Matt Rose
What’s up? Thanks for stopping by. I’m currently the Director of UX and Culture at HiDef, focusing on onboarding and retaining players — I’m most curious about how next gen players uncover and immerse themselves in community and culture within the realm of games.
About
With over a decade in the design realm, I've been directing and crafting experiences on and off screens. To put it simply, I'm a problem solver. My passion lies in connecting with people and collaborating 🙌🏾, and I firmly believe that inclusivity is the key to creating top-notch, well-rounded experiences.
In my previous role at Slate Digital, I played a pivotal part in guiding their approach towards a younger demographic and revamping their branding, user interface, and retention strategies. That experience was a turning point that got me hooked on all things user experience. Prior to that, I was flexing my graphic design chops with respected agencies and notable names like Alicia Keys and Nayyriah Waheed.
I do all of this to kickstart conversations — about art, social justice, politics, efficiency, you name it. Life's all about experiences, and I measure both my days and designs by the quality of those experiences.
Looking forward to crafting some awesome narratives together! Just say hey
Roles
Dir. UX & Culture
Consultant / Designer
UI & UX Consultant
Graphic Designer
Director, Creative & Experience
Graphic & Web Designer
Production Designer
Design Intern
What Colleagues Have Said
Chris Cleary
Analyst, Microsoft
Rose brings a rare and infectious positive approach to every challenge he takes on. His knowledge and breadth of being able to understand user experiences and player behaviors continue to impress me on a daily basis. There's no challenge that he hasn't been able to overcome and has been a great addition to the team.
Fabrice Gabriel
CTO, Slate Digital
Matt's global thinking about branding, the creative process and the UI/UX design process has brought a lot to the company. What is particularly striking is his ability to mix innovative ideas and a strong visual identity. His background in music has brought a lot in terms of UX with a new approach on some well known problems on the market, which I suspect would be the same for him outside of a music related field as well.
Thanos Kazakos
Senior Product Manager, Ingram Micro
When working with Rose at Slate Digital, I was immediately impressed by his knowledge, attitude, talent, creativity and direction. He knows how to translate a business' vision to emotion, culture, brand identity, innovation and overall coolness. His ability to think outside the box, come up with dozens of ideas that evoke a feeling and reel it in to the company's scope was something I learned from him and will take with me as an invaluable lesson. His attention to detail, passion for process and innovation and ever expanding expertise will benefit any company he chooses to work with!
Todd Bailey
Senior Generalist Designer, Blind Squirrel Games
Matt Rose is one of my favorite people I've worked with, someone who could put a smile on my face, and someone I looked forward to working with every day. He's smart, talented, easy to get along with, and added tremendous creative value to everything we worked on together. He understands how to get the best out of a UI discussion, how to motivate people, and he's always willing to get in and learn about new things. In fact, I think one of Matt's greatest strengths is his desire to learn about areas and disciplines that are new to him. He asks well thought out questions and doesn't make assumptions without facts, which is refreshing in an industry where too often others assume they know how to do everyone else's job. I highly recommend Matt for any position you can find, because he will be a huge value to any team.
Michelle Hung
Director of Art & Content, HiDef
I had the privilege of working alongside Rose, who was an incredible resource to our small game production team. He is a multifaceted individual who brought a fresh perspective to every task he tackled, with his expertise ranging from Game and UX Design to Audio Production as well as Director of Culture. As Director of Culture, Rose taught our team about relevant topics in society and their impact on our target audience, the content that we were creating, and the changing world in which we were looking to publish. This helped us create more informed and impactful content that would better resonate with our audience. Rose is always in a great mood and willing to go above and beyond to push a project to completion, even if it involves going outside of his comfort zone and/or skillset to get the job done. He is a truly impressive individual and a wonderful team player, willing to learn from all disciplines and pick up tasks that otherwise would've fallen by the wayside. His contributions were invaluable to our team's success, and his diverse range of skills and talents made him an exceptional asset. I consider myself lucky to have worked so closely with Rose, and I strongly believe that any team would be fortunate to have him on board. I would love to have the opportunity to work alongside him again in the future!
A Little More
Books
The Happiness Trap - Russ Harris
The Creative Act - Rick Rubin
Welcoming the Unwelcomed - Pema Chodron
Learning
UX Refresher Course - Google
Webflow University
Adventure
Summer 2023: Barichara, Colombia
Fall 2023: Cuenca, Ecuador
Passion Projects
Music: Matte Black Album
StartUps: Applay, 33 Agency