martin laws

let's make it make sense

Helping you navigate chaos with confidence and camaraderie to craft great web experiences

Let's solve the big problems

The journey to shipping remarkable products and scaling a purpose-driven organization can feel chaotic. Missed go-live deadlines, ballooning project estimates, a patchwork approach to org and team structures, the drive to succeed and the pressure to ship your next release quickly + bug-free, the overwhelming worry about 🚨 WTF to do next? 🚨

That's usually when I get called. I love working to solve those truly complex business problems in a way that helps you move forward and build the best products.

How I help

I get you to clarity—helping you build the right thing, the right way.

In my experience, there are important differences between building great products and building high-performing teams. I can help you do both while confidently shipping higher quality products with significantly less stress.

I work with founders and leaders to solve your gnarliest and most complicated technical, design, product and business problems.

Headshot of Martin

Hands-on development & design support

I'll help bring your design and development teams into harmony by putting my expertise in front-end and user experience development to work. I'm happy to get my hands dirty and write + review code, level up your user experiences with component libraries and design systems, and embed in your processes and rituals to unlock your team's full potential.

Develop confidence-inspiring prototypes

I'll work closely with you and your founding team to build tasteful prototypes and high-impact experiments to help raise that next round of funding, prove your idea, and ensure product-market fit. I bring your team along for the ride: collaborating on cutting-edge tech and empowering them with long-term ownership of the product.

Make Shopify work for your business

Whether you're setting up shop for the first time or you have millions in GMV, I'll help you make Shopify work better for your business. Having led the App Developer Experience team at Shopify for years, I can develop all manner of custom Shopify apps and storefronts—on my own, or integrated seamlessly with your team.

Future-proof your team

Tooling, training, and technology to unlock your team's potential. I can help whether you're remote or hybrid; outsourced or in-house.

Get back to building

Designing, staffing, and managing engineering and/or design orgs so your day isn't consumed by management tasks.

Manage growth effectively

Engineering, design, and product team process (and risk) analysis so you can keep up with the pace of growth.

pixelated chat bubbles

Charlie Stableford

Senior UX Designer

I honestly believe that I would not be where I am in my career or feel as confident in myself and my career if it wasn't for Martin. He has this incredible ability to listen to a wide range of problems from people that are different from him, and problem solve in a way that keeps who they are at the center of the solution.


Martin leans on his experience without centering himself, and does it effortlessly. His confidence is infectious. I think this is because of how he communicates, speaking other people's language to make sure they truly understand.

Luke Andrews

Head of UX at Assembled

Martin is the person you want to work with. He knows design, and knows web and front-end development inside and out. He cares deeply about accessibility, and building great experiences for people.


But no matter what, Martin is just a great person period — a fun and funny collaborator, a confident communicator, and a natural leader who's going to get stuff done.

Ryan Neufeld

UX Design Leader

It's rare to come across a talent that can so effectively combine expertise in development with the ability to communicate across disciplines. I had the privilege to manage Martin for almost a year and a half, relying on him as a close confidant in leading the strategic execution of the product design vision.


Martin's growth from a skilled individual contributor into a leader who mentored others and drove the maturity of product development processes was inspiring. His sense of humour and winning personality could cut the tension in any difficult meeting.

Why me?

Fair question. Simply put, this isn't my first rodeo.


I’m a technical wildcard, which means I’m equal parts software developer, designer, and product strategist. I get everyone speaking the same language across disciplines and bring complexity down to earth.


I’ve led software development and design teams to ship beautiful, functional, and accessible products into the hands of millions of users. I've solved some of the most complex and interesting problems for organizations of all sizes: from solo founders to 25, 100, and 250 person teams—all the way up to a 12,000-person tech giant. I guide teams in rethinking their software development practices and ways of working, driving real business value through my own versions of proven frameworks and strategic approaches.


Most importantly:

  • I give a shit
  • I sweat the details
  • I prioritize empathy (team, customer and user)
  • I have a proven track record
  • I bring a designer sensibility to web development and a dev sensibility to design
  • I show up and bring the very best vibes

And, honestly, I make it fun.



What does working with me look like?

I'm here to solve real problems for real people.


You'll leave our time together with:

  1. Strategic insight
  2. A clear plan and playbook to move forward
  3. The know-how and tools to confidently implement + deliver
  4. A healthier culture to move you forward

It’s not just what I do, but how. I keep it fun, joyful, and creative so we get to the highest-impact solutions to your most important challenges. Whether that's shipping a new product, levelling up your engineering culture, or scaling your team—I've got you covered.


Get in touch at hey@mlaws.ca to discuss projects, problems, or just say hi.


Here's what I've been up to lately

arrow
Full-time job
Staff Developer, Engineering Manager
2020 - 2025
SHOPIFY PROJECT
Technical Leadership
2024
CLIENT WORK
Hiring & Interviewing
2022
SHOPIFY PROJECT
Engineering Manager
2022
PUBLIC SPEAKING
Moderator
2021
SHOPIFY PROJECT
Engineering Manager
2021
SHOPIFY PROJECT
UX Development
2020
PUBLIC SPEAKING
Speaker
2020
CLIENT WORK
UX Development
2019

CAIS

CAIS