RUI BARROCA
Designing with world-class partners
Collaborating with global teams across aviation, finance, fashion and tech.
Fractional Product Designer
Senior design leadership, without the full-time commitment
A Fractional Product Designer is a senior design leader who embeds into your team on a part-time or project basis — bringing the strategic thinking, hands-on craft, and leadership experience of a full-time design lead, without the overhead.
It's the right model when you need more than a freelancer but aren't ready to hire full-time. You get someone who can own the design function, work with your product and engineering teams, and drive real outcomes from day one.
What this looks like in practice:
- Defining and owning product design direction
- Running discovery, research, and rapid prototyping
- Building or evolving your design system
- Mentoring in-house designers
- Bridging design and engineering
- Workshops and design sprints for alignment
Engagements are typically 1–3 days per week, with a minimum of one month. Available remotely and across Europe.
Education & Academia
Teaching, panels and mentorship across design programs
About
Product Design Lead — Mentor — Speaker
Rui Barroca is a Product Design Lead and full-stack design consultant helping startups and established organisations build meaningful digital products.
With over 20 years of experience, Rui works across product strategy, UX, and design systems, supporting teams from early discovery to production-ready execution. His work spans multiple industries, including aviation, finance, fashion, retail, sports, and technology, collaborating with both high-growth startups and global enterprises. He specialises in translating research and business goals into clear product direction, intuitive user experiences, and fast, testable prototypes. Rui often partners closely with founders, product leaders, and engineering teams to reduce uncertainty, align stakeholders, and accelerate delivery.
- Role: Full-Stack Product Design Consultant — UX, Product Design, Prototyping
- Experience: Enterprise & Startup (British Airways, American Express, Net-A-Porter)
- Services: Product Strategy, UX Research, Design Systems, Mentorship, Workshops
- Location: Remote / Europe-based / Available for consultancy & speaking
Beyond client work, Rui is deeply involved in education and mentorship. He teaches, mentors, and speaks regularly, supporting early-stage founders, product teams, and designers through workshops, office hours, and community initiatives. Rui leads end-to-end design engagements, from problem framing and user research to prototyping, validation, and hand-off, offering both focused short-term sessions and longer retained partnerships.