUnit test generation, runtime mocking, direct method invocation, and performance tracking.
After the team made Y Combinator's Summer 2022 batch, I joined as the design lead—owning plugin UX inside the IDE, the marketing site at unlogged.io (designed in Figma, built in Webflow), and the product's visual identity and branding.
Bring record and replay into the editor without getting in the way.
Developer tools live where every pixel competes with code. The plugin had to make complex backend workflows readable inside IntelliJ.
The problem
Capturing method inputs, replaying traffic, injecting runtime mocks, and generating tests are powerful capabilities—but the IDE gives them little room and no patience for clutter.
My responsibility
I designed the plugin flows end to end: record and replay, runtime mocking, JUnit generation, and method performance tracking.
Design approach
Each capability maps to a step in the debugging loop—observe, isolate, verify—so a developer can move from a failing request to a passing test without leaving the editor.
Work status
IntelliJ IDEA plugin UX for record/replay, runtime mocking, JUnit generation, and method performance tracking.
What the plugin does
- 01Record and replay captures method inputs and return values so work can be replayed locally without HTTP endpoints.
- 02Runtime mocking injects recorded data for APIs, database calls, and downstream services.
- 03JUnit generation turns a recorded scenario into a unit test with framework and serializer choices.
- 04Performance tracking surfaces method-level execution thresholds and bottlenecks as you code.
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Record and replay inside IntelliJ
Original screens and process artifacts will be added here.
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One-click JUnit generation
Original screens and process artifacts will be added here.
Explain bytecode instrumentation to skeptical engineers.
The public site had to earn trust from backend engineers while still feeling approachable to the teams evaluating the plugin.
The problem
Record/replay, runtime mocking, and automated test generation are technical ideas. The site had to explain them without dumbing the story down.
My responsibility
I designed the site in Figma and built it in Webflow, carrying the structure, copy hierarchy, and brand through to launch.
Design approach
The homepage leads with the developer outcome—mock, monitor, replay, and test—then opens into features, guidance, and the open-source story.
What shipped
unlogged.io, designed in Figma and built in Webflow from scratch, plus launch assets and UI motion.
Key decisions
- 01Lead with the four capabilities developers already ask for.
- 02Keep technical depth visible instead of hiding it behind marketing language.
- 03Use the open-source and YC story to build credibility with early adopters.
Give product and marketing one visual language.
Plugin UI, web dashboard, investor decks, and marketing site needed a shared identity that a small team could keep consistent.
The problem
An early-stage startup ships fast. Without shared components and brand rules, every surface drifts in a different direction.
My responsibility
I built the visual identity and adapted a design system from Chakra UI for the product surfaces.
Design approach
A small token set and component base kept the plugin, dashboard, and marketing site consistent as the product evolved.
Work status
Branding, visual identity, investor decks, UI animation, and a Chakra-based design system for product surfaces.
Key decisions
- 01Adapt Chakra UI primitives rather than designing one-off components.
- 02Carry the brand through the website, investor decks, and launch animation.
- 03Use prototypes and user testing with early customers to validate flows.
“We are the early adopters of Unlogged to automatically generate the unit test cases for our Java code. We were pleasantly surprised to see the results of what this plugin provided us that normally used to take manual efforts of ~2-3 hours by our developers.”
A small system for a young devtools brand.
Adapting a Chakra-based system gave the plugin, dashboard, and marketing site a shared base without slowing a small team down. One set of tokens and components carried the brand from inside the IDE through to launch.
Design system library
Original components and patterns will be added with the design files.
People I worked with
Shardul Lavekar, Parth Mudgal, and Amogh CR were direct partners in this work, from plugin flows to the public launch.
View the teamWhat shipped, and what stayed with me.
Work and releases
- unlogged.io, designed in Figma and built in Webflow.
- IntelliJ plugin UX for record/replay, runtime mocking, JUnit generation, and performance tracking.
- Web dashboard flows and onboarding for developer workflows.
- Branding, visual identity, investor decks, and launch animation.
Lessons learned
- Developer tools earn trust through clarity, not simplification.
- Designing inside an IDE means respecting a surface that already has no room to spare.
- A small shared system matters most when a small team ships across product and marketing.
This account focuses on the work I contributed to. Unlogged remains an open-source project.