Marcel Akiyama
@marcelakiyama
Product designer and researcher exploring AI and Human-AI Interaction, including prototypes for decision support and AI-assisted workflows.
BrazilWhat I'm looking for
At Stealth Startup, I’m researching and prototyping AI product concepts around Human-AI Interaction, intelligent systems, and decision support. I’m testing how people understand, evaluate, and correct AI systems while staying in control when outputs are uncertain.
At Unveil, I led product discovery and design for products in traceability, circular economy, digital product passports, medical devices, and fintech. I turned unclear requirements into product ideas, user flows, prototypes, and testable hypotheses.
At Alpaca, I redesigned the website structure and repositioned the API as broker infrastructure, contributing to a 52% increase in conversion. As a founding designer, I helped build a company that began in ML for financial markets and later became an API-first brokerage.
My work spans fintech, developer tools, B2B SaaS, and AI. I’m interested in how people understand AI behavior, decide how much to trust its answers, recover when it fails, and know its limits.
Experience
Work history, roles, and key accomplishments
∙ Researching and prototyping AI product concepts around Human-AI Interaction, intelligent systems, decision support, and AI-assisted workflows.
∙ Exploring how people understand, evaluate, correct, and remain in control of AI systems when outputs are uncertain or system behavior is not fully predictable.
∙ Building low-cost prototypes and research artifacts to test these ideas in practice.
∙ Led product discovery and design for complex products in traceability, circular economy, digital product passports, medical devices, and fintech.
∙ Turned unclear requirements into product ideas, user flows, prototypes, and testable hypotheses.
∙ Worked with product, engineering, and other teams to research problems, test solutions, and decide what to build.
Voluntary work
Career Break
Sep 2022 - Aug 2024 (1 year 11 months)
Research and development in climate change, Brazilian biomes conservation, and psychosocial well-being in vulnerable communities.
∙ Led design strategy during a period of rapid growth.
∙ Set product and brand direction, improved the design system, and helped teams work more consistently across product and engineering.
∙ Worked with leadership and product teams on product direction, design decisions, and user experience.
∙ Led UX research, information architecture, product discovery, and interaction design for Alpaca’s website and API products.
∙ Redesigned the website structure and repositioned the API as broker infrastructure, contributing to a 52% increase in conversion.
∙ Used user research, usability testing, prototyping, and validation to make complex technical products easier to understand and use.
Health and well-being
Career Break
Mar 2020 - Jun 2021 (1 year 3 months)
Career break during COVID-19 focused on health and well-being, followed by upskilling in modern product management practices.
∙ Led product design and UX research for a smart-lending product.
∙ Used user research and behavioral insights to redesign the borrowing experience and improve how customers understood and managed their loans.
∙ The redesign contributed to a reduction in loan default rates from 57% to 16%.
∙ Turned complex product requirements into user flows, prototypes, and tested design concepts.
∙ Worked closely with product management and engineering to explore solutions and validate product decisions.
∙ Defined UX strategy and designed the Capitalico/AlpacaAlgo MVP from the ground up.
∙ As part of the initial team at Alpaca (Ikkyo, AlpacaDB), collaborated on ML/DL/CV solutions for clients including Nintendo, Yahoo Japan, NEC, and Yanai Kogyo.
∙ Helped explore and test AI product ideas, including visual search, automated content moderation, computer vision, and drone inspection.
∙ Designed Label
∙ Led product and interface design for mobile products including Qugo and Xpresso.
∙ Worked on product concepts, user flows, interaction design, and visual design from early ideas through launch.
∙ Xpresso was later acquired by Samsung.
∙ Led visual direction for digital and integrated campaigns for brands including Honda, Lexus, Toshiba, Canon, and Bridgestone.
∙ Worked on concepts, visual systems, digital experiences, and campaign execution with creative and client teams.
∙ Developed visual and digital concepts for consumer and corporate brands.
∙ Worked on campaign design, digital media, visual communication, and production for major Japanese and international brands.
Education
Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework
Faculdade de Tecnologia Opet
Information Technology
Hyper Island
UX Design
UX Deep Dive: Usability Testing
Jan 2021
UX Deep Dive: Remote Research
Jan 2021
UX Deep Dive: Mapping
Jan 2021
UX Deep Dive: Analyzing Data
Jan 2021
Learning Design Sprints
Jan 2021
How to Make Strategic Thinking a Habit
Jan 2021
Design Thinking: Implementing the Process
Jan 2021
Project Management Institute
Strategic Planning Foundations
Feb 2021
Leading Strategically
Jul 2021
UX Deep Dive: Foundational Research
Aug 2021
Systems Thinking
Aug 2021
UX DesignOps
Sep 2021
Udemy
The Simple Way to Conduct a UX Audit
Nov 2021
IxDF - The Interaction Design Foundation
2018 - 2019
Project Management Institute
Product Management: Building a Product Strategy
Feb 2021
Udemy
Applying Jobs-to-be-Done Theory
Nov 2021
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Apr 2022
EF Standard English Test (EF SET)
EF SET English Certificate 63/100 (C1 Advanced)
Jul 2024
Design Psychology: Master the Art and Science of UX Design
Jul 2024
Mind the Product
Product Discovery
Mar 2025
Cornell University
Systems Thinking
Feb 2025
Tech stack
Software and tools used professionally
Availability
Location
BrazilAuthorized to work in
Salary expectations
Social media
Job categories
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