# Nate Tanemori

> Product Designer | Systems, Brand & Product Strategy | 15+ Years of Design Craft

Location: San Jose, California, United States
Profile: https://flows.cv/natetanemori

#OPENTOWORK
I’m a Product Designer who makes complex systems actually work under the hood. I turn technical logic into clear, usable product behavior and scalable systems. With over 15 years of design expertise — including 5+ years of end-to-end product leadership — I bridge the gap between brand, product, and system architecture. Simply put, I turn chaos into clarity AND trust.


STRATEGIC AUTONOMY:
I thrive in small-to-mid-sized teams where designers have real agency. I am often the first or only designer on a project, responsible for defining the full scope — from architecture through interaction models — from zero.

SYSTEMS THINKING ROOTED IN CRAFT:
What distinguishes my approach is a systems-driven perspective rooted in brand. I don’t just design interfaces; I build scalable design languages that reduce cognitive load and ensure that what gets built holds up under real-world complexity. This allows me to ensure the product experience reflects the brand's core values, whether I'm working with a startup or a global enterprise.


DEEP DOMAIN EXPERIENCE:
I have spent the last several years solving challenges in high-velocity product/UX environments:

• AI & EMERGING TECH: Designing conversational interaction patterns, prompt design, and AI-assisted workflows that feel intuitive.

• ENTERPRISE B2B & SAAS: Designing dashboards and API integration diagrams that clarify technical infrastructure for users.

• FINTECH & LENDING: Optimizing complex data-dense workflows and financial application funnels to drive measurable conversion.


THE THROUGH-LINE:
Clarity is the objective in everything I do — in decisions, trade-offs, and execution. My goal is to help product, brand, and business speak the same language to build experiences that people trust.

LONG TERM:
I’m growing toward Staff or Principal IC roles — shaping strategy, influencing without authority, and helping product, brand, and business speak the same language.


PORTFOLIO:
www.nathantanemori.com


Open to full-time, contract, consulting, or select freelance engagements. Remote-first preferred; open to hybrid in the South Bay/San Jose area.

While my recent work has centered on product and UX, I am a generalist at heart who thinks and executes across disciplines. My background spans the broader design spectrum — including brand systems, visual storytelling, presentation design, and digital experiences.

## Work Experience
### Design Lead (Fractional) @ CardinalTalent.ai
Jan 2025 – Present | Palo Alto, CA
AI-powered talent acquisition platform leveraging LLMs and predictive analytics to automate candidate sourcing and matching for high-growth tech teams.

• STRATEGIC PRODUCT VISION: 
Serving as a fractional lead guiding the post-MVP evolution of the platform, overseeing product vision, AI interaction strategy, and scalable UI systems.

• AI & CONVERSATIONAL DESIGN: 
Refining conversational workflows and interaction patterns for recruiter and candidate experiences, including prompt strategies, personas, and state modeling to improve task clarity.

• BRAND & VISUAL IDENTITY: 
Leading a comprehensive brand refresh, including the redesign of the logo and core mark to align the visual identity with the product’s AI-driven evolution.

• FULL-SPECTRUM CREATIVE EXECUTION: 
Redesigning exterior and interior web pages; developing high-conversion landing pages, email templates, and presentation decks, while creating custom illustrations to establish brand identity.

• PERFORMANCE & METRICS: 
Refining AI interaction models to reduce user friction, resulting in increased candidate completion rates and improved web usability.

• DATA VISUALIZATION: 
Redesigning recruiter dashboards with actionable pipeline indicators and visual summaries to surface critical insights from complex data sets.

• CROSS-FUNCTIONAL ALIGNMENT: 
Creating product ecosystem diagrams, logic flows, and visual architecture models to align engineering, marketing, and founding teams.

• SCALABLE CRAFT: 
Building and evolving foundational Figma component libraries and visual frameworks to ensure a cohesive and scalable interface across the entire platform.

• STRATEGIC AUTONOMY: 
Operating independently in a high-ambiguity environment, partnering directly with founders to influence product direction and validate decisions.

### Founding UX/UI Designer @ PortX
Jan 2022 – Jan 2025 | Seattle, WA
An enterprise fintech SaaS platform specializing in financial data orchestration and payment integration for community banks and financial institutions.

• FIRST DESIGN HIRE & FULL-SPECTRUM OWNERSHIP: 
Served as the only designer within the company, owning the end-to-end strategy, UX/UI execution, and brand identity across the entire multi-product cloud suite.

• PORTX DESIGN SYSTEM (PDS): 
Built the company’s first design system from zero, establishing a scalable visual language and Figma component library used to unify the entire product ecosystem.

• PRODUCT STRATEGY & MVP LAUNCH: 
Led Integration Manager and Payment Manager from initial concept to successful MVP launch, defining interaction models and IA for complex financial data pipelines.

• PATTERN IDENTIFICATION & GROUNDWORK: 
Laid the foundational UX architecture and design patterns for Data Manager, identifying reusable interaction models to accelerate the development of future product modules.

