# Agustín Ruiz

> Product designer and design engineer from Argentina, currently working at Brave.

I'm Agustín, a design engineer from Argentina. I currently work at [Brave](https://brave.com), crafting the user experience for the leading privacy browser.

Let's connect! Send me an email at [info@aguscruiz.com](mailto:info@aguscruiz.com), or find me on [Twitter (𝕏)](https://x.com/aguscruiz) or [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/agustin.bsky.social).

## Highlighted projects

- [Brave's Design system](https://aguscruiz.com/projects/brave-design-system.md): Led the creation of Nala, Brave's design system from the ground up to solve the company's fragmented user experience across multiple products and platforms. As the Design System owner and DesignOps Lead, I architected a three-layer system with universal foundations, platform-specific libraries, and feature-specific components, implementing a custom token architecture that bridges design and development.
- [Browser design, pushing beyond Chrome](https://aguscruiz.com/projects/browser-design.md): Worked on pushing the browser design past chromium so we could introduce several features: vertical tabs, split view, sidebar browsing and containers. This involved moving on from the "tab" design concept into a pill shape that facilitated multiple transformations and add-ons.
- [Containers](https://aguscruiz.com/projects/containers.md): Led the user experience and design of the new containers feature for Brave, which allows users to isolate tabs and data in separate containers.
- [Custom tool for generating dithered images](https://aguscruiz.com/projects/ditherator.md): I created a tool to generate dithered gradients that is tailor made for my company's very specific dither preset. It is able to take any image and create a dithered version where the dither matrix can be tweaked to adjust for specific outputs.
- [Recapturing the feeling of the old internet](https://aguscruiz.com/projects/little-friends-garden.md): I've been wanting to recapture the magic feeling of the old internet, and I wanted to create a spin on the old "guestbook" sites where people could come in and leave their mark. I created the Little friends garden so anyone can come in, leave their name and X link, and generate a randomized "friend" that lives in the 3D space alongside all the other visitors. Check it out and create your little friend too!

## More about me

Hi again! I'm glad you scrolled this far. To recap, my name is Agustín and I'm a design engineer from Argentina.

I've been working as a designer since I graduated as a graphic designer in 2006. All these years, I've worn all sorts of designer hats: branding, naming, editorial, web design, coding, you name it. I discovered product design in 2017, and it immediately clicked with how I think. I love solving difficult problems, and especially like being responsible for how people interact with a product and how they feel while doing it. [See my full resume here](https://aguscruiz.com/resume/resume-agustin-ruiz.pdf).

### What I'm good at

- Thinking in systems and patterns
- Learning new things
- Seeing the big picture
- Sweating the details

Outside of design, I enjoy boxing (great for frustration!) and reading. I also recently began studying criminology with a focus on cybercrime to put my tech knowledge to good use.

It would be great to connect! Here are some places you can find me:

- [𝕏 (Twitter)](https://x.com/aguscruiz)
- [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/agustin.bsky.social)
- [GitHub](https://github.com/aguscruiz)
- [Linktree](https://linktr.ee/aguscruiz)

## Let's talk about AI

Yes, AI is everywhere. So how do I feel about it?

Well, I am building Brave AI, Brave's assistant in the browser. So I am very in the weeds, so to speak. I try to use and build AI in the most ethical way possible:

### Idea enhancer

AI tools let me transform static Figma mocks into functional, coded MVPs. This allows me to demonstrate exactly how a feature should work, far better than a static prototype ever could.

### Research assistant

AI tools allow me to get data and market research in a way that a regular search engine never could. And since my main work is in a very private browser, with no user tracking… I need to get insights from somewhere. Deep research is awesome for that.

### An engineering partner

When I find a bug or need a custom tool, AI products like Cursor and Claude let me build solutions immediately rather than waiting for developer bandwidth. This self-reliance ensures my own ideas are my only limit.

## Contact

- Email: [info@aguscruiz.com](mailto:info@aguscruiz.com)
- Resume: [https://aguscruiz.com/resume/resume-agustin-ruiz.pdf](https://aguscruiz.com/resume/resume-agustin-ruiz.pdf)
- Website: [https://aguscruiz.com](https://aguscruiz.com)