# Ian Hazelton

> 15 years of design craft. I design experiences and build products. AI is core to how I work.

Product designer · Builder · Design leader · AI-native · Stockholm, Sweden. Web version: https://www.ianhazelton.com/

## Quick facts

- **Current role:** Kustom · Head of Design, hands-on (Sep 2024 – Present)
- **Location:** Stockholm, Sweden
- **Working in design since:** 2013
- **Availability:** Open to a conversation, not actively looking.
- **Contact:** hello@ianhazelton.com · LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-hazelton-2b6651107/

## About

I'm a Brit living in Sweden, with both passports. A dad, a designer, a builder and a curious problem solver. I'm an aficionado of beautiful simplicity and accessibility, an amateur painter and a nature lover. Some designers have struggled with the AI revolution. For me it's come full circle: I'm back to building, not just sketching.

## Case studies

- [Morpheus & the lab](https://www.ianhazelton.com/work/morpheus-and-the-lab.md): How I built a tool that changed design’s role. _Product design & AI leadership · Design system, prototypes, sales tools · Feb 2026 – present_
- [In-person payments](https://www.ianhazelton.com/work/in-person-payments.md): A point of sale on the phone in your pocket, with in-store and online sales in one place. _Product design · Phone, tablet and terminal POS · Jan 2025 – present_
- [Humans](https://www.ianhazelton.com/work/humans.md): A platform that helps you spot your own hidden biases, and learn how to challenge them. _Research & product design · Research, UX, UI, illustration · 2019_
- [Repurposing Figma hardware](https://www.ianhazelton.com/work/figma-hardware.md): I had stopped using my Figma Micro pad. So I reprogrammed it for a new job. _Personal project · Hardware, software, AI workflow · 2026_

## Design bites

Small pieces of craft with no case study behind them.

- **Categories unfolded** (Point of sale): A category tile unfolds into its products. Pick a size, add to order. Products with no variants skip the drawer. See https://www.ianhazelton.com/work/in-person-payments
- **Zungenbrercher** (Framer template): A Framer template for an interior design studio.
- **Smooth numbers** (Typography · CSS): Animating numbers wobble because every digit has its own width. One line of CSS can fix it.
- **Colour combinations** (Colour): Colours that work together.

## Process

1. **Frame:** Most work starts as a business requirement. First, work out what it really has to achieve, and for whom.
2. **Explore:** Many directions, fast. AI widens the search; taste and judgement narrow it down.
3. **Make:** Prototype in code, early. Real data, real devices, real results.
4. **Ship:** Build it with engineering, and keep the details intact through to launch.
5. **Measure:** Conversion, completion, feedback. Keep what works, question what doesn't.

**And round again:** Every result makes the next version better.

## My case studies don't contain

- UX theatre
- Excessive wireframes
- Photos of people looking at a wall of post-it notes
- Imaginary user personas

I design in the real world, for the real world.

## Experience

- **Sep 2024 – Present:** Kustom · Head of Design, hands-on
- **Sep 2022 – Sep 2024:** Ripe · Principal Product Designer
- **Nov 2021 – Sep 2022:** Pollen · Principal Product Designer
- **Aug 2019 – Nov 2021:** Common Ground · Senior Product Designer
- **Nov 2019 – Oct 2021:** Klarna · Senior Product Designer (contract)
- **Mar 2019 – Nov 2019:** CMore / TV4 · Senior UX Designer (contract)
- **Aug 2017 – Mar 2019:** Tele2 · Product Designer (contract)
- **Mar 2017 – Jul 2017:** Viaplay · UX/UI Designer
- **Oct 2015 – Feb 2017:** ComeOn! · Web Designer
- **Jun 2013 – Oct 2015:** Freelance · Web Designer

## What I bring

- **Design leadership:** I foster an environment of continuous improvement, trust and a delicate blend of pragmatism and innovation. I empower individuals in my team with ownership and accountability.
- **Vision & strategy:** I lead teams in framing and solving the hard problems. I drive innovative efforts that uncover new value for businesses.
- **Concept development:** Defining the goals and objectives of a project, identifying the target audience, determining key messaging and positioning, and selecting the most effective channels to reach that audience.
- **Research & testing:** In planning and executing user studies and testing sessions, I translate insights into refined designs through iterative testing.
- **Collaboration:** I believe design is a team sport. Working with others ensures fresh perspectives, a better understanding of the product, requirements and constraints.
- **Execution:** I simply love the process of crafting UX & UI solutions. The blessing and the curse of being a designer is the mindset that anything can always be that little bit better.

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Part of the portfolio of Ian Hazelton: https://www.ianhazelton.com/llms.txt