Be kind, work hard, spread joy.
About
Raf is an Italian designer and product leader based in Toronto. With expertise spanning software engineering and design, he crafts human-centered experiences for emerging technologies. His journey from an internship at Apple to leading AI product design has shaped innovative solutions for companies backed by industry leaders like Eric Schmidt, Zalando and more.
Currently leading design at theoriq.ai, Raf focuses on making AI interfaces more accessible and intuitive. His past work includes establishing design systems at Zalando, leading accessibility initiatives at CurbCutOS, and creating user-centric solutions for the NFT marketplace Atlas. Before his current role, he founded a design consultancy that contributed to over $100M in startup valuations, working with clients from US government agencies to Web3 platforms.
His roots in Italy's Amalfi Coast and transition from engineering to design fuel his passion for simplifying complex technologies. Today, he actively contributes to Toronto's tech community while shaping the future of human-AI interaction.
Contact
Work Experience
Work: Shaping how people interact with AI. Designing interfaces for advanced AI tools.
Role: Founding Designer, UX/UI Lead.
Impact: Making complex AI technology accessible, useful and democratic for everyone.
Solved: Making accessibility reports easier to create.
Created: Software for joyful and easy reporting.
Impact: Helped CurbCutOS become a leader in accessibility tools.
Led the design of DeFi interfaces for several crypto products.
Work: Created safe, user-friendly NFT marketplace for pro traders.
Role: Player-Lead. Designed actively alongside two team members.
Impact: Successful launch, high adoption. Backed by Eric Schmidt.
Work: Built a unified design system for Zalando B2B platforms.
Role: Led design efforts across multiple company areas.
Impact: 40% faster product development, 30% reduction in engineering time. Established comprehensive end to end documentation.
Work: Created the company's first design guidelines and app demo.
Role: Hands-on Product Designer, worked directly with the leadership team.
Impact: Set the look and feel for all TravelNest products. Built the foundation for future design work. Established design organization within the company..
Work: Redesigned brand identity and messaging.
Role: Led board team in brand and product design.
Impact: Delivered MVP in 3 months. Improved brand presence across channels. Helped raise £300K in funding in 3 months.
Side Projects
How you work > What you worked on.
Inspired by Lily's original work, I refactored and made a template in Craft (available to the community).
Creative Direction / Model: Raffaele Vitale
Photography: giannidegennaro.it
Projects
Collaborated with Kunal Gupta, CEO, directly in a hybrid role pivoting across product, design, and development roles, delivering AI-centric no-code solutions for publishwithspark.com and getjetson.ai. fun to work in person.
Tela offers a prompt crafting experience, a testing suite for creating brand-specific test cases to evaluate prompts, a system for setting up evaluators to assess output.
Supported Agileana on the redesign and redevelopment of the US Courts official organisation toolbox.
Helped ex-Voyager founders to release the design of their new app, Ethos
Created a collection of updated collections for aspiring UX / UI designers for the Italian community, constantly updated, with a simple self-evolving community.
Awards
Writing
Education
Certifications
Credential ID: 31778649
Credential ID: 56668
- Mobile User Experience (UX) Design
- The Practical Guide to Usability
- UX Management: Strategy and Classes (Top 10%)
- User Research: Best Practices (Top 10%)