Innovation sometimes strikes in the most unexpected places - even on a simple sticky note. In today's Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur Spotlight, we're diving deep with Frank Noz, the founder of Tandem Design Co, who's revolutionizing workplace collaboration through the most accessible sticky notes on the market. From a pivotal moment in his design workshop that revealed an overlooked barrier, Frank transformed a common office supply into a tool for genuine inclusion and connection, proving that thoughtful design can create better solutions for everyone.
Hi, Frank! Thanks for joining us today. Tell us about your business. Who do you serve, how do you serve them, and what's the impact that your business and work makes?
Tandem Design Co is a community-driven company that connects us while celebrating and affirming the things that make us different. It's about fostering a community where everyone, regardless of their abilities, feels like they belong.
We sell a very familiar product with an accessible twist, sticky notes! As a brand new product, we have seen our sticky notes hard at work in the classroom, workspace, and home. If you are a sticky note person like me, you are going to love our products.
Sticky notes have become a symbol of ideas and innovation—they are a staple within the office and used for collaboration, problem-solving, and brainstorming. But here’s the problem: not everyone can use them equally.
At Tandem, we are making the most accessible sticky notes on the market today:
Every sticky note has the color written in braille (Unified English Braille 2).
Our braille is durable. It's not embossed, we use additive printing processes.
It works with slate and stylus, and our users have brailled on them!
High-contrast colors for colorblind and low-vision users.
Even our packaging is accessible. We use large prints, designed for users with low vision, and translate the copy into braille.
We have included braille color descriptions. So even if you have never experienced color in your life, you can still connect to color through other sensory experiences.
Our sticky notes offer consumers a choice by taking a product we all know and love, and adding an accessible twist. And we are super proud of that!
Tell us about the moment you finally felt like you went from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur.
As someone who’s led design workshops worldwide, I am an expert on bringing people together to design through complexity. One moment really stuck with me.
I was working with a group of geophysicists and we were using color-coded sticky notes to highlight key themes. As I moved around the room, I noticed one participant looking a bit distressed. I sat down at his table to check in, and he quietly confessed, “I’m colorblind.”
It stopped me. Something as small as a sticky note—a tool I had used countless times—was shutting someone out.
That realization hit me hard: What other barriers were lurking?
The truth is, while his exclusion wasn't intentional — it was actually baked into tools. And yet, here I was, asking for collaboration without considering whether everyone could truly participate. It’s a mismatch between his body and a ubiquitous office product.
How can we make sticky notes more accessible? This is pretty much table stakes. How do we go beyond accessibility to design products that affirm, empower and foster belonging?
That moment reframed my understanding of what it means to design inclusive solutions. It’s not about a checklist. It’s about including people with diverse needs in the design process.
Describe the moment or period in your life/career that motivated you to make the entrepreneurial leap.
That moment stuck with me—pun intended. The more I thought about it, the more it grew in the back of my mind.
Around the same time, a friend asked me two very powerful questions: “If you could do anything, what would it be?”
Without hesitation, I replied: “I’d redesign the sticky note.”
It sounded simple, maybe even a bit corny—but I meant it. That moment of clarity turned an idea simmering in the background into something tangible.
Sticky notes aren’t just tools; they’re symbols of collaboration, innovation, and big ideas. It’s a natural platform for ideas. That’s when everything clicked — Tandem Design Co was born.
Describe a tool, service, or software that has been a game-changer for your business. How does it contribute to your success?
AI has been a huge game changer for small business owners. At Tandem Design Co, we are using AI in all kinds of ways to operationalize and automate time-consuming tasks. Nowadays, small businesses can do more with less!
We know that success is very often a non-linear path. Tell us about a failure, pivot point, or lesson that changed your course or direction and helped to get you where you are today.
I’ll never forget this story from Mohamed, one of our early users. Six months after using our Braille sticky notes, we met again. The first thing he said was: “My vacuum cleaner is red.”
For Mohamed, our products were not just sticky notes. It reconnected him with color, reshaping how he experienced the world — and giving him a new way to connect that sighted folks take for granted.
I’ve seen that journey of discovery happen over and over with our customers. Stories from users that ripple and impact classrooms, workplaces and homes. Research shows that inclusive tools don’t just help individuals—they foster environments where everyone feels connected, included and ready to participate.
When we design products with this in mind, the ripple effects are extraordinary.
What unconventional strategy did you employ that significantly impacted your business?
At Tandem, we design with communities, not for them.
From day one, we partnered with LightHouse SF, a nonprofit advocating for the blind community. Their insights, feedback, and lived experiences shaped our design process. Their partnership demonstrates a fundamental truth: great design doesn’t come from outside in. It comes from engagement — listening, learning, and letting the experiences of others guide us.
That’s why inclusivity is at the heart of everything we do. When we co-create with communities, the results go beyond access to inspire connection and belonging.
Our products celebrate this ethos. We all know what it feels like to live in a world that was not designed for you. It's about creating a space where people feel like they belong.
What’s something you wish you knew sooner that you’d give as advice for aspiring or newer entrepreneurs?
Focus on your why. For us, focusing on the why is part of our DNA.
Want to dive deeper into Frank's work? Find out more on the links below:
- Visit Tandem Design Co's website tandemdesignco.com
- Follow Tandem Design Co on Instagram @tandemdesigncompany
- Find Tandem Design Co on TikTok @tandemdesignco