• DATA VISUALIZATION: 
Designed high-density dashboards and system architecture visuals to clarify technical infrastructure and integration workflows for B2B users.

• BEHAVIORAL OPTIMIZATION: 
Developed conversational UX patterns for "QuickNotes," streamlining internal workflows and resulting in a documented time-savings of 4–6 hours per week.

• CROSS-FUNCTIONAL LEADERSHIP: 
Acted as the primary design partner to Founders and Engineering leads, translating technical constraints and user research into actionable product roadmaps.

• STRATEGIC AUTONOMY: 
Managed all design operations independently in a high-ambiguity environment, delivering WCAG-compliant components without external design support.

### UX Product Designer @ U.S. Bank
Jan 2021 – Jan 2022 | Minneapolis, MN
One of the largest commercial banks in the U.S., providing a wide range of financial services, including consumer banking, lending, and enterprise credit systems. 

• LENDING EXPERIENCE ARCHITECTURE: 
Led the UX strategy and information architecture (XA) for high-visibility enterprise credit card application flows, optimizing the end-to-end journey from discovery to submission.

• DATA-DRIVEN PERFORMANCE: 
Spearheaded the redesign of lending workflows that successfully reduced application abandonment by an estimated 15–20% through iterative testing and research synthesis.

• PLATFORM THINKING & SCALABILITY: 
Engineered responsive layouts and interface patterns for the U.S. Bank's React Cloud Apply platform, ensuring a consistent and accessible experience across the broader enterprise product suite.

• ENTERPRISE CRAFT & ACCESSIBILITY: 
Delivered WCAG-compliant design systems and high-fidelity interaction patterns for data-dense interfaces used by internal analysts and credit teams.

• STRATEGIC RATIONALE & ALIGNMENT: 
Partnered with dedicated research and accessibility specialists to translate stakeholder requirements and user feedback into clear design rationale and validated product decisions.

### Visual Designer IV @ Meta
Jan 2021 – Jan 2021 | Menlo Park, CA
A global technology leader building social platforms and community-building tools — including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp — to connect billions of users.

• STRATEGIC CROSS-FUNCTIONAL DEPLOYMENT: 
Initially embedded within Platforms Marketing, and eventually deployed across multiple specialized divisions — including F8, Health Partnerships, Community Partnerships, and Spark AR — to implement and scale visual systems and drive brand awareness through cohesive, cross-platform storytelling.

• CROSS-FUNCTIONAL DEPLOYMENT: 
Effectively "embedded" as a lead creative partner across multiple specialized divisions—including F8, Health Partnerships, Community, and Spark AR—to drive cohesive visual storytelling.

• DEVELOPER ECOSYSTEM (F8): 
Partnered with the "F8: Hackathon" event team to design visual systems and templates that supported Facebook’s premier developer conference and global hackathon initiatives.

• EMERGING TECH & AR (Spark AR): 
Collaborated with the Spark AR team to create product storytelling assets for augmented reality (AR) initiatives, exploring design paradigms for immersive technology and developer tools.

• EXECUTIVE-LEVEL STORYTELLING: 
Led the design of high-impact presentation decks for the Health Partnerships team, translating complex strategic roadmaps into polished narratives for senior leadership.

• SCALABLE VISUAL SYSTEMS: 
Designed and implemented reusable template libraries used across global product marketing teams, improving production efficiency by 25–30%.

• DATA VISUALIZATION: 
Created sophisticated visualizations for ad platforms and community partnerships, making complex product metrics legible for diverse global audiences.

### Freelance Designer @ Ushur
Jan 2020 – Jan 2021 | Santa Clara, CA
A cloud-native, AI-powered automation platform focused on customer experience (CX) and conversational automation for highly regulated enterprise B2B sectors.

• CONVERSATIONAL AI & UX STRATEGY: 
Refined end-to-end UI/UX workflows for a post-MVP AI chatbot platform, focusing on streamlining conversational patterns and state modeling to improve task completion for enterprise users.

• EXECUTIVE STORYTELLING & STRATEGY: 
Partnered directly with the CEO to design high-stakes presentation decks that visualized the company’s product vision and market positioning for investors and key stakeholders.

• SYSTEMIC WEB REDESIGN: 
Collaborated with the VP of Marketing to redesign core web pages, establishing a scalable template system and visual language that ensured brand-product coherence across all digital touchpoints.

• GROWTH & CONVERSION: 
Designed high-performance landing pages to drive lead generation and customer acquisition, applying behavioral design principles to simplify the value proposition of complex AI services.

• SYSTEMIC USABILITY REFINEMENT: 
Improved product clarity and consistency by identifying friction points in complex B2B automation workflows, ensuring the platform remained intuitive during rapid growth.

• STRATEGIC AUTONOMY: 
Operated as an independent consultant in a high-velocity environment, translating high-level business goals into polished, production-ready design solutions without internal design oversight.

### Art Director @ NTD
Jan 2019 – Jan 2021 | San Jose, CA
(Ongoing) A multidisciplinary design consultancy providing end-to-end (E2E) strategy and execution for high-growth tech firms, B2B/B2C, and global brands.

