Juan Pastén
/hwɑn pɑsˈtɛn/
noun
- A human who designs products and experiences for a living.
- A self-proclaimed "runner" and "weightlifter" who'll trade the gym for tacos or pizza.
- A person known to browse bookstores for the joy of it.
- One who geeks out on Formula 1.
Hola!
My name is Juan Manuel, but people always call me by my last name, Pastén (Pastén in Spanish sounds very similar to “pastel,” which means “cake” in Spanish).
Here are some random facts about me:
- I wish I had studied Industrial Design 🪑 (I studied Computer Engineering)
- I love spaces with natural light ✨
- I like to see the black sky at night 🌌 and anything related to the universe 🪐
- My favorites designers and role models are Mauro Porcini and Kevin Bethune
- I love my dog (his name is Ivar) 🐶❤️
My design principles
Ethics
Design has power, and with power comes responsibility. Every decision we make affects people and the planet. I believe in designing with honesty, empathy, and respect, always putting human and environmental well-being first.
Connection
When working with my peers, I aim to create a friendly, safe, and open communication channel with everyone. That's why I always try to make and have a professional and personal partnership with the team members.
Collaboration
Everyone on the team is a designer; they design features, stories, code, test cases, etc. Everyone designs a part of the experience; that's why having a close collaboration with the rest of the team and the user is an essential part of creating products. The goal is to deliver a great product.
Curiosity
Curiosity is something that people lose when growing up. As adults, we should always keep that curiosity spark. We should see everything as if it were the first time, always ask questions, and be excited about everything we don't know.
Experimentation
Having a curious mind makes you try and do things differently. That's why we should always experiment, to apply the new knowledge with excitement, even if it is something small, to see if it worked, how it can be improved, and what we would do differently next time.
Experience
Thoughtworks
Sr. Experience Designer - NYC, USA
September 2021 - Present
At Thoughtworks, I work as a Senior Experience Designer Consultant across healthcare, government, and fintech clients. I lead the full design process, from research to prototyping, testing, and developer handoff.
I collaborate closely with product managers, engineers, and stakeholders to align on priorities and facilitate workshops that bring teams together. I also mentor junior designers and contribute to design systems, with a strong focus on accessibility and ethical design.
Brackets App
Co-founder, Product and Design
August 2015 - Present
Brackets is a sports tournament platform I co-founded in 2015. It includes a web app for tournament admins and a mobile app for athletes to follow brackets, results, and live stats.
As product designer and co-founder, I own the full design process, from strategy to prototyping, working closely with my co-founder who leads development. I research with real users, including admins and athletes, and use AI tools to prototype faster and evaluate new features.
Thermo Fisher Scientific
UX Designer - Tijuana, Mexico
May 2018 - August 2021
I worked closely with Product Managers and cross-functional teams to design key experiences, including Login, Account Registration, User Profile, and the Asset Manager App, covering strategy, user flows, and high-fidelity prototypes.
I partnered with multiple scrum teams to deliver designs across screen sizes and led a Design Thinking program to help embed a human-centered culture across the organization.
Arkus Nexus
UX Designer - Tijuana, Mexico
July 2013 - March 2018
Digital product consultancy in Tijuana, serving clients across Southern California, including Playboy, San Diego Airport, Figo Pet Insurance, and the University of Mississippi. I designed across mobile and web platforms, building flows and prototypes grounded in usability research.