Justin Rheinfrank

About

Bio

I'm a product designer based in San Francisco. Right now I lead design for Slackbot — Slack's AI agent. Before that I led design for Slack's integrations with Salesforce. I started my career in consulting, working with companies like Apple, Samsung, Google, Disney, Marriott, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, T-Mobile, and Hopelab.

Consulting fed my desire to learn about new spaces. Salesforce taught me about complexity and constraints. Slack has taught me how to design products that people truly love.

The thread is a lifelong curiosity — about the people who use what we make, the technologies shaping how we make it, and the organizations that decide what gets made.

When I'm not designing, I'm teaching, reading, traveling, or sketching.

I live in San Francisco with my family.

History
  • Slack

    Principal Architect 2026–Present

    Senior Director, Product Design 2022–2026

  • Salesforce

    UX Architect, Central Slack Team 2020–2022

    Senior Director, Design Lead 2016–2020

  • gravitytank

    Associate Partner 2014–2016

    Interaction Designer 2009–2014

  • NASA Ames Research

    Design Lead, HCI Group 2008

  • Google

    UX Design Intern, Maps 2007

  • PP Møblier

    Apprentice, Hans J. Wegner 2005

  • Christopher Alexander

    Architecture Intern 2003

Education
  • Carnegie Mellon University

    Master of HCI · BFA Industrial Design 2008

  • Franklin College Switzerland

    Year abroad, liberal arts, Lugano

Teaching, talks & writing
  • Jacobs Institute, UC Berkeley

    Lecturer — visual communication and sketching 2020–2022

  • California College of the Arts

    Adjunct Professor, Design MBA 2017–2018

  • Haas School of Business

    Lecturer — Innovation Lab seminar 2014–2017

  • Stanford d.school

    Lecturer — special-effect prototyping 2014–2015

  • "Change Agents"

    Service Design Network report 2015

  • "Backstage Service Design"

    Service Experience Conference workshop 2014

  • "Get Real, Fast"

    Service Experience Conference talk 2013

  • "From Static to Adaptive Worlds"

    Interactions Magazine, ACM Press 2010

Colophon

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