Jose Alvarez

UX/UI & Product Designer for digital products, design systems, and AI tools

Behavioral designer specializing in gamification systems and mascot UX — the emotional layer that makes users feel rewarded, not judged. Creator of ESA (Emotional State Architecture), a framework for retention design applied across fintech and developer tools. Background in visual systems and motion design. Open to contracts in gamification, game UX, and behavioral product design.

Skills

Product & UX

Product Design UX/UI Design User Flows Information Architecture Wireframing Prototyping Behavioral UX

Research & Strategy

UX Research Product Strategy Usability Testing Competitive Analysis Journey Mapping Metrics Definition

UI & Systems

Figma Design Systems Auto Layout Components & Variants Design Tokens High-fidelity UI Responsive Design Visual Design AI Tools

Tools & Handoff

Design Handoff Notion After Effects Premiere Pro HTML/CSS Basics AI-assisted Workflows Git

Work Experience

Visual & Motion Designer

2020 — 2024

Serudda · Digital Content Platform →

  • Built a Figma component library with reusable elements, variants, and auto-layout workflows for a multi-year content catalog.
  • Defined the visual language: typography, color system, layout grids, and illustration style — applied consistently across all content formats.
  • Designed motion graphics and micro-interactions in After Effects for thumbnails, intros, and branded assets.
  • Iterated on layout and visual hierarchy based on engagement data to improve audience retention.
Figma After Effects Premiere Pro Photoshop Illustration

Product Projects

Product Designer & Builder

2026

ByMakers · Multi-tenant SaaS · View Case Study →

  • Designed a multi-tenant catalog platform for entrepreneurs, replacing WhatsApp photo dumps and outdated PDFs with a professional, shareable catalog.
  • Mapped the admin-to-public-catalog experience: product upload, brand customization, public browsing, WhatsApp ordering, dual pricing, and PDF quote generation.
  • Designed for non-technical users with mobile-first flows, curated visual customization, clear empty states, and a catalog experience manageable without training.
  • Launched with a real client in production, reaching 83+ products loaded, <5 minutes to upload a product with photo, and zero technical knowledge required to manage the catalog.
Next.js Figma Supabase Responsive UI jsPDF

Product Designer

2026

Duo Git · UI Complete · iOS & Android · View Case Study →

  • Designed a behavioral mobile app and widget system that transforms GitHub contribution data into streak-based emotional feedback, targeting 70%+ Day 30 retention.
  • Conducted competitive analysis across Duolingo, GitHub, and Streaks — identifying an uncontested position at the intersection of high emotional feedback + coding-specific tracking.
  • Defined the information architecture, onboarding logic, dashboard views, league ranking, mascot states, and full widget family for iOS and Android.
  • Created a measurement strategy with behavioral KPIs: streak recovery rate, Day 7 retention, time-to-first-commit, and NPS targets.
Figma GitHub API Data Visualization Motion Design

Education & Certifications

Technical Degree in Software Development In Progress

TecMD – Fundación Politécnico Minuto de Dios · Jan 2026 – Expected Dec 2027 · Virtual

UI/UX Design Specialization

California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) · Coursera

UX Foundations, Visual Design Systems, Information Architecture, Product Thinking & User-Centered Design.

Motion Graphics Certification

Coderhouse · 2024

Motion principles, visual storytelling, and animation fundamentals applied to interface micro-interactions.