Kumusta!

I'm Sam Gurango ๐Ÿ‘‹๐Ÿฝ

I'm a teacher-turned-Product-Designer based in San Francisco, CA with 2+ years of experience in the B2C space.

Picture of Sam smiling and walking along Pacifica beach holding a yoga mat.

About

With 2+ years of UX/UI and Product Design experience, I help startups and mission-driven teams turn complex ideas into intuitive, people-first digital products.

My work spans wellness, sustainability, e-commerce, and beyondโ€”leading zero-to-one builds, user research, and iterative testing that improve satisfaction and drive meaningful engagement.

I'm especially drawn to products that promote well-being, behavior change, and a sense of belonging. My approach blends UX strategy with playful, research-driven designโ€”because great design should feel good, do good, and be easy to use.

Currently open to full-time and part-time product roles with values-aligned teams, while continuing to support small businesses through freelance and community-led work.
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๐Ÿ“ƒ Resume๐Ÿ“ง sgurangodesign@gmail.com

My Favorite Design Learning Materials

One of my interests is admiring art. I find that art (especially in the context of being viewed at galleries or museums) and UI/UX Design often parallel each other. Design, user experience, attention to detail, emotional impact, navigation, accessibility, and fostering innovation and creativity are some of their shared principles. One day while visting the SFMOMA, I stumbled upon this book at the gift shop. Whether you're a beginner or someone looking to deepen your Design Thinking knowledge, this is a great guide to mastering some of the most popular and valuable innovation methods.
๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿฝ Check out The Design Thinking Toolbox

Another one of my interests is exploring my community in San Francisco. One day in Japantown, ย I came across the Kinokuniya bookstore. Naturally, I gravitated to the design section where I spent an hour or two filing through the large selection of books. At the end, I walked away with this one book. This cross-disciplinary encyclopedia offers 100 UX laws, guidelines, human biases, and general considerations paired with clear explanations and rich, visual examples. I invite you to try the 100-day UX challange like I have and read one principle a day for 100 days!
๐Ÿ“– Read the Universal Principles of UX

When I am not listening to house or techno music, I can most likely be found listening to a podcast. 99% Invisible, a podcast I enjoy listening to, has said, "Design is everywhere in our lives, perhaps most importantly in the places where we've just stopped noticing.โ€ During the podcastโ€™s weekly exploration of the process and power of design and architecture, I often find parallels between the design of the real and digital realms. This has helped strengthened my ability to match between the system and the real word, one of Jakob Nielsonโ€™s 10 usability heuristics.
๐ŸŽง Listen to 99% Invisible

Whether youโ€™re looking to brush up on basics or advance your skillset, the Figma for Education team helps with all things Figma through live demonstrations. You can sign up for workshops or watch recorded livestreams.
๐Ÿ‘€ Sign up for a workshop or watch a recorded livestream

Tools

Things I'm Interested In

๐ŸŒณ Connecting with Nature
๐Ÿฅณ Trying New Things
โ˜€๏ธ Slow Mornings
๐Ÿ–ผ๏ธ Admiring Art
๐ŸŽง House/Techno Music

Want to get in touch?
Drop me a line! ๐Ÿ“

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