Jim Nielsen

Web designer, front-end engineer, and writer with 20+ years of experience designing and building software for the web. I enjoy working at the intersection of product design and engineering — and I write publicly about the craft.

jimniels@gmail.com

Work Experience

Quadratic — Founding Engineer

2023–Now · Spreadsheet startup powered by code and AI.

  • First full-time hire and employee three; helped mature a browser-local prototype into a cloud-based collaborative product serving 350,000+ registered users and supporting a $5.6M seed round led by GV.
  • Partnered with the founder on cloud architecture and led its full-stack implementation using React, Express.js, and Postgres, including migrating user files from localStorage and replacing Auth0 with WorkOS.
  • Designed and built the product layer surrounding the spreadsheet, including file management, team workspaces, dashboards, third-party data connections, and a ground-up access-control model governing sharing within and across teams.
  • Shaped product direction through customer interviews, usage and AI-prompt analysis, rapid prototyping, and session-replay insights as the company grew from 3 to 10 people.

Remix — Director of Design

2022 · Open-source web framework startup, acquired by Shopify shortly after I joined.

  • Recruited to translate sophisticated web-development concepts into approachable education, product storytelling, visual design, and hands-on front-end work.
  • Supported the React Router 6.4 launch through visual identity work and by turning founder-built prototypes into polished, approachable developer demos.
  • Wrote well-received articles explaining Remix’s data flow and edge architecture, and created visual materials for the inaugural Remix Conference.

SageSure — Director of Design

2016–2022 · Insurance technology company that grew roughly 10× during my tenure.

  • Led design for replacing the company’s Flash-based Agent Portal before browser support ended, successfully moving all new policy bindings—the company’s primary revenue channel—to the new system.
  • Designed Policy Actions, a system for configuring state-specific insurance rules and enabling self-service policy changes across agent and internal applications, dramatically reducing reliance on the call center.
  • Led design across strategic, cross-team initiatives—including the company’s expansion into commercial insurance, a next-generation quoting experience, and paperless billing—using prototypes to define direction, align teams, and validate ideas before implementation.
  • Helped establish design as an internal function and grow it from one designer plus contractors to a team of 5+, introducing shared practices for defining problems and collaborating across product teams.

Timshel — UI Engineer

2016 · Social-impact software platform.

  • Designed and built the client administration application and third-party integration experiences.

Postlight — Design Engineer

2016 · Digital product agency.

  • Designed and built internal publishing tools used by thousands of Time Inc. employees, taking them from early concepts through production.

Kindling — Lead Designer

2012–2016 · Social innovation startup, acquired in 2016.

  • Led product, brand, and marketing design while contributing production front-end code across the application and company website.

Arc90 — Web Designer

2012 · Digital agency in New York City.

  • Designed and built work for the agency site and client projects.

Selected Side Projects

Writing & Speaking

I write about design, software, and the web on my blog, and share what I’m reading on my link blog.

Selected recognition

My writing has been linked to and mentioned by sites like CSS Tricks, Smashing Magazine, Frontend Masters, The Verge, and The Wall Street Journal.

And enjoyed by individuals like:

Many posts have reached the front page of Hacker News, earning thousands of points and comments.

Selected publications

Selected podcasts & interviews

Skills

Product & design: Product strategy, customer research, interaction design, visual design, prototyping, design systems, and design leadership.

Engineering: Front-end architecture, accessible interface development, responsive design, progressive enhancement, full-stack web development, API integrations, authentication, and access control.

Technologies: HTML, CSS/Sass, JavaScript, TypeScript, React, Node.js, Express, PostgreSQL, and Git.

Communication: Technical writing, product storytelling, and cross-functional collaboration.