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About me

About me

I’m a multidisciplinary designer and strategist with over eight years of experience shaping digital products, services, and systems across enterprise platforms, startups, and cultural initiatives.

Whether leading CRM and Quote-to-Cash transformations at IBM, helping startups find product-market fit, or designing immersive exhibits for a museum visited by over 250,000 people—I bring a human-centered, systems-thinking approach to every project. My work is grounded in research, storytelling, and rapid prototyping, with a focus on shaping behavior, aligning teams, and delivering measurable outcomes.

Before becoming a designer, I studied journalism, which continues to inform how I ask questions, uncover patterns, and communicate ideas with clarity. I’ve led cross-functional teams, launched design systems, streamlined enterprise workflows, and embedded design into sustainability efforts.

I’m also the founder of FeelScience—a design studio helping organizations turn insight into action through strategic facilitation, product and service design, and experimentation. I bring a global and inclusive perspective shaped by my Brazilian roots.

Outside of work, you’ll usually find me building furniture, mixing DJ sets, or sketching out new ideas on paper. I believe that feelings—not just functionality—are what make experiences truly meaningful.

Companies I worked with

IBM logo
CapitalOne
MIXER
Mesa
Logo Lua
Fundacao
FLICKR
BMG

Events that featured my work

fast_company
Spark Design Festival
MOSTRA

Academia

USP
NYU
LYon2

Design, before the title

Creative childhood

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Enacting a play during middle school

I grew up in a small town in the heart of Brazil called Iporá. Despite being surrounded by cowboy culture, I was naturally drawn to the arts. After teaching myself to play music by listening to my older sister, I convinced my parents to take me out of soccer and enroll me in organ classes. At school, I always found ways to turn assignments into performances—often writing and directing plays with my classmates.

Study and travel

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University Of Sao Paulo, where I attended college

Because of financial struggles at home, traveling wasn't an option growing up. Instead, I turned to education as my way to explore the world. At 13, I moved alone to the nearest capital, Goiânia, to attend high school. At 17, I was accepted into the University of São Paulo’s Journalism BFA program. At 21, I studied French in Paris and completed a yearlong exchange program in Lyon. Later, at 28, I earned a scholarship to attend NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program. Living and learning across these places shaped my perspective, taught me resilience, and made me deeply grateful to everyone who supported me along the way.

A career plot twist

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Change By Design, a book that led me to a new career

Early in my career, I was hired by a film production company as a content producer—but the third-party firm tasked with building the website I was meant to write for never delivered. So I invented a new role for myself. I pitched and led the creation of a new company website, an intranet, and an online experience for a TV series. My background in journalism gave me the confidence to interview stakeholders and articulate a clear vision. Around that time, I discovered Tim Brown’s Change by Design, which helped me name what I had been doing all along. That’s when I realized: I was a designer.

Edson Soares

© 2025 Edson Soares