01
Find the actual problem
I combine interviews, field observation, product data, competitive research, and operational context to separate symptoms from the friction worth solving.
Kris Haamer · Senior product designer + design engineer
Give me the messy product problem.
I turn complex services, data, policy, and AI into clear products people can understand and teams can ship.
I have worked independently since 2002 across research, product strategy, interaction design, frontend engineering, and delivery. I am now looking to bring that range into one ambitious product team.
Current direction
Senior IC or hands-on lead
Tallinn-based. Estonian citizen. Open to product teams working on consequential everyday systems.
Since 2002
Building digital products
675
Valid research responses
32 + 32
Interviews and prototype tests
3 continents
Work across Europe, Asia, and Africa
The job I do best
Follow the problem all the way through.
My value is not that I can do several disciplines separately. It is that I can keep the user, business, system, and implementation connected while a product moves from ambiguity to production.
02
Model the whole system
I make states, permissions, exceptions, incentives, data flows, and service operations visible before reducing them into a clear experience.
03
Prototype close to reality
I work in flows, interfaces, content, and code. That shortens the distance between a promising idea and something users and engineers can evaluate honestly.
04
Own what happens after launch
I care about accessibility, performance, analytics, support signals, and iteration. The product is not finished when the design file is handed over.
Where I am most useful
Products where simple screens hide difficult systems.
I am drawn to everyday products that have real operational depth. The interface should feel obvious even when the machinery behind it is not.
- Customer journeys with many states, edge cases, permissions, or recovery paths
- Products where trust, money, identity, mobility, sustainability, or AI shape the experience
- Global services that must remain understandable across languages and cultures
- Teams that need a bridge between product strategy, design, frontend engineering, and operations
Evidence, not adjectives
Selected work that shows the range.
The common thread is not an industry or visual style. It is turning a broad, messy problem into a system people can use.
Financial AI research and product design
Green Filter
Designed and researched an AI companion for sustainable shopping, saving, and investing. The work includes 675 valid survey responses, 32 interviews, and 32 prototype tests, translated into a working product direction.
Explore Green FilterPublic digital infrastructure
WiFi.ee
Rebuilding Estonia's long-running public Wi-Fi platform as a modern geospatial data product, connecting product architecture, frontend delivery, APIs, storage, permissions, and operational recovery.
Visit WiFi.eeProduction product system
HAAM
Built this evolving Next.js platform across editorial content, product tools, authenticated workspaces, data pipelines, accessibility, performance, localization, and AI-assisted workflows.
Explore HAAMStorytelling and social impact
Elsa Figueira
Created a transmedia campaign in São Tomé and Príncipe that connected film, public participation, communication design, and a digital platform around domestic violence awareness.
View the projectHow I create momentum
A practical first 90 days.
I do not arrive with a preset redesign. I build context quickly, find a meaningful slice, and earn broader ownership by improving something real.
- 1
First 30 days
Learn the domain and map friction
Talk with customers, operators, engineers, analysts, and support teams. Trace the journey, inspect product evidence, and make the important failure states visible.
- 2
Days 31 to 60
Ship a meaningful improvement
Choose a tractable problem, prototype with the people who own the system, test the riskiest assumptions, and move one improvement into production.
- 3
Days 61 to 90
Turn learning into momentum
Measure the result, document reusable patterns, identify the next constraint, and take durable ownership of a product area rather than leaving behind a one-off concept.
Why a product company now
Independence gave me range. A great team can give that range more scale.
Building independently taught me to take responsibility for the whole outcome. I learned to research without a research department, make decisions without perfect information, build without waiting for handoffs, and stay accountable after launch.
What I want next is density: stronger specialist peers, deeper product data, a meaningful domain to own, and the chance to improve a product people rely on every day. I am not looking to leave building behind. I am looking for a place where the work can become sharper and reach further.
Strong role fit
- Senior Product Designer
- Product Design Engineer
- Senior Interaction Designer
- Hands-on Product Design Lead
- AI Product and Experience Designer
Best in a senior individual contributor or hands-on lead role with access to users, engineers, product data, and the consequences of design decisions.
One useful conversation
Tell me the product problem your team cannot solve with another polished mockup.
I will tell you how I would investigate it, where I would start, and what evidence I would need before making the experience look simple.