Nate Grubbs
UX & Product
Designer
Twenty years designing products people have to rely on.
Astronauts in orbit. 18,000 Starbucks baristas. Devices talking to satellites. Different domains, same job: find the clarity that's actually there and hold onto it long enough to build something real.
I don’t think good design removes friction, I think it chooses it carefully. The right kind makes people stop and actually be somewhere. That balance, present and invisible, is easy to lose. I try not to compromise on that.
Nate Grubbs Design Reel
A curated snapshot of motion, narrative, and interaction to show how I think, polish, and communicate through design.
Animation and edit by me
Music by Janko Nilovic
Trusted by Global Teams
Partnered with product, design, and strategy groups from startups to the world’s biggest brands to bring clarity to complexity across industries.
Case Studies
Space Station
When something goes wrong 250 miles above Earth, what does trust actually look like?
Starbucks Pro
You can automate the vanilla pumps. You can't automate craft. So where exactly is the line?
Albert Heijn Checkout
Self-checkout in 30 seconds. Could it be done for Holland’s largest grocer?
Insights & Perspectives
Thoughts on design, systems, and strategy.
Designing Echo: The Details Still Matter
After eight months back in hardware, I found myself working on everything from camera controls to the brightness of a bedroom clock. Along the way, our approach to design changed dramatically. I'm still figuring out what we've gained, what we've lost, and why the details matter more than ever.
Hotel TV at Room 206
A motel TV at 1am, a little serendipity, and a lot of questionable programming. Room 206 is my attempt to bring back the joy of channel surfing — with a few technical difficulties along the way.
Mission Critical Design Systems
A design system can mean the difference between failure and success, as they support products that must perform perfectly to keep interconnected systems from cascading into catastrophe.
