Hi, I’m Matthew.
Trust is built in a thousand small moments. Most of my work is designing them.
American Express
I led research and design for virtual cards in One AP. Admins were emailing card numbers to suppliers. What we built instead became the core of the product.
Drafter
I designed Drafter end to end. It turns CAD models into production-ready engineering drawings. Engineers sign what it makes, so every screen has to earn their trust.
The Drafter newsletter
I write and design every issue, which goes out under our CEO’s name. Practical mechanical engineering, once a month.
140.6 miles
Swim 2.4 miles, bike 112, run 26.2. I just like endurance training. That’s me with family and friends at the finish.
Writing
I wrote four essays about how I work.
Show people what to check Surfacing what’s worth checking, without making people redo the work
Whose feedback should shape the roadmap A four-tier test for weighing feedback by who it comes from
Onboard by hand until it stops teaching you Do onboarding by hand first, and know when to stop
Make room for work nobody assigned How open Fridays turned into a retention fix
Drafter Toolbox
I designed and built Drafter’s everyday engineering tools, from tolerance stack-up calculators to AI drawing review.
Drawing Redliner
I designed and built this AI reviewer. It marks up a drawing’s GD&T and manufacturability issues, each pinned to its spot on the sheet.
Books I recommend
Shadow Type Steven Heller and Louise Fili
Nudge Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein
Benjamin Franklin Walter Isaacson
The Name of the Wind Patrick Rothfuss
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality Eliezer Yudkowsky
The Sherlock Holmes stories Arthur Conan Doyle
The Hercule Poirot novels Agatha Christie
The Robert Langdon novels Dan Brown
Ceramics
A face planter with an air plant for hair, and this speckled vase. I made both.
Not public yet
I’m designing something new at Drafter that isn’t public yet. If you have the password, it’s here. If not, I’d be glad to walk you through it.
Tools I use
Pare
An IDE for product teams that I’m building in my own time. Its agents report what they did, with a screenshot to prove it.
If someone deletes a project,
let them undo it
If someone deletes a project, let them undo it
Matthew Curtin
I’m a product designer. I’ve designed for mechanical engineers at Drafter and finance teams at American Express. I design in code.
Selected work
Writing
- Show people what to checkSurfacing what’s worth checking, without making people redo the work
- Whose feedback should shape the roadmapA four-tier test for weighing feedback by who it comes from
- Onboard by hand until it stops teaching youDo onboarding by hand first, and know when to stop
- Make room for work nobody assignedHow open Fridays turned into a retention fix