Juan Manuel Cornejo
Designer | Quito, Ecuador
Background
Hi, I'm Juan. I design digital products from strategy through production, and I'm at my best inside complex systems. Product, UX, UI, interaction... call it what you will. I just call it design.
I've been at this for 23 years, through every major shift in the craft: Flash, Photoshop, Fireworks, hand-written CSS, jQuery, mobile-first, responsive design, design systems, Figma, and now AI. The tools keep changing; the work of making complex things clear doesn't. Today I work where complex systems meet human needs: enterprise tools, industrial software, machine-learning interfaces, and human rights technology.
Until August 2025, I led design at HURIDOCS, a human rights organization, where I helped defenders structure, manage, and preserve critical legal evidence. Whether modernizing the Uwazi platform used by 150+ organizations, designing secure tools for fieldwork, or making machine learning accessible to non-technical users, my work directly supported those fighting for justice worldwide.
Beyond human rights tech, I've designed enterprise software for Fortune 500 companies across logistics, fintech, and healthcare. I thrive on messy problems with sharp constraints, where user needs, technical limits, and business goals all pull in different directions.
Based in Quito, Ecuador. Working globally. Fluent in Spanish, English and French.
How I Work
I'm hands-on and I do my best work in small, mission-driven teams that move on research, prototyping, and fast iteration. I care as much about whether something can actually be built as about how it feels to use, and about keeping the people paying for it on board. When those line up, the design is usually right.
The tools change every few years. Clarity, empathy, and knowing what to leave out don't.
Experience
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Independent Designer
Product, brand, and web design for teams working on complex, meaningful problems.
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HURIDOCS · Design Lead
Led design for Uwazi, an open-source human rights documentation platform used by 150+ organizations worldwide.
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Lumenalta (formerly Clevertech) · Senior Designer
Designed enterprise software for Fortune 500 companies across logistics, fintech, and healthcare.
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Thoughtworks · Senior Designer
Designed and facilitated across global consulting engagements throughout Latin America.
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Independent Designer
Websites, brand identities, and print for clients across five countries, from pitch to delivery.
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Azendoo · UI/UX Designer
Redesigned the full product interface and built the visual language for a collaborative productivity startup.
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Cycloboost · Art Director
Directed video, photography, and print for a cycling brand. Built the social campaigns that grew it online.
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Independent Designer
Early-web work. Interactive sites, CD-ROM presentations, Flash experiences, brand systems, and commercial video and sound for ad clients.
Tools & Skills
Design UX Research · Design Systems · Prototyping · Interaction Design
Technical Figma · React · HTML/CSS · Miro · Pencil
AI & Tools AI Interfaces · Perplexity for research · Midjourney for visuals · Figma Make, Claude and Lovable for prototypes
Domain & Process Enterprise/B2B Design · Workshop Facilitation · Cross-functional Collaboration
Off-screen
When I'm not designing, you'll find me exploring with my camera, getting lost in Latin American literature, or writing about my experiences in this world. These pursuits aren't just hobbies, photography sharpens my eye for composition, reading deepens my empathy for different perspectives, and writing clarifies my thinking about complex problems.
Get in touch
If you have an interesting problem, let's talk.
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