i’ve designed physical and digital end-to-end products over the last decade to help users engage with new media, foster education, and help creators make a living. i believe design can help enrich our lives and incrementally enhance our connections with each other and the natural world.

lEARN MORE about me, what I’m currently up to at spotify, what I’ve built recently, my interdisciplinary foundation, connecting dots between community and academia, writing and talking about design, and what people I’ve worked with have to say, or check my cv

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about me

I’m shaped by my practices in the arts, photography, writing, and co-creating communities. I’m constantly collaborating on side projects, speaking about design, and mentoring creatives.

I spend my time reading, running, biking, watching films, and navigating topographies on Google Maps while planning for my next travels.

I’m from Venezuela, of Italian descent, identify as Latin-x, and have lived in cities boston, san Francisco, barcelona and currently based in Brooklyn, New York.

currently at spotify, Design partner for r&d growth initiatives

Entrepreneurial designer and leader, shaping awareness and acquisition strategies via product-led growth experiences, like Daylist, as seen on techcrunch

crafting data-validated experiences that put users first with solutions that bridge business needs and thoughtful edge cases, like SEO experiments to grow open.spotify.com

facilitator for Spotify’s ‘Building for Equity’ initiative and course that champions effective processes and operations to build inclusive, equitable, usable, and locally relevant products.

What i’ve built recently

leading design for a pre-seed startup’s go-to-market strategy, like launching Copper Books iOS app to transform the way we connect around books, recognized as a “most notable app” in the app store, and highlighted in forbes, techcrunch, and the new york times

running my own design studio, working with early-stage teams to craft websites, design systems, and prototypes with a focus on finding product-market fit, empowering teams to secure funding. partners included startups like screenshotbot, tinyrockets, bancra, and upward, agencies like stickboy creative, and non-profits like the supper share, and code for venezuela.

interdisciplinary foundation

spearheading dozens of programs for OpenIDEO’s San Francisco Chapter’s community to address local and global issues via design challenges, like ideating an award-winning feature from scratch to improve the ride-sharing experience for Lyft

managing dozens of architecture workplace experiences to execute multi-phased projects from concept to delivery for thousands of users around the globe for ideo, YouTube, Meta, and Google, et al.

connecting dots

I’m continuously part of design communities (in person or remotely) and currently engaging with copper Hewitt and Creative Mornings, and previously with latinxswhodesign, architechie, huddle works, souldoodles, san francisco zen center, artspan, adhesivo magazine, and more.

I’ve held visiting critic or lecturer roles thanks to partnerships with academic institutions like the city college of san francisco (ccsf), academy of art university (aau), University of Minnesota’s college of design, wentworth institute of technology (wit), the institute of advanced architecture of catalunya (iaac) and the boston society of architects (bsa)

writing and talking about design

My words have been published in the ux collective, bootcamp, the startup, prototypr, tealfeed, roots division’s mfa never, musotrees, and war.

i’ve recorded a few conversations like founded by few’s how to get my job with danielle bowman, coherence with melissa wong: on the power of accrual with attainable practices, becoming yourself with fran hernandez: libera tu creatividad (español) and ux untamed with julieth fajardo.

I love speaking about all things product and design and have shared ideas, thoughts, and perspectives at creative mornings hq / ny “new york is creative”, uc Berkeley’s haas school of business, aau’s school of architecture, general assembly san Francisco, and wit’s school of architecture & design. i’m currently open for in-person or virtual speaking engagements in 2023.

trusted by peers and industry leaders

"francesco is one of those unique people who can inspire teams to pursue an ambitious goal, create an atmosphere that motivates them to get things done, be a creative catalyst and drive projects towards completion no matter what. i am very grateful for the chance to work closely with francesco and learn from him!"

anna iurchenko, senior designer @ google health, board director @ ixda sf
“francesco is the perfect description of a doer and maker, an ability that i value a lot. when working together in our startup, i was impressed by how he understood our challenges quickly, with a lot of empathy and patience. he always moved the design process forward, was able to think ideas end-to-end.”

orlando osorio, Founder @ Meaningful, Tech Enterpreneur focused on Martech & Low-Code
"The way Francesco’s mind works is just absolutely amusing. He can synthesize and summarize with incredible accuracy and elegance. This is extremely useful when dealing with user interviews or receiving feedback in design reviews. He is able to listen, receive and transform any design into an ever-growing beautiful masterpiece"

natalia pulido, Product Manager @ Accenture, WEF Global Shaper, ex- Disney, ESPN, VC-funded startups, Intel, & Goldman Sachs
“francesco's sense of curiosity is perhaps one of the talents i most admire in him. he is always asking questions than lead him towards growth constantly pushing others' edges as well as his own. as a community builder and designer he was always committed to creating inclusive and accessible experiences for all. he helped the openideo san francisco chapter grow in so many ways. witnessing his leadership and journey has been truly inspiring!”

Daniela Restrepo Ortiz, Systems Designer @ IDEO.org, Community Specialist, Design Researcher, Storyteller, Prev IDEO, OpenIDEO
"Francesco worked with me in improving, redesigning and revamping the brand and visual design for Screenshotbot platform. His work was always clean, thoughtful, and to the point, his design thinking is incredible; meanwhile he was always trying to find the best approach for the challenges, always thinking about the user first. I will be happy to work with him in the future again, and any company will be lucky to have him on the team."

Lilibeth Bustos Linares, Founder @SoulDoodles, Lead Product Designer @Nuvocargo, UX/UI teacher @Memorisely
"I had the pleasure of working with Francesco as part of a design sprint for Bancra. During this time, Francesco demonstrated critical product-thinking, a sharp eye for visual design, and the ability to communicate his decisions clearly. His contributions were invaluable, and they enabled our two-person team to deliver a stunning MVP refresh in under seven days."

Darren Dominique Davis, Product Designer, Design Systems @ Meta, Prev Instagram, Rally Health