The things people ask me most, about work and otherwise.
Are you available for work?
Yes. I'm open to contract and full-time engagements. The fastest way to reach me is email, at hello@carmen.cv.
Are you open to full-time roles?
Yes. I'm interested in full-time for the right problem space, so if you're hiring for one, send me a message.
What kinds of engagement do you take?
Embedded design is a few days a week inside your team, hitting your existing timelines. Founding designer (0→1) is being the first designer in the building, shipping the first version of your product, brand and design system. Interim cover is senior cover for three to six months while you run the permanent search. Everything starts month to month, with a check-in before either of us commits to more.
What do you work on?
Zero to one, shipping a first version informed by users and improved over real iteration cycles. Redesign and systems, untangling products that have grown messy or never had a proper design system. Strategy and AI tooling, helping you figure out what to build and helping your team adopt AI tooling.
Do you write code, or only design?
Both, though probably in the opposite order to what you'd expect. I design in Figma when it makes sense to, but most days I just start in Claude Code and work out the structure first, the UX and the paths a user actually needs to take. Then I go through iteration cycles on the look and feel, trying different versions until I land on the one I want. The design system comes last, structured around what I've already built.
Are you comfortable using AI?
Very. I wrote a whole piece arguing designers are best positioned to build with it. The short version: the threat isn't that AI replaces designers, it's that designers who understand it move faster than those who don't. AI makes generating things cheap, layouts and code and copy and whole design systems. What it doesn't make cheap is knowing what to build, who it's for, and when something is good enough to ship. That judgment is the whole job and always has been. What matters most is curiosity, being willing to try things and form an opinion from experience rather than fear.
What did you do at OpenSea?
I was Design Lead from 2022 to 2026. I designed and shipped OpenSea Pro for advanced traders on my own, which captured around 60% of the market at launch. Then I worked with one other designer on OpenSea 2.0, a full redesign, where we rebuilt the design system from the ground up and delivered the core product surfaces for NFT and token trading. I got there through the Gem acquisition, where I led design for multi-NFT listing and purchasing flows.
How much experience do you have?
Over ten years, across fintech, consumer social, enterprise learning and tooling. OpenSea, Gem, LinkedIn and InVision before going independent.
Where are you based?
Oakland, California.
What is CarmenOS?
A Mac-inspired web playground, built with Cursor and Claude Code. You can explore it here.
Do you have dogs?
Yes, I have a beagle mutt called Peanut and a terrier mix called Lizard. I've done my best thinking when we're on dog walks.
