Rafael Serrano, Designer in The Hague, Netherlands
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Rafael Serrano

Verified Expert  in Design

Bio

Craftsman and product designer, Rafael is passionate about every aspect of the digital design process. With a bias toward data-driven actions and how those impact people, it's essential to be objective. He has been collaborating with startups and established product teams on UX management, research, strategy, workflow optimization, and the execution of product decisions to work towards successfully completing a project.

Portfolio

Work Experience

UX/UI Product Designer Lead

2023 - PRESENT
Settly
  • Supported the integration of instruction-tuned Generative AI to streamline research efforts, automate workflows, and enhance productivity while effectively.
  • Spearheaded the transition from a B2B model to a SaaS product, driving strategic growth and enhancing user engagement, resulting in a 15% boost in retention.
  • Led a cross-functional product team through the creative process's discovery, ideation, and design stages. Nurtured talent through mentorship and growth opportunities and fostered 
a collaborative environment with open communication and teamwork.
  • Participated actively in the product design process, ensuring hands-on involvement when needed.
  • Mentored the design team and product team on UX methodologies and best practices.
  • Developed comprehensive product strategies and translated them into clear, actionable design objectives that aligned with business goals, directly contributing to a 30% increase in overall product usage.
Technologies: Figma, Maze, Mixpanel, Confluence, Adobe Creative Suite, Lean UX, UX Design, UI Design, Product Design, UX Mentoring, Dashboard Design, Data Visualization

Senior UX/UI Deisgner

2020 - 2021
Intive
  • Led the accessibility efforts for the Macmillan Education labs platform, achieving a user experience that allowed users with visual disabilities to execute tasks successfully.
  • Collaborated with TFA (Tech for All's Accessibility Compliance and Universal Design Services) to turn UX concepts into feasible digital solutions.
  • Ensured UX best practices across the organization aligned with business values.
  • Developed and implemented a robust design system for the client.
Technologies: Accessibility, Design Systems, B2C, UX Design, UI Design, Prototyping, Ideation

Senior UX/UI Designer

2018 - 2021
WOM Chile
  • Planned and conducted user research methodologies to obtain key insights used to improve existing products, create new design strategies, or build new features.
  • Optimized payment methods to increase end users' conversation and engagement, achieving an adoption rate of 78%.
  • Ideated, designed, prototyped, and tested every user flow before launching the mobile application to a market of 2 million users.
  • Worked with Lean-Agile methodologies, ensuring the effectiveness of the deliverables.
  • Ensured a user-centric approach based on data-driven decisions and business interests.
Technologies: Figma, Abstracts, InVision, Maze, Optimal Workshop, Design Sprints, Web App Design, Dashboard Design, Ideation

UX Designer

2017 - 2018
Acid Labs
  • Conducted user research to provide actionable insights to stakeholders by effectively communicating the results.
  • Optimized the user's workflow in the platform, improving performance by over 45%.
  • Matched and managed team and business expectations about the project's functions and impact.
  • Implemented and promoted design best practices to stakeholders and the user experience team to ensure successful deliverables.
  • Drove user engagement by selecting the new platform's main critical features and designing the entire experience around them.
Technologies: InVision, Sketch, Optimal Workshop, Maze, User Interviews, UX Research, User Flows, User Journeys, Information Architecture (IA), B2B, UX Design, SaaS, Web App Design, Dashboard Design, Ideation

Art Director and Co-founder

2016 - 2018
Design Heaps
  • Managed multidisciplinary teams successfully between Canada, The United States, and Venezuela for clients like Café Mezcal, eBay, DNA Consultants, and Panthers Lodge.
  • Led and implemented Agile methodologies in collaboration with key stakeholders to achieve compliance with the projects' objectives set throughout data analysis, which reflected improvements in user task success, retention, and conversion.
  • Worked closely with engineer directors, account managers, and talents from different cultural backgrounds and time zones to create successful multidisciplinary teams for our clients.
Technologies: Optimal Workshop, Maze, Adobe Creative Suite, UX Design, UI Design, Project Management, Web Design, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Web Marketing, Branding, Web App Design, Ideation

UX/UI Designer

2013 - 2014
Appetite+, Inc.
  • Worked as the primary user experience and interface designer on rebranding, improving, and creating new features for version 2.0 of the mobile app.
  • Structured my design approach based on qualitative and quantitative information obtained during the research process with stakeholders and the development team provided.
  • Obtained a new investment from Start-Up Chile and gained recognition from Intel Challenge Latin America and The Media Accelerator Program Latin America in 2013 in Miami, USA.
Technologies: Sketch, UX Research, UX Design, UI Design, Branding, Value Proposition, User Flows, User Journeys, Optimal Workshop, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Social Networks, Information Architecture (IA), B2C, Mobile UI, iOS, Web App Design, Ideation

Education

2002 - 2007

Bachelor's Degree in Graphic Design

University José Maria Vargas - Caracas, Venezuela

Certifications

JANUARY 2024 - PRESENT

Applied Generative AI for Digital Transformation

MIT Professional Education Program

JULY 2020 - PRESENT

How to Design for Augmented and Virtual Reality

The Interaction Design Foundation

APRIL 2020 - PRESENT

UX Management: Strategy & Tactics

The Interaction Design Foundation

MARCH 2020 - PRESENT

UX Research — Methods and Best Practices

The Interaction Design Foundation

FEBRUARY 2019 - PRESENT

Production and Management of Digital Projects

University of Chile

JANUARY 2019 - PRESENT

Information Architecture

University of Chile

MAY 2018 - PRESENT

Design Sprint Foundations

Udacity

Skills

Tools

Adobe Creative Suite, InVision, Sketch, Miro, Trello, Adobe InDesign, Slack, Maze, Confluence

Platforms

MacOS, Figma, iOS, Android, Mixpanel

Languages

HTML

Other

Data Visualization, Web App Design, Web App UX, Web App UI, Responsive, Low-fidelity Prototypes, High-fidelity Prototypes, Web Design, UI Design, UX Design, Graphic Design, Project Management, Prototyping, Information Architecture (IA), User Interface (UI), Product Design, Usability, UX Research, Mobile UX Design, Mobile UI Design, Dashboard Design, SaaS, MVP Design, B2B, Ideation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), UX Strategy, Usability Testing, Qualitative Research, User Interviews, Contextual Inquiry, Interviews, Visual Storytelling, Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), iOS UX Design, iOS UI Design, Android UI Design, UX Scenarios, Wireframing, User Flows, Empathy Mapping, Card Sorting, Lean UX, Agile UX, System Design, Sketching, User Journey Maps, Optimal Workshop, Abstracts, User Experience (UX), App Design, Mobile Design, Interactive Prototypes, Web Development, Responsive Web Design (RWD), UI Animation, Web UX, Content Management Systems (CMS), Visual Design, Responsive UX Design, Typography, Data Validation, User Personas, Wireframe to Product, UX Analysis, Benchmarking, Benchmark Analysis, Intranets, User Management, Management, Strategy, Android Design Guidelines, Design Sprints, User Journeys, Branding, Value Proposition, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Social Networks, B2C, Mobile UI, Accessibility, Design Systems, Web Marketing, Google Design Sprints, Design Thinking, UX Mentoring, Software as a Service (SaaS), Dashboards, Digital Transformation

Experience

  • Data Visualization - 10 years
  • UX Research - 7 years
  • Product Design - 4 years
  • SaaS - 4 years
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) - 1 year
  • Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) - 1 year
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