Carmel Hassan Montero

Lead Interaction & Product Designer working at the intersection of technology, human behavior and design to create ethical products that are both technically feasible and genuinely valuable.

After finishing my Computer Engineering degree, I spent my early career as a web developer. Working alongside designers taught me to care about the why behind every decision — and led me naturally into UX design.

Most designers come from visual design. I came from engineering. That changes how I think about problems — I design solutions that developers can build, organizations can scale, and users actually want.

Email: carmel.hassan@gmail.com
LinkedIn: /in/carmel-hassan-montero

Approach

I don't believe there's one right way to design. After 18 years, I've learned that good design comes from principles and from constantly questioning the why behind every decision — not from following prescribed steps.

Some designers need to sketch before talking to users. Others need conversations before opening any design tool. Both can arrive at good solutions. What matters is understanding what users truly need and expect, collaborating with empathy, and being willing to change your mind when you learn something new.

I've watched too many teams get stuck following "the process" while the actual problem sits unsolved in front of them. Process isn't the enemy — rigidity is. The most useful process is one flexible enough to bend around the problem: a set of principles that keep you moving forward, not a sequence of steps marching you from A to B."

Read my article: How I Work

Experience

New Relic

Senior Product Designer

2024 - Present

Lead designer of New Relic Notebooks: created the design vision and specification a troubleshooting solution based on data-scientist notebook paradigm.

Leading the design of an innovative troubleshooting solution that brings the data-scientist notebook paradigm to observability, enabling engineers to document, share, and collaborate on system analysis.
Monoceros Labs

Interaction Designer

Jul 2022 - Jul 2024

Strategic designer of Fonos, an online TTS editor: Created the MVP and brand identity for this innovative product using Generative AI and voice tech. Also served as the conversational designer for the Lingokids Alexa Skill.

Led product design for an innovative AI tool focused on creating and utilizing artificial voices. Worked as both Interaction Designer and Front-end Developer in a small startup team, defining the complete user experience from concept to implementation.
The Honest Make Tank

Lead Product Designer

Feb 2021 - May 2022

Strategic designer of Skate, a Chrome extension for email communication: Researched email's impact at work and designed a team chat UI to enhance understanding and actionability of email information.

Main Product Designer in a team of 5. When the initial customer service assistant idea didn't validate, we pivoted based on new research. Designed a Chrome extension that transforms email into a collaborative team communication tool.
Ebury

UX Lead

Mar 2017 - Feb 2021

Led a design team of five at Ebury Online, an international payment platform. Redesigned key workflows, boosting user interaction and satisfaction. Achieved a 30% increase in new users, 15% rise in conversions, and a 5-point improvement in NPS.

Led a team of five designers working on people-facing products including website, communications, online platform, and backend system. Ebury Online enables clients to make international payments (spot and forward) for multiple currencies. Established design culture in an engineering-led fintech organization.
ITRS

Senior UX Specialist

Jan 2015 - Feb 2017

Strategic designer of Valo, a real-time analytics visualization tool: Developed an innovative interaction model for querying data through direct manipulation of data visualizations.

Created an innovative interaction paradigm that allowed users to query complex data by directly manipulating visualizations. This approach reduced the learning curve and made powerful analytics accessible to non-technical users monitoring system performance.
CSC

UI Designer - Design Lead

Sep 2009 - Jan 2015

Lead designer of Bluebird, a UI framework for healthcare solutions: Developed patient safety UI standards, created a design system and guidelines, and managed a team of six designers and four developers.

Designed software in one of the most challenging and regulated sectors. Built patient safety UI standards and created a comprehensive design system. Navigated complex clinical procedures, heterogeneous needs, and strict legislation while managing a team of 10 people. Despite bureaucratic challenges, delivered solutions that improved clinical workflows.
Self-employed

Web Designer

Sep 2008 - Sep 2009

Built websites for clients like Greenpeace, Roca, and NOS ONG: Defined and implemented information architecture, concept design, and theming.
Trevenque Group

Web Developer

Apr 2007 - Sep 2008

Built websites for Club Kirico and Viajes Altair: Coded and themed complete sites using Drupal.

Work

I build products for people doing complicated work.

Most of my career has been in B2B—finance teams making international payments, healthcare professionals managing patient data, developers troubleshooting distributed systems. These aren't casual users. They're experts under pressure, often dealing with high stakes. A confused interface doesn't just annoy them—it costs time, money, sometimes more.

I'm drawn to the messy problems. Multi-currency workflows where one mistake means someone doesn't get paid. Clinical interfaces where confusion could affect patient care. Observability tools where developers need answers in seconds during a production incident.

These problems don't have obvious solutions. That's what makes them interesting.

📓 New Relic Notebooks

Observability · Incident investigation · B2B · 2024–Present

🤖 Fonos TTS Editor

AI-generated voice · 0-to-1 product · Startup · 2022–2024

✉️ Skate: Team Chat for Gmail

Email collaboration · Chrome extension · 5-person team · 2021–2022

🌐 Ebury Online Platform

International payments · Fintech · Design team of 5 · 2017–2021

📊 Valo: Real-time Analytics

Data visualization · Direct manipulation · High-stakes ops · 2015–2017

🏥 Healthcare Systems Design

Clinical software · Design system · Team of 10 · 2009–2015

Designs are one of my communication tools — not the deliverable. If you want to see how my work looks, let's have a call. Or let Mommy Pig make the case:

Community

In 2015, I was working at a startup. Same patterns I'd seen at other companies: dismissive comments, exclusionary behavior, jokes that weren't really jokes. I was tired of wondering if it was just me.

So I tweeted. "Does anyone else feel this way?"

Turns out, a lot of people did. We met in Málaga that July. It was supposed to be one meeting. It became a community. Then an NGO.

Yes We Tech is now 1,500+ members. We organize conferences, provide grants and mentorship, advocate for inclusive education, and create spaces where women in tech don't have to pretend everything is fine. In 2022, we co-organized WeyWeyWeb, an international UI conference in Málaga with 60% women and non-binary speakers and 500+ attendees.

I also teach—at Lemoncode since 2015, and through enlainterfaz.com. I've published 75+ articles on design, technology, and making tech more inclusive. I speak at conferences. I share what I learn because that's how we all get better.