I'm Jan Früchtl, a Staff Product Designer at Cubby and an indie iOS developer.

With over nine years of experience in product design across different industries, startups, and companies of varying sizes, I have honed my skills in wearing multiple hats.

As a systems thinker, I enjoy working on complex problems and building scalable solutions. In the past, I led UX work at Shopify for Markets Pro and led a design system team at BRYTER.

Currently, I work at Cubby, where we build a self-storage platform to help owners manage and grow their self-storage business more efficiently and sustainably.

I'd love to hear from you! You can find me on LinkedIn, Mastodon, or GitHub. If you prefer to email me, feel free to send a message and let's start a conversation.


Selected Projects

A few select projects that demonstrate how I work at the intersection of design, product, and engineering to help create impactful solutions that meet both business goals and user needs.

Markets Pro

Staff Product Designer at Shopify, 2022 - 2023

I led UX on Markets Pro — a product that makes global commerce accessible for everyone. With just one click, merchants can rapidly expand to new markets from a single store, while Shopify takes care of cross-border compliance and complexities.

CouchTimes

Side Project

An iOS app for TV enthusiasts to keep track of and organize their favorite shows. I designed and programmed CouchTimes to be a fully native iOS app using Swift and SwiftUI. The app quickly gained recognition, earning features on the Apple App Store and in several media outlets.

Bliss Design System v1.x

Design Systems Lead at BRYTER, 2020 - 2022

I led the revamp of the BRYTER Design System, called Bliss. Together with the team, we re-imagined our component architecture, implemented accessibility improvements, crafted a new icon system, and produced thorough documentation, complete with design patterns and usage guidelines.

BRYTER - Services

Senior Product Designer at BRYTER, 2020

I led UX on a big evolution of the BRYTER platform, which enables customers to automate complex workflows and create truly self-service solutions.


Recommendations

I have had the privilege of working with amazing people over the past couple of years. Here is some feedback on what my previous colleagues have said about working with me.

    Jan was on the founding team for Shopify Markets Pro, which created a new way to make global commerce accessible to all small businesses. I admired Jan's ability to quickly grasp complex domain contexts, make tough trade-offs, and design experiments with deep care for our merchants. I would work with him again in a heartbeat.

    Rohit Mishra

    Director of Product, Shopify Markets and Shop Promise

    Jan’s work on Shopify Markets Pro was fast, precise, and polished. He took ownership of leading the design and defining all requirements, mapping all flows, and helping create a format of work for stakeholders to align on goals, iterations, and future steps. Jan’s contributions were crucial to the success of the project.

    Pedro Marques

    Head of UX, Shopify Markets

    Jan is both a designer and a leader. While at Shopify, he was the design lead for large, complex, multidisciplinary projects. Jan went above and beyond to deliver quality designs, collaborate with stakeholders, and get alignment across teams. It was truly a privilege to work with Jan.

    Megan Dodge

    Senior UX Manager at Shopify

    Jan created the foundations of our design system, both in the tangible tools to use, and in the understanding that our entire product area took on of what this means for our product and, thus, customers. Without his efforts, our cross-functional teams would not have been able to work in harmony as they did.

    Jen Goertzen

    VP UX at BRYTER

    Jan is an exceptional product designer, thinker, and leader with a talent for blending creativity, strategy, and leadership to create remarkable products that meet user needs and business objectives. He is an empathetic team member, a great collaborator, and fosters a culture of creativity, innovation, and inclusivity.

    Mahta Moattari

    Senior Product Designer at Shopify

    Working with Jan has been nothing short of incredible - his ability to effectively communicate with the engineering team, quickly grasp concepts, and collaborate tremendously has boosted our team's productivity. He is an incredible asset, and I would definitely work with him again.

    Meko Deng

    Senior Engineer at Shopify

    Jan is more than just an exceptional designer, leader, product thinker, and teammate - he's an exceptional human being. When he joined our team at Shopify, he instantly multiplied our impact by tenfold. Trust me when I say that Jan is a needle in a haystack - don't miss your chance to work with him.

    Ryan Stone

    Staff Product Designer at Shopify