Nick Jonas
Product Designer & Creative Technologist
Hi
I have a constant drive to discover the most interesting and important problems to solve. I want to bring my experience and expertise to diverse teams in an effort to reduce the most complex problems into elegant solutions using a human-centered design approach.
My career has been standing on the shoulders of giants, so here are some of their quotes that ring true for me:
  • “Unless you begin with an interesting problem, it is unlikely you will end up with an interesting solution.” - Bob Gill
  • “Don’t undertake a project unless it is manifestly important and nearly impossible.” – Edwin Land
  • "Enlightened trial and error succeeds over the planning of the lone genius." - David Kelley
  • “The truest material for making new things isn’t aluminum or carbon fiber. It’s behavior.” – Robert Fabricant
  • “Metaphors die in repeated use but leave behind the reality that they had languaged into being” – Klaus Krippendorff
  • “This borderless-ness, or, if you prefer, confusion, is also crucial to what we consider progress. As people invented new tools for new ways of living, they simultaneously created new realms of ignorance…when it comes to new technologies, incomplete understanding is empowering” – Elizabeth Kolbert
Work
June 2022 - Present
UX Engineer
Google Translate
March 2019 - Present
Director of Product Design
Sidewalk Labs – NYC
2018
Professor at SVA
Interaction Design - NYC
December 2015 - January 2019
Sr Creative Technologist
Google Creative Lab - NYC
May 2014 - December 2015
Product Design Lead
Google Accessories - NYC
February 2013 - August 2014
Co-Founder
Modern Assembly - NYC
March 2011 - August 2012
Sr Interactive Developer
B-Reel - LA + NYC
June 2009 - March 2011
Sr Interactive Developer
65 Media - LA
Skills
Design
UI/UX, 3D modeling, software and hardware conceptual & prototype design, system & IA design, wireframing
Research
Qual/Quant Surveys, Usability studies, Click-through prototypes, Domain-expertise interviewing
Programming
Client & Server Side Javascript, Typescript, React, Python, Java
Tools
Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, Sketch, Rhino, Keyshot, iTerm, Visual Studio Code, Dovetail
Patents
Wireless Occupancy Sensors
A design for a replaceable in-ground wireless sensor that can detect the presence of vehicles
2019
Computer-vision Enabled Wearable*
A ring that uses a small camera, haptic feedback, and a button to help dictate objects that are surrounding one who may be visually impaired
2017
Biometric Case Design
Using biometric data as an input for generative art in the context of producing personal hardware products, such as custom phone or laptop cases
2016
Raincheck*
An umbrella stand that can indicate weather patterns
2015
Surfboard Tracking Sensor*
Using an IMU sensor to track and visually represent the motion and path of a watercraft (surfboard)
2014
*provisional patents have been filed and since expired
Education
University of California, Irvine
BS, Informatics, School of Information & Computer Sciences
September 2005 - 2009
Personal
The Bean - 2022
A round, friendly, organic shaped table reminiscent of Mid-century and Art Deco (i.e. Isamu Noguchi, Paul Frankl) movements, but simplified in its smooth and uniform white-oak material & appearance.
The Spanish Chair - 2021
Reproduced the Spanish chair by Børge Mogensen using veg-tan leather, walnut wood, and brass hardware.
The Shop - 2020
In the midst of the pandemic, Erez Horovitz and I built a fabrication/woodworking studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Spoons - 2020
During COVID lockdown in NYC, I carved a series of spoons which I individually auctioned off to help various pandemic-related initiatives.
The Cabin - 2018
I gut-renovated an old, derelict A-Frame in Gardiner, New York, and gave it a second life as a rental for those seeking respite from the city.
The Table - 2016
Inspired by the work of George Nakashima, I designed and built a 6' live-edge coffee table from a slab of a cherry tree, with walnut butterfly inlays and turned legs.
Raincheck - 2015
I designed, patented, and built Raincheck – an umbrella stand that knows when it will rain. It indicates the chance of rain, snow, and extreme conditions through subtle illuminated indicators inside a solid walnut housing.
Contact
Email
njonas45[at]gmail[dot]com