Background

Hi, I'm Juan. I design digital products from strategy through production, and I'm at my best inside complex systems. Product, UX, UI, interaction... call it what you will. I just call it design.

I've been at this for 23 years, through every major shift in the craft: Flash, Photoshop, Fireworks, hand-written CSS, jQuery, mobile-first, responsive design, design systems, Figma, and now AI. The tools keep changing; the work of making complex things clear doesn't. Today I work where complex systems meet human needs: enterprise tools, industrial software, machine-learning interfaces, and human rights technology.

Until August 2025, I led design at HURIDOCS, a human rights organization, where I helped defenders structure, manage, and preserve legal evidence: the Uwazi platform used by 150+ organizations, secure tools for fieldwork, and machine learning that researchers with no technical background can train themselves.

Beyond human rights tech, I've designed enterprise software for Fortune 500 companies across logistics, fintech, and healthcare. The problems I go looking for are the messy ones: a petrochemical rail yard running on clipboards and radios, an archive that has to hold up in court, a restaurant floor on a Friday night.

Based in Quito, Ecuador (Americas timezone, UTC−5). Working globally. Fluent in Spanish, English, and French.

How I Work

I'm hands-on, and at my best in small teams where a prototype ships the same week the question comes up. I care as much about whether something can actually be built as about how it feels to use, and about keeping the people paying for it on board. When those line up, the design is usually right.

And I build. The products on this site are designed and coded by me, front to back. Knowing what it takes to ship keeps the design honest.

Experience

• Independent Designer 2025 to present · Remote

  Product, brand, and web design for teams working on complex, meaningful problems.

• HURIDOCS · Design Lead 2021 to 2025 · Remote

  Led design for Uwazi, an open-source human rights documentation platform used by 150+ organizations worldwide.

• Lumenalta (formerly Clevertech) · Senior Designer 2018 to 2021 · Remote

  Designed enterprise software for Fortune 500 companies across logistics, fintech, and healthcare.

• Thoughtworks · Senior Designer 2016 to 2018 · Quito · Santiago · São Paulo · Porto Alegre

  Product design and workshop facilitation for consulting clients across Latin America.

• Independent Designer 2013 to 2016 · Ecuador · UK · Spain · USA · Mexico

  Websites, brand identities, and print for clients across five countries, from pitch to delivery.

• Azendoo · UI/UX Designer 2011 to 2013 · France

  Redesigned the full product interface and built the visual language for a collaborative productivity startup.

• Cycloboost · Art Director 2010 to 2012 · France

  Directed video, photography, and print for a cycling brand. Built the social campaigns that grew it online.

• Independent Designer 2003 to 2010 · Ecuador · France

  Early-web work. Interactive sites, CD-ROM presentations, Flash experiences, brand systems, and commercial video and sound for ad clients.

Download CV (PDF)

Tools & Skills

Off-screen

When I'm not designing, you'll find me exploring with my camera, getting lost in Latin American literature, or writing about my experiences.

Get in touch

If you have an interesting problem, let's talk.

hola@juanmnl.com

Download Resume Copy email