# Ben Honda Rottler

> Designer / Founder

Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States
Profile: https://flows.cv/benhondarottler

I specialize in bridging the gap between design, engineering, and business. My teams have shipped across mobile, audio, wearables, embedded systems, robotics, VR, and now AI. Often starting from zero to define product vision, prototype with purpose, and lead design to launch.

I’m a product design leader with a track record of building things that didn’t exist before; from the first iPod shuffle with voice, to Samsung’s first wearable, to home robotics, to VR systems at PlayStation.

I bring clarity and cohesion to complex product systems without losing the magic.

I’ve been trusted to expand and evolve globally beloved IP; from shaping the iPod experience at Apple, to defining new modalities within the PlayStation ecosystem. 

Recently, I’ve focused on AI-assisted creative pipelines, generative tooling, and real-time UX for immersive platforms. I'm particularly interested in how spatial design, intelligent agents, and multimodal input shape the next generation of interfaces.

I build high-performing design orgs, enrich products at every stage of maturity, and lead with a maker’s mindset. 

Simply, I ship great products.

## Work Experience
### Founder @ Decibel.
Jan 2025 – Present
Founder of Product Design Studio, Decibel.

https://decibel.systems/

### Collective Member @ Baukunst
Jan 2025 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area
Baukunst is a collective of creative technologists advancing the art of building at the frontiers of technology and design. Collective members are a select group of top practitioners in their field, invited to advise founders in the portfolio, support company building, and promote collaborative learning across the collective.

### Angel Investor / Advisor / Entrepreneur @ Unknown
Jan 2024 – Present
I work with early stage teams to help them launch successful products. 

I may provide funds myself, design strategy and product design expertise, advice, introductions.

### Design Principal @ Outpost
Jan 2024 – Jan 2025 | San Francisco Bay Area
Spearheading projects to innovate and elevate companies through customer-centric products and services. Leading cross-functional teams, I discover new opportunities within existing client capabilities to delight customers, win market share, and drive business growth.

### Advisor @ Audigo Labs
Jan 2023 – Jan 2024 | San Francisco, California, United States
Helping Audigo deliver a world class experience

### Design Lead, Innovation @ PlayStation
Jan 2023 – Jan 2024 | San Francisco Bay Area
Working on top secret cool stuff.

Systematizing discovery, product incubation, creativity and innovation.

### Sr. Manager, UX Design @ PlayStation
Jan 2020 – Jan 2023 | San Francisco Bay Area
Lead Design Systems and Framework teams in US and Japan
UX program level lead for PS VR2

Shipped PlayStation 5

### Sr. Product UX Design Lead @ Amazon Lab126
Jan 2017 – Jan 2019 | San Francisco Bay Area
Design Lead for Product UX encompassing all of hardware experience. Screen, voice, sound, interaction and human-robot UX. 

Led early to late stage concepting of the Astro UX.

### Sr. Design Manager of Product Experience @ Jawbone
Jan 2016 – Jan 2017 | San Francisco
Experience lead for all mobile software and wearable hardware. I led a small team of designers building the future of wearables.

### Principal UX Designer @ Jawbone
Jan 2015 – Jan 2016 | San Francisco
Led redesign of core features like sleep and heart rate montoring for the UP system on Android and iOS. Design lead for wearables.

### Chief Product Officer @ Type A Machines
Jan 2014 – Jan 2015
User Experience, Software Design & Development, Product R & D

### Director of UX @ Samsung Electronics
Jan 2012 – Jan 2014 | San Francisco Bay Area
Built a world-class UX team for Samsung Design America from the ground up. Job entailed product conceptualization beyond just pure UX design. Led team to envision the future of mobile, which led to products like the Gear Fit and Gear Circle. Projects ranged from wearables to android app and OS work.

### Creative Lead for Cross-Platform Design @ Palm
Jan 2011 – Jan 2012
Directing a design team to envision and design the future of webOS in a cross-platform world.

### Design Architect @ Palm
Jan 2010 – Jan 2011
Design architect for webOS system and framework.

### Senior User Experience Designer @ Cisco
Jan 2010 – Jan 2010

### iPod Interaction Design Lead @ Apple Inc.
Jan 2007 – Jan 2010
UI concepting, prototyping, and specification.

### Senior Design Technologist @ frog design
Jan 2005 – Jan 2007


## Education
### Master's in Motion Pictures
日本大学 - Nihon University

### Bachelor of Arts in Japanese, Political Science, Concert Choir
Macalester College


## Contact & Social
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/benhondarottler
- Portfolio: https://decibel.systems/

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Source: https://flows.cv/benhondarottler
JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/benhondarottler/resume.json
Last updated: 2026-04-13