Rolf
Nelson
Product design leader in Portland, building products that make work and life better.
My unique experience in life, enables me to craft unique experiences for others, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Range
Design has taken me through logistics, telecom, insurance, prop-tech, and consumer rewards, at companies like Citi, Sprint, Worldwide Express, Fetch, and Wistia. I learn each industry like a language, by full immersion. That's the idea behind Design by Proxy: I'm a proxy for both sides, the people a product should help and the business betting on it.
“Rolf also brought calm and thoughtful clarity and a speed of execution that others would aspire to achieve.”
“Rolf is one of those rare design leaders whose impact is felt just as deeply in the how as in the what.”
Leading
I've led designers for about 8 years as a player-coach, as comfortable in the C-suite as in the design files. At Fetch, that meant growing enterprise design from one designer to five and cutting partner onboarding from weeks to days. My standard: communication is the most important part of design.
Feedback
My favorite part of the job is the crit. Once trust runs both ways, feedback becomes shorthand, with my team and with the AI I build with daily. I back people I believe are headed for bigger things, even when leadership can't see it yet, and I'd do it again. I've taught design at the university level and still mentor when I can.
“Rolf is fearless, brazen, and vocal.”
Off the clock
I've drummed for more than 25 years and helped write four albums with three bands, and writing music with others is still my favorite thing outside design. Drums taught me a lot about leading: rhythm, the difference between what a human plays and what a machine produces, and how moving the anchor changes the feel of a whole song.
I'm an incredibly proud husband to a wonderful, supportive partner who inspires me daily. She's creating a truly original dark fantasy noir comic at Wolf vs Wolf, and we travel together every chance we get. Our heeler, Sága, joins most adventures and trains us as much as we train her.