HOWDY!

I'm Gunthar — a technology & media professional working at the intersection of research, design, and development.

20+ YEARS AT Sonic Solutions · YouTube · Zynga · CircleUp · Zipongo · DroneDeploy · Imgix

EDUCATION M.S., Georgia Institute of Technology · B.A., Pomona College

Gunthar smiling in rain gear and a backpack, standing in a high-altitude páramo grassland in Ecuador

Approach

AREAS OF FOCUS

With over two decades of experience, I bring a wide range of capabilities to bear across product strategy, management, research and design. My focus on leading edge technologies has led to being a co-author on multiple patents.

Product

Driving innovative product vision, strategy and execution in pursuit of organization objectives.

Research

Conducting research that informs product definition, validates direction, and demonstrates impact.

Design

Practicing human-centric design, ensuring technology is accessible and facilitates user goals.

Team

Building effective, growth-oriented product organizations from the ground up.

PRINCIPLES

I endeavor to be a collaborative, energetic, and inclusive leader and colleague, invested in my team's and organization's success. I practice a "player/coach" approach, always excited to roll up my sleeves and start building alongside my team.

Globally Oriented Mission Driven Research Informed Intuitively Inspired Constantly Curious Diversity Embracing

Experience

TECHNOLOGY FOR CONSERVATION

Nature Tech

Technical Consulting, Advising and Field Operations · 2021–2026

Independent technical consulting, advising, and field operations supporting reality-capture and conservation-finance work across Ecuador's Chocó-Andino cloud forest region.

See detailsClose details

INDUSTRY

Nature Tech

HIGHLIGHTS

Advising Fundación Maquipucuna on reality capture technologies, conducting drone mapping of remote forest areas, developing a drone program, technical capacity building, process and program management, and more.

Serving on the steering committee of the Biodiversity Finance Innovation Alliance and helping drive its efforts to develop new forms of conservation financing.

Collaboratively planning and facilitating community workshops on ground truthing with the Nature Tech Collective.

Training the team at Fundación Futuro on drone mapping techniques.

Flying remote areas of the Chocó-Andino cloud forest for the Bellavista Reserve to help land protection efforts.

Advising Collaborative Earth teams developing AI tools to facilitate conservation research and documentation.

Consulting with project developer Thryve.earth on product design and user experience during a data portal redesign.

PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS

DOCUMENTS & LINKS

Reality Capture for Conservation: Maquipucuna (blog) ↗ Nature Tech at the Maquipucuna Reserve (PDF case study) ↗ Reality Capture for Conservation: Fundación Futuro (blog) ↗

IMAGE PROCESSING AT SCALE

Imgix

Head of Product · Special Projects Consultant · 2022–2025

Imgix is a pioneer in the management, optimization, and delivery of media via its global CDN and advanced internal technology.

See detailsClose details

INDUSTRY

Media Infrastructure

HIGHLIGHTS

Defined an AI-forward product strategy in collaboration with CEO and team leadership, resulting in enhanced platform core strengths and market positioning.

Spearheaded development of key new features including AI Image-to-Video, advanced video capabilities, enterprise org management tools, and rolled out a new Credits-based revenue model.

Ran Special Projects including development of sales-leads-generation-focused pageweight analysis tools, launch of the Japanese website, research and definition of user and ideal customer profiles, and more.

SITE REALITY CAPTURE

DroneDeploy

Director of Product Design and User Experience · 2019–2022

DroneDeploy is an industry-leading SaaS platform providing site reality capture and analytic insights by leveraging drones, ground scanning, and AI / ML technologies.

See detailsClose details

INDUSTRY

Enterprise SaaS

HIGHLIGHTS

Served as the first Director-level design leader, joining as the organization focused on growing its enterprise customer base and scaling ARR.

Launched a new iOS app for ground-based reality capture, opening a new market segment.

Spearheaded the creation of a comprehensive design system (web, mobile, geo, 3D), significantly improving UI quality and development speed.

Scaled the design team by establishing robust recruiting, hiring, and leveling processes.

DOCUMENTS & LINKS

Case Study: Floors and Interiors Product Design (PDF · Google Drive) ↗

HEALTHY EATING MADE SIMPLE

Zipongo (now Foodsmart)

Director of Design & User Experience · 2017–2018

Zipongo (now Foodsmart) provides software tools and services built on the working premise that food is medicine.

See detailsClose details

INDUSTRY

Health & Wellness

HIGHLIGHTS

Directed the complete redesign of the mobile product, successfully implementing a “mobile first” strategy that codified UX and feature sets across all product lines.

Architected the UX and service design for “Food Scripts,” a key business initiative targeting health systems.

EMPOWERING ENTREPRENEURS

CircleUp

Director of User Experience · 2013–2017

CircleUp's mission was to provide capital and resources to promising companies in the consumer packaged goods space.

See detailsClose details

INDUSTRY

Fintech

HIGHLIGHTS

Hired as the first non-engineering product employee (Employee 10); built the design practice and established UX research frameworks that were instrumental in creating the CircleUp Equity Marketplace.

Enabled 250+ CPG entrepreneurs to successfully raise over $300M in growth financing.

A PLATFORM FOR PLAY

Zynga

Franchise User Experience Director · 2011–2013

Zynga is a leader in social gaming, creating optimized gameplay experiences for millions of dedicated players.

See detailsClose details

INDUSTRY

Social Gaming

HIGHLIGHTS

Design Director and principal interactive architect for the dedicated gaming portal, www.zynga.com, which successfully scaled to 1 Million Daily Active Users (DAU) within the first six months, significantly increasing NPS and player retention.

Managed the zChannels team for Facebook promotion design and served as UX manager for 3rd party Developer Platform tools, while collaborating on the launch of Zynga's independent account and identity system connecting web and mobile games.

BROADCAST YOURSELF

YouTube

Staff User Experience Designer · 2007–2011

YouTube is the world's largest online video platform, serving billions of videos per day.

See detailsClose details

INDUSTRY

Media & Video

HIGHLIGHTS

Drove product design and UX efforts on multiple product areas during YouTube's high-growth early years, creating foundational designs for home page, upload, channel experiences, and more.

Tackled numerous industry firsts, including the first project to monetize YouTube videos and the first TV and game console implementations.

Patents: US8069414, US8468201, US9553947B2.

NEXT GEN VIDEO

Sonic Solutions

Product Manager, Program Director · 2003–2007

Sonic Solutions was a market leader in DVD and Blu-ray Disc authoring technology, powering interactive menus and next-generation disc experiences for major Hollywood studios.

See detailsClose details

INDUSTRY

Media Production

HIGHLIGHTS

Managed Scenarist, the industry-leading DVD and Blu-ray Disc authoring software suite, driving the product through the format transition from DVD to next-generation HD-DVD and Blu-ray authoring.

Directed interactive menu and InterActual DVD-ROM feature design for major studio theatrical releases, bringing synchronized script-to-screen playback and 3D foldable menu experiences to disc for the first time.

NOTABLE PRODUCTIONS

The Lord of the Rings

Harry Potter

The Matrix Trilogy

STUDIO CLIENTS

Warner Bros.

New Line

Paramount

Disney

Universal

Fox