Hey! It’s great to meet you
My name is Matteo Distefano, and I am a UX Designer who focuses on working closely with users and clients. I enjoy understanding how our users interact with products, then using that insight to design experiences that feel tailor-made for them
I'm drawn to the part of design where you actually sit with people.
Understanding what users need, and letting that shape every decision that follows, is what I find most compelling about this work.
How I got here
I'm Matteo, a UX and graphic designer based in the GTA. I got into design by way of software engineering. A couple of years into that program I found myself more interested in the people using the software than the code itself, so I made the switch. I finished a Bachelor of Design at Wilfrid Laurier and then a Master of Digital Experience Innovation at Waterloo. The engineering background stuck with me though, and I think it quietly shapes the way I approach problems.
What I keep coming back to is this: design decisions made without talking to users are really just assumptions. And assumptions, however well-intentioned, tend to miss the mark in ways that only become obvious later. I've seen it enough times that it's become the thing I care most about getting right. Not just running research as a formality, but actually sitting with people, hearing what frustrates them, and letting that inform what gets built.
I find that the most interesting design problems aren't purely visual and aren't purely functional. They sit somewhere in between, where how something feels and how it works are impossible to separate. That's where I like to be.
The user is not a consideration. They're the foundation.
I believe the user is the most fundamental part of any design process. Not as a checkbox or a phase you move through, but as the actual foundation that every decision gets built on top of. User centered design, to me, means that the person you're designing for isn't consulted occasionally. They're present at every stage. From the earliest framing of a problem all the way through to evaluating whether a solution actually works, their perspective is what keeps the work honest.
When you skip that step or treat it as a formality, you end up solving the wrong problem really well. The work might look right, but it won't feel right to the people who matter most. I've seen it happen, and it's the kind of thing that's hard to fix once you're deep into building something.
That's why I invest heavily in user testing throughout the design process, not just at the end. Testing early surfaces assumptions before they become expensive mistakes. Testing in the middle keeps iterations grounded. Testing at the end tells you whether you actually got there. Each round of feedback is an opportunity to get closer to something that genuinely works.
What I'm particularly drawn to is qualitative testing. Interviews, think-aloud sessions, and open-ended conversations with users. Numbers can tell you that something isn't working, but talking to people tells you why. That why is almost always where the most important design insight lives, and it's the part of the process I find most energizing.
Outside of design work, I'm drawn to games and competitive activities that reward long-term thinking. Chess, card games, anything that makes you plan several moves ahead. I think the same instinct that makes those enjoyable is what draws me to the strategic side of design.
A few projects worth starting with
Each of these represents a different side of how I work. Research-led product design, long-form client collaboration, and speculative thinking about where design can go.
Privada Key
Leading UX research and brand design for a private home-sharing startup. Ten think-aloud interviews, independent synthesis, and a full brand identity system built from scratch.
View Case Study →Integrative Conservation Clinic
A seven month capstone project with a real external client. Co-leading a team of seven through three rounds of think-aloud testing to redesign an ecological conservation database.
View Case Study →Deimax Health App
A speculative design project set 20 years in the future. A complete personal diagnostics companion app with a fully interactive Figma prototype you can try yourself.
View Case Study →Let's work together
Whether you have a project in mind, a role you think I'd be a good fit for, or just want to talk design, I'd love to hear from you.