I didn't start in design — marketing first, then film, then somehow I ended up obsessing over why people click the wrong button. Best education I could have had. Nine years of leading design across startups and enterprise, building teams, writing the principles they work by, and sitting in the meetings where strategy actually gets decided.
Just as a side note — I'm a practising energy therapist — which surprises people. But it's shaped how I lead more than any management book ever did. It taught me to actually listen, to read what's not being said, and to hold space for people when the work gets hard. I also make music with AI — because why not. Find me on Spotify
"I've always been more interested in the why behind a decision than the deliverable itself."
AI has been part of my workflow before it was trendy. ORIS is what came out of it — a design tool powered by AI agents that turns a ticket into production-ready designs. Strategy, design, validation, handoff. Still in development, already in use on my side.
No process. No system. Hard deadline. Entire design practice built from scratch — brand, system, and product.
An idea and a blank page. Full product vision shaped, team led through strategy and execution, MVP delivered — and investment secured.
The features were in place. The arch and UX weren't. Structural overhaul led — IA, navigation, flows, and dashboard — rolled out to 40K users without a single complaint.
Most design problems are communication problems wearing a UX hat.
I've killed more bad ideas by asking one question than by redesigning anything.
The best work I've seen came from teams that weren't afraid to say the thing out loud.
I embed, I listen, and I work on the actual problem — whether that's the team, the product, the process, or sometimes all of it at the same time.
The team, the rituals, the way feedback actually gets given — that's what I build first. Great work follows.
I've sat in enough early-stage rooms to know which problems are product problems and which are people problems wearing product clothes.
From the blank page to the thing that ships. Research, strategy, systems, high-fidelity execution. I know which corners you can cut and which will haunt you.
How work gets planned, prioritised, and actually delivered. From rituals and roadmaps to how design and engineering talk to each other. Process should make the work easier, not prove that work happened.
Design that doesn't— Raquel Rodrigues
move the room
doesn't ship.
Before wireframes, before briefs — I want to know what problem we're actually solving. Most projects that go wrong go wrong here, in the silence.
01The PM knows the constraints, the engineers know what breaks, the users know what's actually confusing. I research to find the thing none of them would have told me unprompted.
02Design in isolation surprises people at the wrong moment. Share early and often — so by the time something ships, nobody in the room is surprised by it.
03Handoff isn't the end. Work closely with engineering through build, catch what breaks in translation, and care about the gap between the file and what actually lands.
04Good design shows up in the numbers eventually. Stick around long enough to see it.
05"Raq shines as a product design lead, displaying an unwavering commitment to precision and attention to detail. Her depth of knowledge in product design not only propels projects forward but also serves as a valuable resource for the entire team."
"Raquel is not just an ordinary professional; she is a strategic thinker, an adaptable problem-solver, and a true asset to any organization."
"I can't say enough good things about Raquel. As the Lead Product Designer at Wandr, she made a huge impact on my journey there. Her attention to detail is out of this world."
