I design the system behind the interface.
Twenty-plus years in complex, high-stakes domains, including eight years unifying Amazon's global payments experience, now leading the redesign of the software that secures bank-card infrastructure, and building AI-native products end to end. I map the system before designing the interface, then stay until the design is adopted.
The method
Map the system first
Screens are symptoms. Before designing, I document how the whole thing actually works: the workflows, the data, the constraints, and the org chart, which is part of the system too.
Design the architecture, then the screens
Patterns, components, and rules that hundreds of teams can build on without me in the room. Pixel-perfect comes last, and it comes easier because the structure is right.
Stay until it's adopted
A design that ships to one team is a mockup. I work the long arc of consultation, review programs, and federated tooling until adoption is voluntary and near-total.
Selected work
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Redesigning bank-card security software for the web
Leading the end-to-end UX redesign of a 40-year-old product that manages the Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) behind banks, processors, and payment terminals, from Windows client to web, from legacy paradigm to new pattern and visual libraries.
Case study -
Amazon Payment Experience (APX)
Eight years turning thousands of independent payment experiences into one federated, componentized system, voluntarily adopted by 99%+ of global Amazon payments traffic.
Case study -
Purchase Preferences & Defaults
Research-driven overhaul of how Amazon understands customer preferences: from one aging sitewide default to a contextual preference model and a unified preference authority.
Case study -
AI-native product design
Two functional products built solo by directing AI: The Reality Machine, a P2P gaming platform with an AI game master, and Nettleweft, an ultra-secure P2P social app entering Android beta, plus two system-level product plans.
Case study
The earlier record, including Microsoft (Forza Motorsport 4) and RealNetworks ($10M→$40M D2C turnaround), is on the resume.
From the people I worked with
Daniel is a unicorn. He has deep knowledge in design and at the same time of the technical constraints of the incredibly complex Amazon systems. This allows him to put forward tangible solutions that keep raising the bar for customers across the globe. As a human Daniel is just a jewel of a specimen. We need more technologists with his empathy and kindness helping build the products we use daily.
Daniel always manages to make complex and novel products look simple. He treats everyone with sincerity and empathy. I thoroughly enjoyed working with him and listening to his perspectives on various deep technical and philosophical topics.