Hello

Hello

Hello

[Intro]

I'm Chad Nicol, a Utah (USA) based designer, working as the founding designer at Contextual, a Bay Area start‑up quietly fixing e‑commerce’s data woes.

Occasional time set aside for the right side project.

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Selected Work

Full case studies available upon request

Contextual

Making a highly technical product understandable to e-commerce merchants

Contextual is a VC backed Silicon Valley startup that created a first‑party data and server‑side tracking platform for mid-size Shopify merchants - technology previously only available to large enterprise businesses with custom built in-house engineering teams.

The brief was straightforward enough: take Contextual from 0 to 1, setting the core interaction patterns and visual system while making a decidedly technical server‑side data product feel clear and approachable for non‑technical e‑commerce marketers.

[ROLE]

Product Designer (Founding)

[TEAM]

Founding CEO, 1 Technical Founder, 1 Engineer, Self

[Service]

Product Design, Brand Identity

[Year]

2025

Making a highly technical product understandable to e-commerce merchants

Contextual is a VC backed Silicon Valley startup that created a first‑party data and server‑side tracking platform for Shopify merchants.

The brief was straightforward enough: take Contextual from 0 to 1, setting the core interaction patterns and visual system while making a decidedly technical server‑side data product feel clear and approachable for non‑technical e‑commerce marketers.

Andavo

A New Flight Path for Business Travel Design

Andavo is a contemporary platform rethinking how companies approach travel management. Built with both corporate admin and traveler aspects in mind, it combines a thoughtfully designed desktop experience with a seamless mobile app that keeps journeys organized and on track.

Collaborating with a UX director, 2 designers and a senior team of engineers, I led the creation of a new design system that redefined the brand’s visual language and bridged the gap between design and development. The result is a cohesive, elegant interface that delivers consistency and sophistication.

[ROLE]

Senior Product Designer

[TEAM]

UX Director, 2 Senior Product Designers, 3 Senior Engineers, Self

[Service]

Product Design, Design Systems, UI Design

[Year]

2023

A New Flight Path for Business Travel Design

Andavo is a contemporary platform rethinking how companies approach travel management. Built with both corporate teams and frequent travellers in mind, it combines a thoughtfully designed desktop experience with a seamless mobile app that keeps journeys organised and on track.

Collaborating with a UX director and a team of engineers, I led the creation of a new design system that redefined the brand’s visual language and bridged the gap between design and development. The result is a cohesive, elegant interface that delivers consistency and quiet sophistication at every touchpoint.

1-800 Contacts

A tenacious focus on the customer experience

1-800 Contacts is a leading online contact lens retailer recognized for its customer-first approach and innovations in telemedicine.

As the sole product designer on a mobile-focused team, I led the iterative redesign and optimization of various aspects of the app, including their innovative in-app vision exam, insurance benefit verification feature, and the app's checkout flow. Through user testing sessions and data-informed UX improvements, mobile conversion rates increased by 7%, and boosted telemedicine vision exam completions by 11%. I developed a scalable design system that streamlined handoffs with engineering—all while supporting the app’s consistent 5‑star App Store rating.

[ROLE]

Product Designer

[TEAM]

Product Manager, iOS Engineer, Android Engineer, Self

[Service]

UX, UI, User Testing, User Interviews, Mobile Design

[Year]

2020

A tenacious focus on the customer experience

1-800 Contacts is a leading online contact lens retailer recognized for its customer-first approach and innovations in telemedicine.

As the sole product designer on a mobile-focused team, I led the iterative redesign and optimization of various aspects of the app, including their innovative in-app vision exam, insurance benefit verification tool, and the app's checkout flow. Through user testing sessions and data-informed UX improvements, I helped increase mobile conversion rates by 7%, boost telemedicine vision exam completions by 11%, and develop a scalable design system that streamlined handoffs with engineering—all while supporting the app’s consistent 5‑star App Store rating.