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Christopher Kobar

I design human-first experiences for an AI-fluent world

Language and intelligence are becoming the new interface. I create systems that keep people—our needs, values, and emotions—at the center, while technology plays a supportive, assistive role.

What I Believe

  • Great design isn’t decoration—it’s strategy.

  • Design exists to create exceptional experiences for humans—to help people accomplish, understand, and feel.

  • Truly exceptional design is the byproduct of as much artistic energy and talent as it is of technical rigor and data. It’s a blend of creativity, psychology, business goals, and measurable insight.

  • Design must be inclusive, ethical, and as simple as possible—clarity and compassion should guide every decision.

  • The rise of generative AI invites us to rethink interaction. We must design human-first but AI-fluent—imagining experiences where language and intelligence are the primary mechanisms, and the GUI assists rather than dominates.

  • The best products are born where vision and reality meet—ambitious ideas translated into things people can actually use and love.

What I Do Best

  • Transform bold, human-centered ideas into shippable experiences.

  • Design intelligent, conversational systems that feel natural and empowering.

  • Bridge teams—engineering, product, and design—to move from concept to launch.

  • Tell stories that win executive buy-in and rally teams behind a shared vision.

What I Want Next

  • A role where design leads strategy, grounded in empathy and ethics.

  • A company that values human creativity augmented by intelligent technology.

  • A team that believes great design starts with inclusion, clarity, and curiosity.

  • Work that stretches me—solving problems people haven’t yet found the words for.

Professional Summary

  • I turn complex systems into clear, human-centered products that deliver measurable impact.

  • Across enterprise, AI, and civic design, I’ve led UX strategy and execution for organizations transforming how people work, plan, and connect.

  • My approach blends systems thinking with hands-on craft — designing at the intersection of business, technology, and human behavior.

  • I build frameworks that accelerate adoption, raise design maturity, and make advanced tools feel simple, ethical, and human.

Experience

Oracle USA

Sr. Principal UX Designer | Remote | November 2016 – September 2025

Advanced Services Portal

Created a unified design language for a fragmented internal system, improving consistency, clarifying critical signals, and aligning engineering around common patterns.

My Oracle Support (MOS)

Redesigned the entire experience to reduce friction and improve comprehension. Simplified navigation, unified preferences, expanded self-service pathways, and introduced narrative issue-intake flows that set the foundation for future natural-language support models.

Mobile-First Expenses

Resolved a multi-year design stalemate by aligning the product with Redwood capabilities. Enabled engineering to ship the first Redwood mobile experience, scaling from a 25-user pilot to thousands while improving telemetry and platform understanding.

AI/NLP ERPM Onboarding

Created the first fully realized North Star for AI-driven ERP & EPM onboarding. Defined agentic workflows, trust and oversight behaviors, natural-language interaction patterns, and the narrative structure needed for users to understand and trust AI-driven implementation.

DCAC — Data Collection & Analysis Center

Designed a unified diagnostic workbench replacing several homegrown tools. Improved diagnostic accuracy, workflow consistency, and time-to-resolution for global support engineers analyzing complex log data.

CSRA

Senior UX Designer | Washington, DC | December 2012 – November 2016

Designed a unified national training platform for federal probation officers, improving onboarding consistency and comprehension across all federal court districts.

Arlington County Government

Enterprise Information Architect | Arlington, VA | February 2009 – November 2012

Modernized resident and employee digital services through improved IA, navigation structure, and information clarity.

Prior Roles in UX Design

Various Federal and Local Government Contracts | Washington, DC Metro | September 1998 – February 2009

Earlier in my career, I worked with agencies including the U.S. Export-Import Bank and the Defense Contract Management Agency. I focused on large-scale intranet design, workflow simplification, and compliance in secure environments. These experiences gave me a strong foundation in structure, clarity, and trust — traits that still define my design approach today.

Education

University of Connecticut

Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy | Phi Beta Kappa | January 1989 – May 1993

Expertise

Enterprise & Product UX

  • Complex workflows

  • Design systems

  • Data-rich interfaces

  • Mobile UX

  • IA and navigation

AI & Narrative UX

  • Natural-language workflows

  • AI orchestration patterns

  • Trust, visibility, and oversight models

  • Human-in-the-loop flows

  • Narrative structure for comprehension

Collaboration & Leadership

  • Distributed team collaboration

  • Remote work facilitation

  • Stakeholder alignment

  • Narrative framing and communication

Tools

  • Figma, Redwood components

  • Prototyping frameworks

  • Analytics and telemetry

  • GenAI tools