• FULL-STACK CREATIVE LEADERSHIP: 
Deliver comprehensive design solutions across a diverse spectrum, including brand identity, web design, interactive experiences, motion graphics, video production, and custom illustration.

• INTEGRATED DESIGN SYSTEMS: 
Partner with founders and brands to build cohesive communication and design systems that connect high-level brand strategy with digital and physical execution. 

Clients include: CardinalTalent.AI • Signifyd • Netradyne • Dr.Evidence • Ushur AI • Aircover PR • BMC • View

• CROSS-MEDIA INTEGRATION: 
Manage the end-to-end lifecycle of complex projects spanning print, web, and interactive platforms, ensuring visual and narrative consistency across every touchpoint.

• STRATEGIC PROBLEM SOLVING: 
Apply a visionary yet analytical approach to client challenges, balancing creative direction with business-focused outcomes to drive brand trust and market differentiation.

• HOLISTIC DESIGN EXECUTION: 
Seamlessly blend UX research and interaction design with high-fidelity visual craft, providing a truly holistic approach to solving modern business problems.

### Sr. Visual Designer @ Automation Anywhere
Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | San Jose, CA
A global leader in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and enterprise-grade, AI-powered automation solutions for high-growth SaaS environments.

• EXECUTIVE PRODUCT STORYTELLING: 
Partnered with senior leadership to design brand-aligned visual systems and cinematic keynote presentations that visualized the long-term product strategy and innovation roadmaps.

• SYSTEMIC BRAND STANDARDIZATION: 
Developed and standardized internal brand systems that were adopted across multiple cross-functional teams to ensure platform-wide consistency and visual coherence.

• SIMPLIFYING ENTERPRISE COMPLEXITY: 
Translated the intricate logic of Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Intelligent Automation (IA), and data-driven insights into clear, narrative-driven visual frameworks to drive understanding among internal and external stakeholders.

• STRATEGIC CREATIVE PARTNERSHIP: 
Acted as a lead creative partner to product and marketing teams, ensuring that brand and visual storytelling remained aligned with overarching business goals and product innovation.

### Sr. Communications Designer @ LinkedIn
Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | Sunnyvale, CA
The world’s largest professional network, providing a platform for 1B+ members to connect, share insights, and discover career opportunities. 

• STRATEGIC NARRATIVE DESIGN: 
Partnered directly with executive leadership to design brand-aligned visual systems and cinematic keynote presentations that visualized the long-term product innovation roadmap. 

• INTERNAL BRAND STANDARDIZATION: 
Developed and standardized a new internal brand system, facilitating its adoption across multiple cross-functional teams to ensure platform-wide consistency. 

• EXECUTIVE STORYTELLING: 
Translated complex product strategy and business goals into high-impact visual narratives, supporting the "polish and confidence" required for global leadership communications.

• PLATFORM ADOPTION: 
Guided the implementation of scalable visual libraries and design patterns, demonstrating the "platform mindset" necessary to influence design consistency across a massive enterprise.

### Design Director @ RESONATE
Jan 2009 – Jan 2019 | San Jose, CA
(Now defunct) A full-service creative and design agency specializing in integrated brand strategy, digital experiences, and large-scale marketing campaigns for global enterprise B2B and B2C brands.

• HANDS-ON DESIGN LEADERSHIP: 
Served as the lead creative and design practitioner for all agency projects, personally executing high-fidelity UX/UI, brand systems, and digital architectures from concept through delivery.

• CROSS-FUNCTIONAL MANAGEMENT: 
Directed multidisciplinary teams of designers and developers, balancing hands-on craft with the management of people, project timelines, and creative budgets.

• FULL-STACK PRODUCT LIFECYCLE: 
Managed the end-to-end lifecycle for complex, database-driven websites and digital products, overseeing the technical transition from initial wireframing to final deployment.

• ENGINEERING & DEVELOPMENT PARTNER: 
Bridged the gap between creative vision and technical feasibility by managing engineers to build dynamic, data-driven web systems that held up under real-world complexity.

• EXECUTIVE CLIENT STRATEGY: 
Acted as the primary strategic partner for C-suite and executive stakeholders, translating high-level business goals into cohesive, interactive product strategies.

Clients included: Adobe • Apple • HP • IGN • Intuit • Quarry VC • Rubrik • Salesforce • Visa • Westfield Group

• SYSTEMIC BRAND EVOLUTION: 
Oversaw the transition of legacy brands into modern digital ecosystems, ensuring visual and narrative consistency across web, mobile, and physical touchpoints.

• MENTORSHIP & QUALITY CONTROL: 
Cultivated a high-performance design culture by mentoring junior talent and establishing the rigorous craft standards required for global enterprise clients.


## Education
### Certificate in Industrial and Product Design
The University of Texas at Austin

### Bachelors in Graphic Design
San José State University


## Contact & Social
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nathantanemori
- Portfolio: https://www.nathantanemori.com/

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Source: https://flows.cv/natetanemori
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Last updated: 2026-04-13