Designer, engineer, photographer

I'm a Product Designer and UX Engineer, with 20+ years building interfaces through deep collaboration across design, data, and engineering.

About Me

You can't design for the future without understanding the present. Context shapes what's possible. Design that matters embraces science, art, and society — and doesn't treat them as separate things.

I've been practising since the early 2000s, shaped by every shift in technology and thinking since. Uncertainty shouldn't be a problem; it's where the interesting work begins — AI-driven interfaces, business integration challenges, capacity development.

I specialize in building tools that simplify complexity, helping teams understand themselves and bring the best they can offer — building trust, focusing skills, embracing change.

Skills

  • Design: Design Management, UX, UI, Interaction and Service Design, Design Operations, Information Architecture, Heuristic Evaluations, Empathy Maps, User Journeys, UML Diagrams, Storytelling, Design Systems, Branding, Typography, Video and Photography.
  • Frontend: React, TypeScript, JavaScript, Next.js, SASS/CSS.
  • Backend: Python, Ruby on Rails, PHP.
  • Tools: Figma, Adobe Suite, Miro, Jira, Git, VS Code, Xcode, Android Studio.

Experience

Crítica — Creative Technologist Santiago, Chile · Remote · Jan 2024 - Present

  • Working as a Creative Technologist in partnership with Crítica and the New Venture Fund.
  • Assessing, facilitating and supporting processes, for The Global Network of Social Justice and Digital Resilience.
  • Project management and co-creation of methodologies, instruments and frameworks for assessments, communication, and ideation.

Next Solutions — Senior Product Designer & Frontend Engineer Seattle, US · Remote · Aug 2017 — Present

  • Led the design department, directing design strategy and development.
  • Built large-scale websites as a frontend engineer using React, Next.js, TypeScript, Material UI, and SASS/CSS.
  • Worked directly with clients in consulting, research, testing, integration, and development.
  • Collaborated with project managers, engineers, designers, and client stakeholders.
Highlighted projects:
  • Google, Data Commons — UX engineering, building and refining the component library, normalizing the visual language across interfaces, and implement interaction patterns that made high-density data legible at scale datacommons.org
  • One Data — UX and UI design for the revamp of the CMS system data.one.org
  • One Data Agent — Product Design and UX engineering for the implementation of an AI agent chat interface to browse health data https://data.one.org/tools/agents/health-financing
  • HR&A – Florida — Design lead, UX/UI and Frontend Engineering for a custom geospatial data-visualization platform for residents and policymakers tracking Florida's housing needs. buildflorida2030.com
  • Google, Sidewalk Labs — Led design implementation collaborating with brand agencies, engineers, and managers. Designed and engineered the frontend for multiple interactive digital projects. sidewalklabs.com
  • Google, Mesa — Product Design and Frontend Engineering for a dashboard providing real-time data visualization and device management. Facilitated the transition between design teams. (React, Next.js, TypeScript, Material UI) sidewalklabs.com/products/mesa

Codepicnic — Senior Product Designer & Frontend Engineer Boston, US · Remote · Feb 2016 — Jun 2017

  • Led design and worked directly with the development team to build real-time, embeddable consoles for developers in a fast-paced startup.
  • Led brand development, UX/UI design, design systems, and frontend engineering using React, Next.js, and SASS/CSS.

Cranberry Chic — Senior Product Designer Santiago, Chile · On-site · Nov 2014 — Dec 2015

  • Worked with mobile engineers to create the first South American high-end fashion social media platform.
  • Led brand development, UX/UI, design systems, product strategy, and app prototyping.
  • Grew from ~40k to ~800k monthly active users and launched iOS, Android, and web apps.

Ministry of Education, Government of Chile — Head of Digital Communications Santiago, Chile · On-site · May 2014 — Oct 2014

  • Led four teams across design, journalism, research, and multimedia.
  • Managed national communication campaigns and established protocols to align teams across digital channels.

El Mercurio — Senior Product Designer & Frontend Engineer Santiago, Chile · On-site · May 2012 — Apr 2014

  • Designed and prototyped cross-device products for automated multimedia content delivery. iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. UI/UX for B2B and B2C products, user behavior analysis, and A/B testing.

Archdaily — Head of Design Santiago, Chile · On-site · Mar 2011 — May 2012

  • Led design for the world's most-visited architecture content platform.
  • Unified branding through a design system. UX, UI, rapid prototyping, and data visualization.

Multiplica — Lead Frontend Engineer Santiago, Chile · On-site · Sep 2009 — Feb 2011

  • Frontend development and integration consultancy across banking, retail, B2B, and B2C products. Mobile and TV apps. Led a team of developers, designers, and researchers.

Estupendos — Web Designer Santiago, Chile · On-site · Feb 2007 — Aug 2009

  • UX/UI, product design, information architecture, and web development.
  • Marketing websites, interactive content, and custom CMS integrations.

University for the Arts, Sciences, and Communication — Teacher Santiago, Chile · On-site · Mar 2007 — Dec 2008

  • Instructional and instrumental design for multimedia communications studies, bridging students with real-world clients.

Useme — Partner & Web Designer Santiago, Chile · On-site · Mar 2001 — Dec 2006

  • Design studio partner. Interface, product, and editorial design. Art direction, illustration, UX, information architecture, and frontend development.

Photography

I learned how to use a camera in the mid 90’s, at that time it was simply imposible to think in any other thing than film to document your life. I still use it today as an ongoing process of self discovery.

Most of the time I shoot 135, 120 and 4x5, both color and black and white that I develop at home, with some experiments in Polaroid, Instax and old peel apart film.

Between the never ending learning process of taking photographs and using old cameras, the main problem I, and the community in general, encountered is the lack of proper documentation for the proper maintenance of equipments and cameras, it’s both an art and a science that felt into the abism of the modernization. To understand how to service and use some of the equipment I had to learn about chemistry, mechanics, optics, physics and if you want to understand photographs, aesthetics, art, philosophy and of course history.

I’ve teach myself how to services most of my cameras, to keep them running, we created an awesome community of people who share the same passion and want to learn and listen to others experiences and challenges.

Contact

I'm looking to work with great people on meaningful projects. If that sounds like you, let me know.

hello@pablonoel.com