Shiz Kobara

Experience

• 

  Hewlett-Packard

  Jun 1981 - Jan 2007

  Managed the industrial design of flat panel plasma and LCD digital TVs for Hewlett Packard. Worked closely with offshore engineering and manufacturing partner companies to drive industrial design and user experience into product reality. Managed industrial design and user experience across all Hewlett Packard businesses worldwide. Influenced corporate wide product design strategies in user experience, product styling, form, branding, finishes, color, and product user interface design. Developed new design style language called "Design for Brand" and later evolved into "HP One Voice" for all consumer and commercial products company wide still in use today. Designed UNIX based 3-D visual design and user behavior of HP- Open Software Foundation (OSF) Motif user interface widgets and user environment. OSF Motif became the first commercially successful defacto 3-dimensional visual interface for Unix computing systems worldwide still in use today. Industrial design coordinator working across all computer businesses worldwide. Developed coordinated industrial design system called ROSEBUD across all product lines working with engineers, industrial designers, and marketing teams. Result was consistent look and feel across all computer and enterprise systems.

  • Industrial Design Program Manager

    Jan 2004 - Jan 2007

  • Global Design Director

    Jan 1999 - Jan 2004

  • Senior User Interaction Designer

    Jan 1986 - Jan 1999

  • Industrial Designer

    Jun 1981 - Mar 1986
• 

  Intuit

  Jan 2007 - Jan 2008

  XD Group Manager

  Managed senior user experience (UX) designers and researchers in a matrixed management environment to develop new innovations for Quicken and Quickbooks financial software products. Innovations at that time were then new concepts like POS and banking connectivity.

• 

  Academy of Art University

  Jan 2009 - Apr 2017

  MFA Adjunct Instructor User Experience and Industrial Design

  MFA adjunct instructor in user experience design, industrial design, design management, and product development skills for MFA graduate industrial design students. Sponsored design projects include work with Samsung, Nissan, NASA, Savioke Relay Robots, HP, Toyota Research, Monster Audio, LUNAR. I teach our grad students the realities of product development, manufacturing processes, and user experience in their designs.

• 

  LUNAR

  Dec 2011 - Feb 2015

  Business development for technology markets in user experience, industrial design and engineering. Developed new client relationships and estimated project quotes for technology and user interface/interaction based projects. Helped to spread LUNAR capabilities by leading user interaction talks and workshops in the U.S. and Asia. Developed expansion of User Experience Design at Lunar Design; San Francisco. Focused on expanding Lunar's already capable user experience design capabilities into product focused integration of user interaction.

  • Director; Technology Business Development

    Sept 2012 - Feb 2015

  • Director; User Experience

    Dec 2011 - Aug 2012
• 

  Savioke

  Jan 2014 - Apr 2017

  Advisor; Design, UI and Manufacturing Strategy

  Senior design advisor to Savioke design/engineering team in matters of User experience and Industrial design focused on intuitive user interaction and robust design for manufacturing strategies.

• 

  Cosmo

  May 2017 - Jul 2018

  Director, Business Development

  Expanded global business with current and new clients that required innovative product solutions integrating soft materials formed onto hard shell with embedded electronics. Clients included top global technology companies.

• 

  Delve

  Nov 2018 - Jan 2023

  Developed new business opportunities for Delve focused on medical, high tech, consumer, and professional product development. With my experience in user experience, industrial design, product manufacturing, and design thinking/education I help clients envision their complete product development journey. As a business development & design professional I am able to visually articulate the benefits of our services to help our clients reach their business goals. Design Concepts (renamed Delve in 2019) was a full service creative consultancy providing industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, user experience, customer research, and design strategy to help clients envision new product ideas. Design Concepts is headquartered in Madison, WI with vibrant new studios in San Francisco and Boston to further serve the west and east coasts and international markets.

  • Director of Client Relations

    Aug 2019 - Jan 2023

  • Director, Client Relations

    Nov 2018 - Jul 2019
• 

  RKS Design

  Feb 2023 - Sept 2024

  VP of Partnerships

  Responsible for generating new business, managing and developing client relationships, and ensuring that RKS delivers positive results for clients. Help clients envision their product roadmap using RKS Psycho-Aesthetics design strategies. Actively refining the firm's practice functions for optimum performance. Continuously expanding RKS Design, Research, Engineering and UX product development services with new and ongoing clients. I help clients to envision their new ideas into feasible product solutions for market and business success. My deep experience in industrial design, user experience design, and manufacturing engineering enables our clients to envision the entire journey of developing their product idea into business reality. Show less