SENIOR PRODUCT DESIGNER
Natali Salazar
I started designing digital products before the industry had agreed on what UX meant.
Today I work at whatever level the problem requires — service, system, or interface.
SENIOR PRODUCT DESIGNER
I started designing digital products before the industry had agreed on what UX meant.
Today I work at whatever level the problem requires — service, system, or interface.
HOW I WORK
Every interface belongs to a bigger system
I map the context — people, processes, constraints and goals — before jumping into solutions.
Patterns explain behavior better than opinions
I look for what repeats, what matters and what's getting in the way.
The right solution depends on the level of the problem
I design at the right level — service, system or interface — to create meaningful impact.
Details matter because people notice friction before beauty
I care about the details because that's where the experience is made real.
MY JOURNEY
Nov 2024 – Jan 2025Airport Dining Experience
Research & Systems Case Study · Lead Product Designer
A Deliberate Pause
In 2022 I became a mother and stepped back from full-time work. I used that time to deepen the systems and service design thinking I'd already built through practice — not to start over, but to go further.
From PowerPoint to Pages that Work
Making Complex Campaigns Understandable
Enterprise Banking Redesign
Redesigning a Core Enterprise Platform for Business Banking at Scale
NOTES FROM PRACTICE
Around 2013, we were racing to make one of the bank's first mobile experiences responsive.
The long-term investment was a native app. The short-term need was a better mobile web experience. The business couldn't wait for one while building the other.
As the designer on the project, I was looking for a way to help the business move forward. Instead of chasing the ideal solution, I looked for the smallest change that could deliver the biggest impact.
I proposed creating a separate CSS layer that would load only on mobile. It wasn't the perfect solution, but it was the right one for the constraints we had.
The solution went beyond writing CSS. Before anything reached development, every screen had to be rethought for a smaller device. We started with the homepage, then gradually redesigned the pages that mattered most to the business. Every release taught us something new.
Most days, I sat side by side with developers, experimenting, learning browser quirks and CSS hacks, and figuring out how to solve problems together under pressure.
One afternoon, they called me to help investigate a bug in the mobile menu.
I opened the production site expecting another CSS issue.
Instead, something else immediately caught my attention.
The menu icon wasn't three horizontal lines.
It was an actual hamburger.
Bread.
Meat.
Lettuce.
A vector illustration.
For a second, I thought someone had accidentally deployed the wrong assets.
I asked what had happened.
One of the developers answered, completely convinced:
"Marketing told us to remove the word 'Menu' and leave only the hamburger."
They had interpreted the request literally.
We all laughed.
Needless to say, we replaced the icon immediately.
WHAT STAYED WITH ME
That day wasn't really about an icon.
It reminded me that communication is part of design.
People don't misunderstand because they aren't smart.
They misunderstand because every discipline speaks a different language.
Designers, developers, marketers, product managers — we all use the same words, but we don't always mean the same thing.
Good design isn't just about creating interfaces.
It's about creating shared understanding.
Looking back, I don't remember most of the CSS hacks we used.
What I remember is learning that products are built through conversations as much as through code.
Sometimes the biggest design problems aren't technical at all.
They're simply moments where people think they're talking about the same thing — when they aren't.
EDUCATION
A graphic design degree from UBA gave me the fundamentals. What followed was a series of deliberate expansions — into research practice, service design, and product management — each chosen because it filled a gap in how I understood the work from the inside.
UBA
Degree in Graphic Design
The foundation. Visual language, form, systems of meaning.
CAREER FOUNDRY
Product Management Immersion
Understands the seat next to mine.
INTERACTION DESIGN FOUNDATION
User Research: Methods and Best Practices
Rigor for understanding behavior, not just preference.
IDEO U
Human-centered Service Design
Expanded the aperture from screens to systems.
ARCHIVE
