Idle Games
I worked closely with the art director to build the game HUD. This developed my early instincts for visual hierarchy and how interfaces can tell stories within an environment.To design is to listen: build experiences by asking better questions—across cultures, platforms, and teams.
With over 10 years of experience across the U.S. and Japan, Salem is a UI/UX designer who combines a creative eye with product intuition to uncover the right problems—and craft meaningful solutions.
How My Skills Evolved
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Design Craft
Strike a Chord
Designed a full UI for a music composition app, building interactive piano keys and creating clear handoff assets and redlines for developers, even without direct communication channels.Mufumbo Labs
Developed branding and consistent iconography for a recipe app spanning multiple platforms (iOS, Android, Web, Nokia), ensuring platform familiarity while maintaining brand identity.The Catch
Starmaker
Created custom icons, cohesive UI themes using geometric patterns, and developed a banner system that adapted flexibly to any screen size without distortion.Rakuten Rewards
Led efforts to adopt Sketch across the team, improved handoff processes, and introduced more polished visual animations for features.Rakuten Rebates
Directed visual improvements for both user and internal tools, improving design asset consistency across mobile and web platforms.UX Research
Idle Games
Strike a Chord
Mufumbo Labs
Started my UX research journey by monitoring and interpreting feedback from in-app forums, learning to listen to users even without formal analytics.The Catch
Organized workshops and informal group sessions to gather emotional insights into the dating space and user expectations for a new app format.Starmaker
Built a prototype for a karaoke tool and tested it with a group of teenagers, realizing how intuitive and tech-savvy younger users can be, reshaping my view of intuitive UX.Rakuten Rewards
Conducted lightweight tests via UserTesting.com to validate early flows and surveyed competitor apps to refine product strategies.Rakuten Rebates
Established a baseline usability test across platforms every six months, used Adobe Analytics and internal metrics to monitor user behavior and inform improvements.Product Thinking
Idle Games
Learned the foundations of product ecosystems by designing features like quest systems and monetization shops while balancing user engagement with business goals.Strike a Chord
Mufumbo Labs
The Catch
Balanced user value against viability when pitching the app concept to investors and early adopters, adapting storytelling depending on the audience’s priorities.Starmaker
Rakuten Rewards
Collaborated cross-functionally with PMs, marketing, and sales teams on initiatives like "The Big Deal" to align UX decisions with revenue goals.Rakuten Rebates
Strategically analyzed KPIs and transaction flows, shaping UX strategies to increase user understanding and retention without hurting merchant relationships.Design Systems
Idle Games
Strike a Chord
Mufumbo Labs
Created internal layout systems and reusable icon libraries across six platforms, learning early how design consistency builds trust and usability across ecosystems.The Catch
Starmaker
Established a theme-based visual language for the app, including adaptive color patterns and modular banners that scaled across all devices.Rakuten Rewards
Introduced a shared design component system for mobile and web teams, fostering better handoffs and internal ownership of the evolving product experience.Rakuten Rebates
Led the evolution of our internal design library and rolled out cohesive standards that bridged marketing, UX, and creative teams together.Leadership
Idle Games
Observed firsthand how company leadership scaled a full studio operation from a small team into a fully functioning gaming company with layered management structures.Strike a Chord
Mufumbo Labs
The Catch
As a co-founder, wore multiple hats, recruited contributors, and guided the early product vision, balancing creative freedom and business needs.Starmaker
Rakuten Rewards
Started building leadership instincts by participating in Toastmasters, presenting in team meetings, and pushing for better UX practices without formal authority.Rakuten Rebates
Led a combined UX and creative team, mentored junior designers, standardized processes, and facilitated cross-cultural workshops like "Culture Map" training for smoother team collaboration.Collaboration
Idle Games
Worked daily across departments — from art to engineering to marketing — building empathy for all roles involved in delivering a product.Strike a Chord
Learned the importance of precision when collaborating remotely, relying solely on clean documentation for successful dev handoff.Mufumbo Labs
The Catch
Starmaker
Built strong bonds with developers and sound engineers, which improved iteration speed and helped refine feature feasibility early in designs.Rakuten Rewards
Collaborated closely with PMs, marketers, and QA to ship high-quality, bi-weekly app updates under tight deadlines.Rakuten Rebates
Worked globally across US and Japan offices, led initiatives to merge UX and creative processes, and piloted cross-regional design language standards.