Job Manager
I kept the familiar spreadsheet grid, bringing vehicles, time, and qualified operators into one schedule.
Francisco Guzman
Senior Staff Product Designer
I design new products and systems, from startups to Instagram scale.
Today I lead product design for Instagram Shopping. I prototype quickly in code and take ideas through to production. Previously, I was Nuro’s first designer and Instacart’s second.
The team had a self-driving vehicle, but no service around it. We had to figure out what people would use it for and how the fleet would run.
I tested demand for a grocery service, set priorities for fleet tools, and designed their first versions. I also worked on the customer app and vehicle interface.
Selected work
Remote vehicle startup
One operator could remotely start multiple vehicles and see every readiness check or blocker.
Grocery service pilot
I tested service ideas with ads. Fast grocery delivery drew interest, so we piloted a service before the vehicle could do the whole job.
Field research
You cross in front of a car because you caught the driver’s eye. With no driver, the vehicle had to send that signal itself.
Instagram Shopping02
Design lead2020–2023, 2025–now
Making shopping work inside an app people don’t open to shop.
People come to Instagram to be entertained. Shopping had to help them act on something they liked without getting in the way.
I set direction across teams and design core parts of the product. I’m also designing how shopping connects Instagram with Muse, Meta’s personal AI agent.
Selected work
Visual Search
Category-level suggestions are specific enough to explore, without promising an exact product match the system couldn’t reliably deliver.
Business AI
If no one was available, AI could answer product questions. The chat identified itself as AI before the first reply.
Muse shopping
I’m designing how shopping connects Instagram with Muse: what the agent can do for you, and what you should still review.
Product tags in Reels
Creators could tag products from across the web and choose when each card appeared.
Seller onboarding
Sellers could set up a shop in Instagram, on the web, or through Shopify. Each path connected the same catalog and payment system to Instagram checkout.
Meta Verified · Instagram03
Design lead2023–2025
What would people actually pay Instagram for?
Instagram had never sold a subscription. We had to figure out what creators and businesses would pay for, and what should stay free.
I owned the Instagram experience and pitched and designed its core benefits.
Live nowMeta Verified ↗
Selected work
Links in Reels
Links became the top reason subscribers upgraded to a higher tier, without turning every reel into an ad.
Original credit
Detection ran for everyone. Subscribers could request human review; confirmed copies carried the original creator’s name.
Notability
Once anyone could pay for a badge, users needed a way to tell a well-known account from a lookalike. We tried several approaches and ended up putting follower count next to the name in search.
Shared accounts
Big accounts had been sharing passwords. Now owners could add people, see what each person did, and keep messages and stories private unless they chose otherwise. Another designer led the detailed design. I set direction and reviewed the work.
Links on profile
Link-in-bio services turned one profile link into a page of links. Instagram’s version became one of the top two reasons people signed up.
Shoppers and drivers were running the operation on mobile web when I joined.
I focused on getting orders from the store to someone’s door. We built the first native app for shoppers, drivers, and cashiers, along with tools to apply, schedule shifts, and get paid.
Selected work
Shopper app
When an item was out, customer history and previously accepted substitutions became replacement suggestions.
In-store fieldwork
The counter prototype carried the customer’s exact request into the store instead of forcing it into a standard quantity field.
Replacements
Preferences already in the order let the shopper keep moving when an item was out of stock and the customer didn’t answer.
End of the order
Picking was only half the job. Each bag was barcoded and its location recorded so a different person could deliver it.
Shifts and pay
Shoppers used the same app to set availability, pick up shifts, and see delivery pay and tips each week.
The face of Instacart
I owned the early shopper experience and worked shifts myself to understand the job. The photo from that fieldwork became the shopper signup site and ran in recruiting ads for nearly two years.
About
Usually making something.
I’m Dominican, grew up in New Jersey, and now live in Brooklyn. I was the kid taking computers apart and posting poems online.
I’ve always been curious about how things work. These days I make software, write, and take street photographs. I still like moving between the technical and artistic sides.
Career
2013–nowAt Instagram, I’ve led teams of up to seven, hired four designers, and coached three to promotion.
| 2020–now | Senior Staff Product Designer · IC | |
| Nuro | 2018–2019 | First product designer |
| Instacart | 2015–2018 | Second product designer |
| Prismatic | 2013–2014 | Interaction Designer |
| Stanford UniversityEducation | MS Symbolic SystemsHuman-Computer InteractionBS Management Science & Engineering |
View role history
| 2025–now | IC |
|---|---|
| 2024–2025 | IC + Manager |
| 2023–2024 | IC |
| 2021–2023 | Manager |
| 2020 | IC |