Healthcare · Product
Atlas Health
Reimagined a clinician dashboard, cutting charting time by 38% and earning a 2025 product design award.
Read the case study → Available for select projects · Summer 2026
Designing
calm,
considered
digital products.
I'm Elena Rivas — a product designer & creative director helping ambitious teams turn complex ideas into interfaces that feel effortless. Twelve years of shipping work that people remember.
Trusted by teams I've designed alongside
NorthwindAtlas HealthQuillVerdantMonogramTidepoolLumière StudioField & Co.
NorthwindAtlas HealthQuillVerdantMonogramTidepoolLumière StudioField & Co.
A two-minute introduction
Meet the person behind the work
A short film on how I think about product design — process, principles, and a look at the studio where the work gets made.
Studio introduction
Prefer to read first? Skip ahead to my story or selected work.
2026Designer of the Year
Hello, I'm Elena
Design that respects people, time, and attention.
I started in editorial design, fell for typography, and never looked back. Today I lead product experiences end to end — from the first messy whiteboard to a polished, accessible interface in the wild.
My work lives at the intersection of clarity and craft. I believe the best products feel quiet: they get out of the way, anticipate intent, and earn trust through a thousand small decisions. I partner closely with founders and engineering teams so design isn't a layer on top, but the way we think.
— Elena Rivas
Why teams hire me
A design partner who carries the whole arc
Not a deck of screens dropped over the wall. Strategy, craft, and the follow-through to ship it well.
Strategy first
Before a single pixel, we align on the real problem, the audience, and the metric that matters. Design with a job to do.
Obsessive craft
Type, spacing, motion, and microcopy treated as first-class. The details people can't name are the ones they feel.
Built to ship
I speak engineering. Design systems, tokens, and tidy handoffs mean what we draw is what your users actually get.
Selected work
A few projects I'm proud of
Spanning fintech, healthcare, and consumer products. Hover to read the story behind each one.
Fintech · Mobile
Quill Money
A friendly budgeting app for first-time savers. Grew to 400k users with a 4.9 App Store rating.
Read the case study →
Sustainability · Brand
Verdant
Full brand and product system for a carbon-tracking platform. From logotype to live dashboard in 14 weeks.
Read the case study →
Media · Web
Monogram
An editorial reading experience built around typography and calm. Featured in three design publications.
Read the case study →The journey
Where I've made things
A career spent close to the work — leading teams without ever losing the craft.
2023 — NowIndependent
Principal Designer & Creative Director
Lumen Studio · Self-directed
Partnering with founders and growth-stage teams as an embedded design lead. End-to-end product design, design systems, and creative direction for launches that need to land.
Product DesignCreative DirectionSystems
2019 — 20234 years
Head of Design
Northwind · Series C SaaS
Built and led a team of nine across product and brand. Shipped the company's design system, raised the bar on accessibility, and drove a redesign that lifted activation 27%.
Team LeadershipDesign System0→1
2016 — 20193 years
Senior Product Designer
Tidepool · Consumer Mobile
Owned core flows for a 2M-user wellness app. Introduced a research practice that turned guesswork into a roadmap the whole team trusted.
MobileUX ResearchPrototyping
2013 — 20163 years
Designer
Lumière Studio · Branding Agency
Cut my teeth on identity and editorial work for boutique clients. Where I learned that typography is design's quietest superpower.
BrandEditorialTypography
Capabilities
The craft, measured honestly
Daily toolkit
FigmaFramerAdobe CCPrincipleWebflowNotionLinearStorybookMazeLottieVS CodeGit
Tools change; taste compounds. I stay fluent in the modern stack but anchor every decision in fundamentals — hierarchy, rhythm, contrast, and restraint.
Kind words
What partners say
★★★★★
"Elena doesn't just make things beautiful. She made our whole team think more clearly about the product. The redesign paid for itself in a quarter."
Marcus LeeCEO, Northwind
★★★★★
"The most thoughtful designer I've worked with. Every handoff was pristine, every decision had a reason. A genuine partner, not a vendor."
Sofia MarencoVP Product, Atlas Health
★★★★★
"We launched on time, on brand, and above plan. Elena's calm under pressure is its own design feature. We'd hire her again in a heartbeat."
David OkaforFounder, Verdant
Ways to work together
Engagements that fit the moment
Clear scope, fixed pricing, no surprises. Every engagement starts with a free 30-minute fit call.
Design Sprint
For a focused problem
$4,800/week
- ✓ One week, one outcome
- ✓ Research & problem framing
- ✓ High-fidelity prototype
- ✓ Async daily updates
- ✓ Handoff-ready files
Most popular
Embedded Partner
For teams shipping fast
$11,500/month
- ✓ Dedicated design lead
- ✓ Full product & UX coverage
- ✓ Design system & tokens
- ✓ Weekly working sessions
- ✓ Engineering handoff & QA
- ✓ Priority response, slack-first
Creative Direction
For brand & launch
Custom
- ✓ Brand & visual identity
- ✓ Launch campaign & site
- ✓ Art direction & guidelines
- ✓ Team workshops
- ✓ Scoped to your timeline
Good to know
Questions, answered
It begins with a free 30-minute fit call where we talk through your goals, timeline, and what success looks like. If we're a match, I send a short proposal with scope and pricing within two days — and we can usually kick off within a week or two.
I lead every engagement personally — you always work directly with me, never a junior handoff. For larger launches I bring in a trusted network of writers, developers, and illustrators I've collaborated with for years, all under my direction.
A focused sprint is one week. Embedded partnerships run monthly with a one-month minimum. Brand and launch projects usually span 6 to 14 weeks depending on scope. I'll always give you an honest estimate up front and flag any risks early.
Absolutely — it's how I prefer to work. I speak the language of front-end development, deliver clean, token-based specs, and stay close through implementation so the build matches the design. Many teams keep me on for QA through launch.
That's common, and completely fine. Part of my job is helping you find the real problem before we solve the wrong one. The fit call is exactly for this — bring the fuzzy version and we'll shape it together at no cost or obligation.
Let's build something
Have a project in mind?
Tell me a little about it. I read every message myself and reply within two business days. No pressure, no sales pitch — just a real conversation about your work.