James Rayo

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James Rayo

James Rayo

Home

Work

About

Contact

tl; dr

James Rayo, UX Designer

🏠 San Jose, CA

🎓 UC Riverside

📍 San Francisco Bay Area

  • legal assistant for 4 years

  • 2 years of self-taught designer experience

  • 2024 General Assembly UX Design bootcamp grad

  • plays basketball and mahjong for fun

  • obsession with Xin Fu Tang boba

  • cooks food to share, usually

Currently designing transaction tools for real estate agents as a UX Designer @ Atlas Agent and designing a website for a barbershop based in Oakland, CA.

Let's connect!

Who is James Rayo?

I've always been driven by putting my all into my interests and hobbies. I've had a perfectionist mentality, but I've unlearned this throughout my design journey. I carry over my emphasis in collaboration and research based decision making from my legal experience to create intuitive solutions for the user experience.

tl; dr

James Rayo, Product Designer

🏠 San Jose, CA

🎓 UC Riverside

📍 San Francisco Bay Area

  • legal assistant for 4 years

  • 2 years of self-taught designer experience

  • 2024 General Assembly UX Design bootcamp grad

  • plays basketball and mahjong for fun

  • obsession with Xin Fu Tang boba

  • cooks food to share, usually

Currently working on a social media app @ Mingley and designing a website for my friend's barbershop.

Let's connect!

"[James] is so much fun to work with, he brings a smile to your face, contributes meaningful feedback, takes time to process and work through complex solutions, and is an all around team player"

- Nolan

"I may or may not name my first son James cus of James"

- Eric

Where is James?

Probably playing basketball or mahjong with friends, over indulging on boba at Xing Fu Tang, or cooking up something tasty to share.

I'm based in San Jose, CA, but looking for opportunities in the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, and Los Angeles.

Currently designing transaction tools for real estate agents as a UX Designer at @ Atlas Agent and designing a website for a barbershop based in Oakland, CA.

I'm always looking to connect with new friends and expand my network. Feel free to reach out if you have any inquiries or food recommendations!

Why is James?

Before Design

I was born and raised in San Jose, CA. I moved to Riverside, CA where I got my Political Science degree at the University of California, Riverside.

Out of college, I began working at a boutique law firm. I worked with clients and supported attorneys and paralegals. I became accustomed to working through tight deadlines and prepared researched-based legal documentation.

I then transitioned to a role at Uber in their legal department. At a much larger tech company, I learned to collaborate cross-functionally, focused on internal processes, and developed a big picture mind-set. 

My primary responsibilities were on driver matters, but I wanted to provide service in a different capacity; I wanted to be able to address their pain points and really improve their experience. Acknowledging this gap drove me to explore more about what I wanted out of a career and I came across UX Design.

How I Got Here

I took the Google UX Certificate course to learn more about UX design. The more I learned, the more passionate I became. I had found a career that put collaboration, research, and a people-centered mindset at the forefront.

This led me to freelance design where I worked on newspaper and podcast websites. I was forced to learn about the business motivations of design and ask myself: What's bringing in revenue? What are the goals of different businesses?

I gained valuable insights from freelancing, but I wanted to learn more about user facing problems.

To take my skills to the next level, I attended UXDI classes with General Assembly. They reinforced my known skills and I developed new ones in the process.

However, my most valuable experience was the opportunity to meet, collaborate, and make friends with fellow designers.

Why is James?

Before Design

I was born and raised in San Jose, CA. I moved to Riverside, CA where I got my Political Science degree at the University of California, Riverside.

Out of college, I began working at a boutique law firm. I worked with clients and supported attorneys and paralegals. I became accustomed to working through tight deadlines and prepared researched-based legal documentation.

I then transitioned to a role at Uber in their legal department. At a much larger tech company, I learned to collaborate cross-functionally, focused on internal processes, and developed a big picture mind-set. 

My primary responsibilities were on driver matters, but I wanted to provide service in a different capacity; I wanted to be able to address their pain points and really improve their experience. Acknowledging this gap drove me to explore more about what I wanted out of a career and I came across UX Design.

How I Got Here

I took the Google UX Certificate course to learn more about UX design. The more I learned, the more passionate I became. I had found a career that put collaboration, research, and a people-centered mindset at the forefront.

This led me to freelance design where I worked on newspaper and podcast websites. I was forced to learn about the business motivations of design and ask myself: What's bringing in revenue? What are the goals of different businesses?

I gained valuable insights from freelancing, but I wanted to learn more about user facing problems.

To take my skills to the next level, I attended UXDI classes with General Assembly. They reinforced my known skills and I developed new ones in the process.

However, my most valuable experience was the opportunity to meet, collaborate, and make friends with fellow designers.

Get in Touch!

I'm always open to collaborate on a project or hear about an opportunity.

Wanna email me instead?

jamesa.rayo@gmail.com