# Neil Torrefiel > Design Leader, Digital Strategist/Consultant, Social Entrepreneur, Executive Director, Educator, previously  & Uber Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/neiltorrefiel Multidisciplinary user experience expert/strategist with 18+ years of experience across tech, agency, government, and Fortune 500 companies. As a Product Designer, Social Entrepreneur, and advocate for ethical/inclusive design, I've honed a wide gamut of design management and leadership skills. Recently, I founded and led a creative design studio specializing in human-centered digital strategy, focused on serving social enterprises and non-profit organizations. I've led digital design/strategy teams on innovation-led projects, comprising clients across a wide gamut of industries. I've worked directly with founders, leadership, and stakeholders to determine optimum strategic digital approaches for a myriad of products and services. ## Work Experience ### Principal Product Designer @ Verkada Jan 2024 – Jan 2025 ### Founder & CEO @ Summer Design Studio Jan 2018 – Jan 2023 | San Francisco, California, United States Summer is a team of designers and creatives, on a mission to improve the digital experiences and services of social good initiatives and impact-driven organizations. We focus on designing optimized and effective digital/service experiences for organizations that provide a social benefit, are socially conscious, or provide a positive human impact to the world. Our core service is consulting within the realm of User Experience Design (UX Design) and Human-Centered Design (HCD), providing services around UI/UX Design, Design & Social Marketing Strategy, Design Research, Service Design, System Architecture, and Futurescaping. We work alongside social impact causes and organizations with lean and efficient strategic approaches to design new digital experience offerings, optimize current initiatives, and strategize around their business goals to address socio-economic, and cultural issues. We believe in equitable digital experiences for all. Our vision is to design better experiences inclusive of all users, so we can ensure a more digitally literate and engaged community across the world. We champion design thinking methodologies to develop innovative ideas aimed at increasing their impact footprint in context with future business growth. Our expertise is a culmination of our work across a broad spectrum of industries. Over the last 4 years, we have successfully helped over 30 social impact businesses + startups across the US, Africa, Asia, and South America. ### Product Design Lead @ fuseproject Jan 2021 – Jan 2023 | San Francisco, California, United States I lead a team of designers across a myriad of digital workstreams, supporting digital strategy and experiential objectives for our innovation-led clients, including Samsung, OPUS, Fireside Chat, Tono Health, TELO Trucks, Konscious Foods, and others. ### Adjunct Professor – Graduate Interaction Design Program @ California College of the Arts Jan 2018 – Jan 2022 | San Francisco Bay Area Adjunct Professor, Master of Design in Interaction Design I teach a graduate-level capstone course that is a culmination of skills, processes, and methodologies throughout their coursework, where students explore the broad scope of experience design to consider any and every point at which digital technology may play a role. I empower my students to lead their efforts with a lens of inclusion, allowing them the fully express their intrinsic and authentic selves, to help guide the experiential intent of their coursework. Students will understand how to conceive, design, visualize and communicate overall Experience, while using research to inform potential designs, thinking strategically about design, and working within constraints and opportunities that arise from business, technology or policy. ### NLC Fellow – SF Chapter @ New Leaders Council Jan 2022 – Jan 2022 | San Francisco, California, United States 100+ hours of hands-on, leadership training focused on social justice, equity and inclusion, entrepreneurial goal setting, strategic communications, digital organizing, finance and fundraising, coalition building, public policy. ### Sr. Product Designer, Uber Advanced Technology Group @ Uber Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco, California I designed experiences for the future of mobility through self-driving technology, through a suite of autonomy tools to enable self-driving vehicles on the Uber network. I lead a channel of design workstreams dedicated to designing technology for third-party vendors, vehicle OEMs, and external partnerships. ### Sr. Product Designer @ fuseproject Jan 2016 – Jan 2019 | San Francisco Bay Area At fuseproject, I helped lead a holistic approach and execution of our digital projects. My primary role focused on phase 0 consultation across ideation, research, insights analysis, experience architecture, and futurescaping. I worked closely alongside our industrial design, branding, and strategy teams to ensure a cohesive human experience that meets and exceeds client objectives. Validate, break, iterate, futurescape – this is what I love to do. Samsung, SPRING Accelerator, August Lock, L'Oréal, Diageo, various confidential start-ups and initiatives spanning robotics, autonomous driving, health & hygiene, and social impact. ### Digital Experience Lead (UX/UI) @ SPRING Accelerator Jan 2017 – Jan 2018 | Nepal & Tanzania SPRING aimed to transform lives of adolescent girls by creating sustainable markets for life-enhancing products and services. These products and services have helped girls stay safe, learn, earn, and save without harm. SPRING Accelerator identified both businesses and not-for-profit enterprises with products and services that could improve the lives of girls, and provided expertise in business growth, investment readiness, human-centred design, innovation, and marketing to help drive their businesses further. Successful businesses and the investment they stimulate will lead to a broader shift in markets that enable girls and their communities to end the cycle of poverty. SPRING set out to reach 200,000 girls by 2019. By its end date, the accelerator had outperformed its objective, reaching over 2 million girls. SPRING operated in nine-month blocks with cohorts of up to 20 enterprises. Our first cohort included businesses from Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya and ended in March 2016.Our second cohort, launched