Josh Mateo

Josh Mateo

Leading Design Systems @ Netflix in Seattle, WA, He/Him

About

Hey 👋 I'm a design leader focused on architecting design systems. Over the last decade, I’ve led successful systems at Netflix and Spotify. Before that, I spent time designing products at Square, Amplify and Barbarian.

Within the product development lifecycle, I’m passionate about activating how teams leverage brand attributes when creating new user experiences, content types or interaction paradigms. Design systems are a great tool to help scale a design language and distribute to customers. It's crucial to develop a robust design language which balances expressive and functional execution, each having a specific rationale or moment that adds true value to a customer’s experience.

I thrive on collaborative teams in a strategic player-coach role. It’s important to me to build lasting cross-functional relationships between individual contributors and leaders.

Writing

2021

By giving each design element a purpose, co-authoring a shared perspective, and ultimately connecting it to code, you can scale effectively, faster over time.

2018

Creating a paradigm shift wherein Spotify designers no longer viewed themselves as users of the system, but instead as core contributors and co-authors of a shared system.

2018

Quick pulse check: are we heading in the right direction? Some shared insights from conversations within the Design System community.

Speaking

2023

When you look behind the curtain of your design system, what do you see? Documented components, accessible guidelines, manual processes, a shifting roadmap? When this becomes the status quo, it can trap your system in an endless cycle of maintenance. And that’s not fun for anyone. In this talk we’ll share the challenges Netflix has faced as we break away from this cycle, how we’ve modernized our approach to building at scale across Web, Mobile, and TV, and what this can unlock for you.

Work Experience

2024 — Now
Seattle, WA

Lead the Consumer Design System team spanning across Android, iOS, TV and Web.

2019 — 2024
Seattle

Design Lead for the Consumer Design System, delivered across Android, iOS, Web, and TV. Focused on the system’s creative strategy and architecture, improving workflow and engagement models and identifying strategic innovation opportunities.

2016 — 2019
New York

Co-led the evolution of design systems at Spotify, called Encore, where I delivered the strategy for Encore and led design for Encore Web.

2015 — 2016
New York

Launched a beta for Online Store and built workflow optimizations for search and scan interaction patterns for Square Retail.

2013 — 2015
New York

Led design for Amplify Market to deliver content, lessons, and apps for teachers. Modernized the platform's visual direction and developed character animation system.

2011 — 2013
New York

Worked with clients: GE, Bacardi, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Samsung, Facebook, Sears and Dos Equis.

Education

2007 — 2011
Rochester, NY

Studied new media design and imaging.

Contact

Website
LinkedIn
Threads