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Tony Gonzalez
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Tony Gonzalez — Product Designer

Tony Gonzalez, smiling, in a cap and glasses

I overthink things so users don’t have to.

Product designer at Backstory (formerly People.ai), turning mountains of deal intelligence into tools sales leaders actually trust. Former architect. Still can’t resist a good door handle.

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Process

Design is a discipline not a decoration.

Principles

  • Accessibility first

    Every decision starts with: can everyone use this? Accessibility isn’t a feature — it’s the foundation. If people can’t use your thing, they won’t.

  • Behavior over sentiment

    When asked, people sometimes say “I like it” even if they barely use it. What people do matters more than what they say.

  • Data over instincts

    Observe, don’t lead. Control the variables. Let users reveal truth rather than confirm assumptions.

  • Ship small, learn fast

    The smallest meaningful change, instrumented and measured. Impact over output — always.

Workflow

  1. Before designing anything, I build a deep understanding of the people I’m designing for: what they want, what they actually need, and the context and resources they’re working with. AI lets me talk with more users than ever and crunch what they tell me, so I get a sharper read on their abilities, needs, and limitations. That understanding shapes every decision that follows.

    • Wants
    • Needs
    • Context & Resources

  2. A design only works if the team can build it. I learn how the team is made up, what it’s aiming for, what resources it has, and where its strengths are, so the design plays to them. With AI, I pull the real code and trace the technical architecture myself, so I’m designing for what’s actually there.

    • Business Reality
    • Team Constraints

  3. I move quickly to get an interactive prototype into users’ hands. AI lets me build those prototypes in real code, so I can refine designs faster and test at a larger scale than ever before. Then I study what people actually do, not just what they say, and let that behavior guide the next round.

    • Get It In Front of People Fast
    • Behavior vs. Sentiment
    • Observe, Don’t Lead

  4. I ship as soon as I can and watch real behavior from day one. When it makes sense, AI lets me contribute my own code to the release. What I learn becomes the brief for the next sprint.

    • Small and Instrumented
    • Measure, Don’t Guess

Work

Check out some recent stuff.

  1. 2.1Sales ForecastingPeople.aiData VizSales Tools
  2. 2.2Assistant CustomizerPeople.aiAI/MLAdmin Tools
  3. 2.3Forecasting AdminPeople.aiInfo ArchitectureB2B
  4. SalesAI SignalsComing soon!People.aiAI/MLMobile
  5. Baseball Swing CoachComing soon!TraceConsumeriOS
  6. Vendor ManagementComing soon!Haggle.ioWeb AppFreelance
  7. Infusion AppComing soon!Hestia MedicalMedicalTV App