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Introduction

Maria Cristoforo

Designer, engineer, and writer. Building with design as a mindset and a focus on storytelling.

Maria Cristoforo
LocationSan FranciscoSan Francisco, CA
StatusOpento chat
Building atCurrently building atOcular AI (YC W24)

I work at the intersection of design and engineering, owning features end-to-end on small, fast-moving teams. I consider design principles throughout the ideation and development process, rather than treating design as a separate step. My work is shaped by an interdisciplinary background in computer science and human-centered design, along with interests in psychology and writing. I believe storytelling, user empathy, and a strong sense of taste are what set great interfaces - and designers - apart, and I aim to bring those qualities to every project.


Explore

Case Studies

Selected projects with description of the problem, my approach, outcomes and learnings.

Writing

My thoughts on design engineering, UX friction, and building in small teams.

Skills

API-style reference of languages, tools, and frameworks I know and how well.

Experience

Roles, companies, and milestones formatted as a software changelog.

Changelog

v3.0.0Joined Ocular AI as a Design Engineer
Winter 2025
v2.0.0Graduated Dartmouth, CS + Human-Centered Design
Spring 2024
v1.0.0First design and development work at DALI Lab, Dartmouth
Spring 2021
View full changelog

Selected Work

apilens_study1_polished

ApiLens

Open source versioning + visual diff tool for OpenAPI specs. Designed, built, and published to PyPI.
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Canvas & Annotation Revamp

Full design and implementation process for revamping Ocular’s image annotation canvas.
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Turn-Based Audio Annotation

New annotation interface for multi-speaker audio, built using an AI-assisted design process.
mintlify_dashboard

Portfolio

How I adapted Mintlify, an AI-native product documentation platform, into a personal portfolio.