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Fifteen years ago I started designing for humans. Now I'm learning to design for humans and machines at the same time and that turns out to be a completely different problem. I've spent my career in the environments where design has to perform: fintech compliance, B2B SaaS, mobile products at scale. At Soldo I cut onboarding time from 48 hours to 4. At Dext I shipped a mobile redesign that won a Xero Award. These weren't aesthetic projects, they were business-critical, and they shipped. At Hole19 I designed Otto, an AI golf coach that evolved into a new Intelligence tier and drove a 43% increase in yearly ARPU. It was my first serious AI product and it taught me that designing AI features isn't about making the output look good, it's about making users trust something they can't fully predict. I'm still learning that. But I'm learning it on shipped products, not side projects. I'm looking for a team building AI products where the design problem is genuinely hard, where trust, transparency and usefulness have to be earned interaction by interaction. I bring the rigour of fintech, the pace of startups, and enough scar tissue to know that the best interface is often the one that gets out of the way.…Fifteen years ago I started designing for humans. Now I'm learning to design for humans and machines at the same time and that turns out to be a completely different problem. I've spent my career in the environments where design has to perform: fintech compliance, B2B SaaS, mobile products at scale. At Soldo I cut onboarding time from 48 hours to 4. At Dext I shipped a mobile redesign that won a Xero Award. These weren't aesthetic projects, they were business-critical, and they shipped. At Hole19 I designed Otto, an AI golf coach that evolved into a new Intelligence tier and drove a 43% increase in yearly ARPU. It was my first serious AI product and it taught me that designing AI features isn't about making the output look good, it's about making users trust something they can't fully predict. I'm still learning that. But I'm learning it on shipped products, not side projects. I'm looking for a team building AI products where the design problem is genuinely hard, where trust, transparency and usefulness have to be earned interaction by interaction. I bring the rigour of fintech, the pace of startups, and enough scar tissue to know that the best interface is often the one that gets out of the way.

Nelson Gago

Product Designer, UX Designer, UI Designer, +3

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Fifteen years ago I started designing for humans. Now I'm learning to design for humans and machines at the same time and that turns out to be a completely different problem. I've spent my career in the environments where design has to perform: fintech compliance, B2B SaaS, mobile products at scale. At Soldo I cut onboarding time from 48 hours to 4. At Dext I shipped a mobile redesign that won a Xero Award. These weren't aesthetic projects, they were business-critical, and they shipped. At Hole19 I designed Otto, an AI golf coach that evolved into a new Intelligence tier and drove a 43% increase in yearly ARPU. It was my first serious AI product and it taught me that designing AI features isn't about making the output look good, it's about making users trust something they can't fully predict. I'm still learning that. But I'm learning it on shipped products, not side projects. I'm looking for a team building AI products where the design problem is genuinely hard, where trust, transparency and usefulness have to be earned interaction by interaction. I bring the rigour of fintech, the pace of startups, and enough scar tissue to know that the best interface is often the one that gets out of the way.…Fifteen years ago I started designing for humans. Now I'm learning to design for humans and machines at the same time and that turns out to be a completely different problem. I've spent my career in the environments where design has to perform: fintech compliance, B2B SaaS, mobile products at scale. At Soldo I cut onboarding time from 48 hours to 4. At Dext I shipped a mobile redesign that won a Xero Award. These weren't aesthetic projects, they were business-critical, and they shipped. At Hole19 I designed Otto, an AI golf coach that evolved into a new Intelligence tier and drove a 43% increase in yearly ARPU. It was my first serious AI product and it taught me that designing AI features isn't about making the output look good, it's about making users trust something they can't fully predict. I'm still learning that. But I'm learning it on shipped products, not side projects. I'm looking for a team building AI products where the design problem is genuinely hard, where trust, transparency and usefulness have to be earned interaction by interaction. I bring the rigour of fintech, the pace of startups, and enough scar tissue to know that the best interface is often the one that gets out of the way.

Available to hire

Fifteen years ago I started designing for humans. Now I’m learning to design for humans and machines at the same time and that turns out to be a completely different problem.

I’ve spent my career in the environments where design has to perform: fintech compliance, B2B SaaS, mobile products at scale. At Soldo I cut onboarding time from 48 hours to 4. At Dext I shipped a mobile redesign that won a Xero Award. These weren’t aesthetic projects, they were business-critical, and they shipped.

At Hole19 I designed Otto, an AI golf coach that evolved into a new Intelligence tier and drove a 43% increase in yearly ARPU. It was my first serious AI product and it taught me that designing AI features isn’t about making the output look good, it’s about making users trust something they can’t fully predict. I’m still learning that. But I’m learning it on shipped products, not side projects.

I’m looking for a team building AI products where the design problem is genuinely hard, where trust, transparency and usefulness have to be earned interaction by interaction. I bring the rigour of fintech, the pace of startups, and enough scar tissue to know that the best interface is often the one that gets out of the way.