in September 2016, focused on Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. Our third cohort, launched in March 2017, returned to Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya, adding Tanzania and Ethiopia. In 2018, our fourth cohort returned to South Asia in March 2018. It included businesses from Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan and added Myanmar. ### Product Designer/Researcher, Global Retail Marketing @ Apple Jan 2013 – Jan 2015 | Cupertino, Ca UX/UI Product Design & Research for mobile/interactive technologies for Apple.com and Apple Retail Stores: migration from iOS6 skeuomorphism to iOS 7's grounbreaking flat design system, Concierge (Genius Bar management software that Apple Retail employees run), Smart Sign (interactive iPad in-store signage), Apple Store App and EasyPay self-checkout service, iBeacon (in-store near-field Bluetooth discovery), product reservations platform, local discovery platforms and directories • Global retail applications and initiatives, Ad hoc retail/research initiatives. ### Director of Experience @ Sparkr Jan 2013 – Jan 2015 Sparkr redfines mentorship through an innovative technological platform that enables personal growth and facilitates a modern mentorship community. Sparkr envisions a world where everyone's a mentor. I oversaw a cohesive representation of our brand across multiple channels and services. I designed Unifi, our mobile app and MVP, capable of providing a space for people with similar backgrounds and career goals to connect and mentor each other. Won third place at Startup Weekend, Tri-Valley Applied to Techstars, Winter 2014 Applied to Y Combinator, Winter 2014 ### Principal @ neitoDesign Jan 2007 – Jan 2013 I'm a sole proprietor of neitoDesign, my freelance web design studio specializing in user experience/web design, information architecture, web development, and branding strategies. ### Web Designer/Developer @ Riezebos Holzbaur Group (RHDG) Jan 2011 – Jan 2012 I oversaw our client web campaigns, and managed all steps of the project lifecycle, from resource planning and ideation, through development, QA and launch. I interfaced directly with clients to understand their goals and exceed expectations. Often, I designed the web user experience myself. I coordinated external developers and vendors as needed, and streamlined key development and workflow processes. I also maintained our web servers (Dedicated, FMS, Cloud), and migrated server applications for scalability. Clients include Ancestry.com, DreamWorks, Tagged, Pearson Education, McGraw-Hill, City and County of San Francisco, City of Oakland, City of Palo Alto, San Mateo County, Bay Area Air Quality Management District. ### Web Design/Developer Volunteer @ ZURB Jan 2011 – Jan 2011 | Campbell, Ca I had the great opportunity to volunteer alongside the creative minds of ZURB, for their annual 2011 ZURBwired event, benefitting local non-profit organizations. I was involved in the ideation, wireframing, and development of the Rebekah Children's Services website. In 24 sleepless hours, ZURB and our team of volunteers were able to create a new branding strategy, marketing collateral, and a full CMS-driven website. ### University Webmaster @ San Jose State University Jan 2007 – Jan 2010 | San Jose, Ca I provided creative web direction and facilitated a well-structured, cohesive university web presence. I catalyzed and coordinated an entire design overhaul of the university website. I managed the UI experience and design for a university-wide mobile platform (SJSU Mobile on iPhone), and contributed to establishing university web policies, standards, and best practices. I sat on various committees and advocated for enterprise-wide adoption of web page design and standards across all university departments, ensuring that technical and accessibility requirements are observed. I also served as an expert consultant and liaison for overall campus web design needs. ### Web / Graphic Designer - Student Worker @ San Jose State University Jan 2002 – Jan 2007 | San Jose, Ca ### Teacher's Assistant - Adobe Flash @ San Jose State University Jan 2006 – Jan 2007 | San Jose, Ca I co-developed a lecture series that coincided with the instructor's curriculum. I held great rapport with fellow students which enabled me to facilitate a more engaging learning environment. I lectured and supported the instructor on specific competencies within Adobe Flash. I helped assist students in learning, understanding, and applying animation and programming concepts in Adobe Flash. I facilitated lab times outside of class and offered private tutoring sessions. I maintained a conducive learning environment for my colleagues to ask questions, finish assignments, and extend their knowledge in Adobe Flash. ### Web Design / Development Intern @ GreySF Jan 2006 – Jan 2006 I created test cases/scripts using business requirements and functional/technical specification documents. I authored test plans and reviewed material with relevant interactive development teams. I conducted testing of all software and interactive products utilizing systems analysis techniques and procedures, for applicable OS platforms. I worked alongside the development team to create system performance metrics and benchmarks. I maintained software issues using the JIRA issue tracking system and assisted in QA of ad-hoc database activities and interactive work. I coordinated between user community and developers to determine the scope of each issue/enhancement and facilitated effective communication and resolution. I also performed regression testing on all new software builds, provided subject matter expertise to analysis and development teams, and maintained QA lab with required OS/Browser builds. I worked on client campaigns for Sandisk, Oracle, Mervyn's, Wellpoint/Blue Cross, and BMW. ### Graphic Design Intern @ Stanford University Jan 2006 – Jan 2006 | Stanford, Ca I coordinated with a senior creative in the designing and manufacturing of various signage which promoted various residential and dining events. ## Education ### Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Graphic Design, Business Marketing, Computer Engineering, Art History San José State University ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/neiltorrefiel - Portfolio: http://summer.design --- Source: https://flows.cv/neiltorrefiel JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/neiltorrefiel/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13