TJ Nelson

TJ NELSON · PRODUCT DESIGNER

Beautiful products start with clear thinking.

I frame the problem, make clear calls on what matters most, and stay hands-on through the details. Most recently at RainFocus, across the admin platform and the attendee experience, on web and mobile.

FEATURED WORKGroup Pass ManagementRainFocus · Web and mobileRead the case study SPEAKINGBuilding with CharacterProduct Hive · 2026Watch the talk NEWSLETTERPhilosophy & DesignA newsletter on product thinkingRead the latest

My design philosophy

What shapes the work before pushing pixels

The foundation

How I work 

Screens are the tip of the iceberg. Underneath sit the real problem, the people we're solving it for and with, and the principles we hold when tradeoffs show up. I align product, engineering and the people closest to customers on that before we design screens.

Iceberg: screens are what people see above the waterline; problem, people and principles shape it below.

The risk

Watch for drift.

You set out for what customers need, end up a few degrees off, and ship something else. With AI, a team can build a polished product in days. Polish used to signal that someone had done the thinking. It doesn't anymore.

Drift: a boat's course curves a few degrees off from what customers need and ends at what got built.

What I bring

The 3 C's keep me on course.

Clarity, character and craft: find the real problem, decide how it should feel, then make it beautiful and test it with real people early and often.

I write about them in Philosophy & Design
Clarity, Character and Craft as three legs of a straight course to what customers need.

How I use AI

A thought partner, not a replacement for judgment.

I think out loud. I talk a problem through with dictation, and AI helps me see what I actually said. I use it across all three C's, and I keep the calls that matter.

  • Clarity

    Reframe the problem and synthesize research faster, so the real problem shows up sooner.

  • Character

    Pressure-test principles until they hold together as one coherent point of view.

  • Craft

    Build, code and prototype working flows, then iterate with real people.

See it in the Group Pass prototype

Talks & Writing

See all
Latest talk · Product Hive · 2026Building with CharacterWatch the talk Confident DriftLatest article · Philosophy & DesignConfident DriftWhy good teams build the wrong thingRead the latest
Portrait of TJ Nelson

A bit about me

I’m TJ, a product designer in Utah with 11 years on enterprise and consumer products. I care most about the thinking underneath the screens, and the people you do it with.

More about me