Christopher Kobar
Human experiences for an AI-fluent world
Staff Product Designer with 15+ years shaping complex systems — from architecture and flows to pixels and swipes.
♦︎ Currently looking for my next adventure
↪ Selected work
Breaking a 3 Year Stalemate
Shipping Oracle's first Redwood mobile experience by bridging product vision and design system compliance — and strengthening cross-functional partnerships
How vision and technical reality can coexist when communication happens and goals align.
Unifying 5 Legacy Tools
Designing a hardcore diagnostic workbench for expert product support engineers.
Justice By Design
Redesigning federal sentencing calculation for 94 U.S. districts, placing it in the judges' hands.
Slashing ERP Onboarding Cost 60% with AI
Led the initial design vision for an EVP-sponsored initiative to replace $500K–$2M in consulting costs with AI-driven configuration.
How design can unify siloed product teams to drive high-value innovation.
↪ Vibe Coding Exploration
“Hey, Claude! Let’s make a Disney-like immersive mobile experience that brings the magic of a park visit to wherever you are.”
↪ My groove
⁂ Systems
Enterprise & complex platforms
Regulated tooling
AI-integrated experiences
⛰︎ Problems
Stalled products
Cross-functional misalignment
Vision-to-execution gaps
⛏︎ Method
Constraints → Framing
Framing → Alignment
Alignment → Shipped outcomes
✌︎ Culture
Cross-functional partnership
High autonomy and accountability
Clarity over consensus
↪ On my mind
↪ How I work
I started as a designer who coded my own front-ends in a browser before anyone thought to separate the two. On all the products I’ve designed, that instinct shaped my thinking. I still consider whether a layout breathes, a transition earns its milliseconds, and if the structure underneath can hold what the surface promises.
I care about craft—the tiny details, the aesthetic—as much as I care about systems. I've never understood why the industry treats those as different jobs. A component that looks right but behaves wrong is a failure. A system that works but feels like a chore is also a failure. I want both. And people deserve both.
I always design “close to the metal,” as it were, whether working in Figma, extending a design system into territory it hasn't covered, or building a working prototype with AI-assisted code. The tools will always change. My approach doesn't.
It’s simple. I imagine the best possible experience. I learn until I understand. I explore. I design. I code. I test. I ship. I repeat.
↪ Who I am
Before design, I worked everywhere from restaurants to Congress to a zoo. I served in the Navy Nuclear Power program. I've spent decades devising RPG systems, rules, worlds, and consequences. I published ten books. I dabble in weird fiction, podcasting. Sometimes I still pick up my guitar.
I've picked up some stories. I've been detained by the Syrian and Lebanese military. Had an awkward encounter with a U.S. president. Wiped out on a motorcycle at 95 mph. Busked in the NYC subway. Danced flamenco. Played a Secret Service agent in a Spielberg film. Saw a UFO. And got my piece of the Berlin Wall the old fashioned way. All true. Buy me a cider sometime.
I have a teen daughter, a Utah wife, and two cats who have never once been impressed. I studied philosophy at UConn — Phi Beta Kappa — and learned a few things at NYU, the University of Mannheim, and the Connecticut School of Broadcasting. I've lived in ten states, but I'm back in Connecticut, a stone's throw from the submarine base where my tale began.