Matt Castillo

I’m a product design leader with 12 years of experience solving business problems with user-centric outcomes, most recently leading the design and research team at Kandji.

I love to demystify complex problem spaces, shape product strategy around user needs, and empower people around me to do their best work.

✨ I'm currently looking for next opportunity ✨

About me

As a people manager, my approach consists of day-to-day coaching, career development, and creating a healthy team environment.

As an R&D org leader, I work with peers in product and engineering to build strategic alignment, drive operational excellence, and advocate for the user.

Outside of work, I enjoy ✈️ traveling, 📈 investing, 🧑🏻‍💻 coding, 🍿 going to the movies, and 🍲 trying new restaurants. Born and raised in El Paso, TX, I’ve since lived in Austin, Chicago, and the Bay Area. I now live in Brooklyn with my partner.

experience

2021–24

Director of Product Design at Kandji

Native MDM apps for IT admins and end-users

2019–21

Lead Product Designer at Shippo

Automated shipping tools for online merchants

2018–19

Product Designer at Lyft

Safety and insurance features for riders and drivers

2017–18

Product Designer at Popular Pays

Content workflows for creators

2015–17

Product Designer at Yello

Interview tools for recruiters and staff

2012–18

Freelance

Apps and website at product design agencies

education

2020–21

Thinkful

Full-stack web development bootcamp

2010–14

Texas State University

BFA in Communication Design

Recent reads

The Manager's Path

Camille Fournier

The Coaching Habit

Michael Bungay Stanier

Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days

Jake Knapp et. al

Rework

Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson

The Making of a Manager

Julie Zhuo

Freedom™️

Daniel Suarez

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Patrick Lencioni

Daemon

Daniel Suarez

Creative Confidence

Tom Kelley and David Kelley

Build Better Products

Laura Klein

About this site

This website was designed and developed by me, Matt Castillo. Designs were created in Figma. Typography was set using Elza and Elza Text by Blackletra Type Foundry, and served on Adobe Fonts. This site was built in Visual Studio Code, styled with TailwindCSS, generated using Jekyll, and deployed on Github Pages and Netlify.