About
MarcoDesiderio
I design digital products that make people's lives a little less complicated.
I didn't start in design. I spent my first years in advertising in São Paulo, as an Account Director running campaigns for brands like LG, Samsung, BMW and O Boticário.
Then I moved to London and started over as a designer, which is a humbling thing to do in your second language. For a long time I thought that background was something to explain away. Now I know it's why I'm good at the part of design that happens outside Figma: understanding stakeholders, getting teams aligned, and selling ideas. Spoiler: that's most of the job.
Today I'm a Senior Product Designer focused on design systems for regulated products. One system I built serves 5 UK asset managers. Reusable components are how I run several clients at once without the work turning into a pile of one-offs. I've also mentored two designers along the way.
I still use Figma. I use AI where it actually saves time, on research synthesis, UX copy and accessibility checks, and not where it just makes more things to fix.
- Design systems
- Design tokens
- Component libraries
- Figma
- User research
- Accessibility (WCAG)
Languages: Portuguese (native), English (fluent)
Career · 15+ years in the making
- HuguenotSenior Product DesignerSep 2023 to now
Royal London Asset Management, Artemis and J O Hambro Capital Management. I own the product design system end to end: tokens, component library, documentation, governance and adoption. Five UK asset managers, one system.
- FSB TechSenior Product DesignerJan 2021 to Aug 2023
Built the design system for a white-label platform from the ground up, and led design for onboarding and account management. Usability testing and accessibility towards WCAG 2.1 AA.
- Xanda LtdUI DesignerMar 2019 to Dec 2020
UI for websites, apps and brand work for Benihana, Itsu, Ariella and Adebayo Akinfenwa, coordinating a small team of designers and freelancers.
- WebProUI DesignerMar 2018 to Mar 2019
Turned wireframes into production UI, joined the new-products team, and led projects from concept to delivery.
- VertemAccount Director2014 to 2016
São Paulo.
Education
- Universidade São Judas TadeuBA Social Communication (Advertising), 1997 to 2000. Post-graduate in Art History, 2003 to 2004.1997 to 2004
- UdacityUX Designer (course)2019
Senior Product Designer · London
Let'stalk.
Something complex? Good.