Skills

Experience Level

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Language

English

Fluent

Portuguese

Fluent

French

Beginner

Spanish; Castilian

Advanced

Work Experience

Senior Product Designer at Hole19

December 1, 2024 - Present

Hole19 is a golf companion app offering GPS mapping, performance analytics, and community engagement. Led new mobile app design initiatives and UX/UI optimisation, including AI-powered features. Drove UX strategy and launched game modes to expand engagement, achieving notable app feature highlights across markets.

Senior Mobile UX Designer at Dext

August 1, 2023 - December 1, 2024

Dext provides automated accounting solutions for accountants, bookkeepers, and SMBs. Led end-to-end mobile redesign for the core receipt capture flow, conducting research and validation, migrating legacy features, and optimizing UX/UI including payments and card issuing features.

Senior Product Designer at HUB

November 1, 2021 - August 31, 2023

Early-stage fintech startup building an operating platform for asset managers. Led design of a customer-facing desktop web app, improved data platform usability, and addressed critical usability gaps through multiple rounds of user research.

Senior Product Designer at Soldo

August 1, 2018 - March 31, 2021

Fintech scale-up providing B2B SaaS for expense management and pre-paid cards. Redesigned onboarding and sign-in flows, reduced fake applications by 24%, halved activation drop-off, and shortened verification time from 48 hours to 4 hours. Implemented a new user permissions system and mobile app redesign.

Senior Product Designer at Eeden Bull

March 1, 2021 - November 30, 2021

Solo designer for a B2B SaaS expense management startup. Delivered end-to-end product design from concept to launch for mobile and desktop, including IA, UX, copywriting, and UI. Finalist for Best Finacial App 2021; established a design system supporting multiple brands.

UX/UI Designer at Briefcase.News

November 1, 2017 - September 30, 2018

Start-up B2B SaaS for bespoke news. Led redesign of analyst and journalist software across web app, desktop software, iOS, Android, and public website, improving usability and engagement.

UI/UX Designer at Experian

December 1, 2016 - November 30, 2017

UI/UX design for In-session web experiences in Experian Consumer Services, collaborating with UX, optimization, and mobile teams. Participated in user testing and copywriting for a consumer credit platform used by millions.

Lecturer at Etic Algarve

September 1, 2014 - May 31, 2016

Lecturer in Interactive Design (UX/UI), Branding, Packaging, and Project Management; led students through real-world client projects to apply design skills.

CEO and Lead Design at Nata Design

September 1, 2008 - December 31, 2016

Design Agency: Led UX/UI projects across industries including tourism, healthcare, accommodation, government, finance, events, retail and e-commerce; collaborated with developers and project managers to ensure seamless execution and client satisfaction.

CEO and Design at Teaser Design

September 1, 2000 - May 31, 2007

Design Agency: Creative direction for advertising, graphic design, and branding; led a team of designers, copywriters, and developers across multiple industries.

Senior Product Designer at eden Bull

March 1, 2021 - November 1, 2021

Delivered the entire product design: UX research, IA, flows, copywriting and UI for both mobile and desktop from 0 to launch in under 5 months (for National Australia Bank). Finalist Best Financial App 2021. Established a design system to adapt to several brands (Nordic banks) with prototypes for pitches and stakeholder presentations.

Early-career UX/UI Designer at Briefcase

November 1, 2017 - September 1, 2018

Solo designer who redesigned all 5 product surfaces (web app, desktop software, iOS, Android, and public website), driving measurably higher user engagement post-launch.

UI Designer at Experian

December 1, 2016 - November 1, 2017

Designed in-session web app experiences for Experian Consumer Services, collaborating across UX, optimisation, and mobile app teams to deliver UI improvements for a B2C credit and financial products platform used by 11M users.

CEO and Head of Design at Nata Design

September 1, 2008 - December 1, 2016

Led UX/UI design projects for responsive websites and apps, and branding across diverse industries; built a design system to adapt to several brands with pitches and stakeholder presentations.

CEO and Head of Design at Teaser Design

September 1, 2000 - May 1, 2008

Design Agency providing creative direction for advertising, graphic design and branding across multiple industries; mentored a team of designers, copywriters and developers to ensure project success.

Senior Product Designer at EedenBull

March 1, 2021 - November 1, 2021

For a B2B SaaS expense management startup, led design end-to-end as the sole designer. Finalist for Best Financial App 2021. Delivered product design, UX research, IA, flows, copywriting and UI for mobile and desktop from 0 to launch in under 5 months (for National Australia Bank). Finalist submission recognized as the sole designer on the team. Established a design system adaptable to multiple Nordic bank brands for pitches and stakeholder presentations.

UI Designer at Experian Consumer Services

December 1, 2016 - November 1, 2017

UI Designer redesigning in-session web app experiences for a B2C credit score and financial products provider, collaborating across UX, optimization and mobile app teams to deliver UI improvements used by millions of users.