I’m a seasoned product designer, creative technologist, and team leader, with a background in designing human-centered products and experiences. I have a passion for designing novel, intuitive, and engaging products – with experience in AI-powered software and hardware, mobile apps, web applications, motion graphics, AR/VR experiences, and more. I'm currently a Senior Product Designer in one of Microsoft's AI Acceleration Studios.
Microsoft Scale AI Studio (2024-Current)
I'm currently a lead product designer at Microsoft's Scale AI Studio, where I lead design on projects exploring new applications of AI. Our team serves as Microsoft's customer-facing innovation arm — building real, tangible products hand-in-hand with clients while teaching them best practices in scalable AI-driven product development.
My work has spanned defense, manufacturing, embodied AI, and smart city infrastructure. I've designed mobile apps, human-robot interaction systems, AI-powered smart manufacturing platforms, and 3DGS interactive experiences — focusing on both strategic direction and hands-on design work.
Motional (2020 – 2024)
For several years I led design as a Director and Principal Designer at Motional, a late-stage startup developing self-driving cars, and boasting deep commercial partnerships with Hyundai, Uber, UberEats, and Lyft. In my last role at Motional, I led the platform and rider experience design for Motional's next generation vehicle. My work focused on high level strategic direction, as well as hands-on work in user research, UX, interaction, and UI design across several modalities (mobile, voice, physical controls, audio, lighting, etc.).
Prior to this, I oversaw the development of multipiple programs and products, including Motional's first commercial robotaxi, remote vehicle intervention tools, and vehicle management, analytics, and deployment tools. As one of the first designers at the company, I spearheaded the growth of Motional's Design and Research teams from small niche functions to core contributors within the company, growing the design & research teams from 2 to ~20 members during my tenure. Motional is now operating fully driverless in Las Vegas.
Luminopia (2016 – 2020)
Before joining Motional, I was the founding product designer at Luminopia, a digital therapeutics startup incubated at the Harvard Innovation Lab. Luminopia was founded on the principle that treatment doesn’t have to be mundane; engaging experiences and content can drive adherence. Luminopia achieved FDA approval for its flagship product, Luminopia One™, and is currently scaling the treatment to thousands of patients across the US. I led the design process for Luminopia One from inception to it’s pivotal clinical trial, which combines virtual reality with a companion app to stream popular children’s content while treating Amblyopia (lazy eye). Recently, Luminopia One was recognized as one of Time’s Best Inventions of 2023, and my work has been published in prestigious scientific publications such as Nature magazine and Ophthalmology.
2006 – 2017
Before my time at Luminopia, I was a freelancer and lead designer/technical expert at well-established design studios in the Boston area. I’ve spearheaded efforts for numerous brands in technology, B2B, and healthcare. With a specialization in design strategy, UX, UI, interaction design, and creative development, I worked across diverse mediums such as mobile apps, responsive websites, augmented and virtual reality, interactive exhibits, and animation.
Lifelong learning
I’ve consistently pushed myself to learn new skills, expanding my expertise into diverse areas such as Generative AI, 3D animation, Object-oriented programming (C#, C++, Python, JavaScript), electronics design and prototyping, sound and video editing, and 3D/interactive development. Previously, I volunteered as a judge at CSS Design Awards and contributed to organizing the BostonVR Meetup Group.
If you’re interested in chatting, don’t hesitate to get in touch at tjd@tristandwyer.com.
