hei! i'm Aino Halonen

Finnish-Latina born and raised in sunny Los Angeles. Failed astrophysicist turned product designer. I can nerd out to you in English, Suomi, Español, Française, Pусский, 日本語, and ask "are you hungry" in 한국어.

I graduated early at 16 and had the time to dive into numerous fields from astrophysics to cybersecurity to psychology to biology back to psychology, and now in my happy place within design.

A common pattern of my interests is understanding. Whether it's people, tech, or why my cats jump on my stomach to wake me up, I want to know it all.

my unique strengths

Emtech & Innovative design

End-to-End product design

Holistic design thinking

Building System Architecture

over the years

Alina LPCC 2021-2023

product designer

  • Led the full design and development of a therapist-owned mental health website on Wix Studio, focused on increasing client leads, neurodivergence accessibility, and awareness.
  • Increased annual site traffic by 348% and monthly lead inquiries from 5 to 30 through improved design, clearer messaging, and stronger SEO.

independent 2022-2024

innovation consultant

  • Led design and strategy for innovation initiatives across Biotech, Healthtech, Edtech, Agtech, AI/ML, Fintech, and Environmental Systems. Acted as solo consultant and IC design lead, guiding clients through identifying systemic gaps and redesigning infrastructure for modern use.
  • Delivered end-to-end research, system architecture, and interactive prototypes for multiple MVPs and proof-of-concepts. Three clients successfully used these to secure funding for development, validate concepts, and initiate product buildout.
  • Provided scalable design frameworks that defined how systems should function, scale, and serve diverse users equitably. Grounded each project in structured research and future-ready execution.

F.y.i 2024-2024 (Contract)

product designer

  • Supported UX for an AI-powered social platform founded by will.i.am, combining multi-agent LLM experiences, collaborative content creation, and real-time communication
  • Contributed to the design of multi-agent GenAI features, enabling users to interact with distinct AI personas for content generation, ideation, and chat-based support.
  • Restructured information architecture and backend interaction logic for content management, AI-generated content, and agent-based system workflows, increasing user efficiency by 71%.

uxd lab 2024-2025

lead product designer

  • Led E2E design for clients such as: Identinet, Fliggs, ArtTrack, Re’nud, Cool Is Dead, Green Genius Labs, and LA Climate Week. Shaped and shipped products across AI, Web3, fintech, social media, healthtech, biotech, telecom, media, e-commerce, DeFi, DiD, and normal stuff too. Helped clients secure funding, achieve go-to-market readiness, and drive adoption in their sectors.
  • Delivered MVPs, SaaS platforms, and consumer-facing sites with measurable outcomes including a 3560% traffic increase, reduced identity fraud risk, and a 71% improvement in cross-platform UX efficiency.