ABOUT / CHRISTIAN LINARES

I lead designers and still love making things.

I lead UX/UI at Ariat, where I manage designers, run research, and help teams improve the shopping experience.

Alongside that role, I’m building Osnara, a working AI product. I’m based in Nashville, with roots in Chile and Poland.

I enjoy helping a designer take on a project they didn’t think they could do.

Christian with his camera beside a Charlie Chaplin mural

01 / HOW I WORK

Strategy becomes useful when people can experience it.

Handwritten note: Simple is hard. Hard has impact.

Find the signal

I start with customer behavior and research, then work through the business and technical constraints.

Make it tangible

I prototype ideas so the team can try them, challenge them, and decide what to change.

Make it reusable

I turn useful patterns into shared components and documentation.

IN PRACTICE / HOW I WORK WITH AI

AI helps me build and test ideas sooner.

I designed Osnara and use AI-assisted development to build it. It is now in early private beta.

Investigate, build, refine

I research existing products, sketch the idea in a one-pager, then build and refine it in Figma and code. Conversations with other designers help me decide what to test; demand is still unproven.

CHATGPT / CLAUDE / GEMINI
v0 / CODEX / FIGMA / GITHUB
SEE THIS IN OSNARA

02 / LEADERSHIP WITHOUT DISTANCE

I coach designers while staying involved in the work.

I set direction with Product and Engineering, review designs, and prototype when the team needs to work through a decision.

At Ariat, I have managed up to three direct reports, hired two designers, and coached one designer through two promotions. I also review work with our external design partners.

BUILD THE FOUNDATIONSET THE DIRECTIONHELP DESIGNERS GROW

03 / HOW I SHOW UP

I think out loud.

I ask a lot of questions. Workshops are where I’m most comfortable: putting the work on the table, talking through what’s unclear, and figuring out a direction together.

04 / LIVED EXPERIENCE

I pay attention to how a place makes someone feel.

Outside product design, I care about photography, architecture, interiors, and the atmosphere of a beautifully lit restaurant or cocktail bar. I notice the flow through a room, what it reveals, and how the details change the way people behave.

Christian’s atmospheric photograph of the Golden Gate Bridge — 01 / OBSERVE

Christian sitting with a drink in a warmly lit cocktail bar — 02 / INHABIT

A textured cocktail bar interior with collected furniture and pools of warm light

05 / INDEPENDENT PRACTICE

Before product systems, I built brand systems.

Alongside my employed roles, I’ve worked with founders on identities, websites, and spaces, from the first conversation through launch.

Explore the independent practice

06 / ROOTS

Rooted in Chile and Poland.

Traveling to Poland with my grandmother gave me a closer connection to my heritage. My Chilean roots come through my father, and that trip is still ahead of me.

Photography, shared meals, and experiments that bring both cultures together are some of the ways I keep that connection present.

A Polish city square beneath a wide blue sky — 01 / RETURN

Christian and his grandmother smiling together in Poland

A quiet cobblestone street framed by colorful buildings in Poland — 02 / NOTICE

A plate of pierogi shared during Christian’s trip to Poland

A homemade cocktail joining Chilean pisco and Polish vodka — 03 / COMBINE

A small Poznań detail embedded in the pavement

07 / WHAT’S NEXT

I want to keep leading designers and building products.

I’m interested in roles where I can coach a team, help decide what gets built, and stay close to the design.

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