Hey, I am Daniel.

I am a UX and Product specialist currently focused on helping people sleep better @ Somnee.

Prev. Salesforce, Apple (Beats by Dre), Snapchat, HP, Matey (Neo ‘24), Promaxo, Lekko (Rippling)

Accomplishments

  • 1st UI/UX hire at Lekko, acquired by Rippling

  • 1st UX hire at Somnee (raised 20M+ from Khosla, NBA, others), upped user fluency by 850%

  • Dual-degree from UC Berkeley

  • 1600 Chess Elo in 4 months (on the grind to 2000)

  • USA Top-20 in Clash Royale in 1.5 years (56 million users)

  • All A’s in a 24-unit semester

UX Case Studies

How I got clinical engineers to stop using their phones.

Increasing patient comfort and procedure efficiency.

Deciphering post-pandemic shifts in the headphone market

Human factors design strategies to differentiate in a saturated industry.

Design work

About me

I’m Daniel Kim, a Bay Area native and UC Berkeley graduate with a dual degree in Cognitive Science and Data Science, where I focused on neurotechnology and human-computer interaction. I work at the intersection of neurotechnology, UX, and product, with experiences ranging from improving sleep-focused brain-computer interfaces at Somnee to redesigning clinical imaging workflows at Promaxo. My goal is to design products that are intuitive, evidence-based, and valuable to the average neurotech consumer.

Outside of work, I train MMA, play chess (1600 elo), follow professional sports (especially NFL), skateboard, and write “The Neurotech Napkin”, a newsletter read by execs from Neuralink, Synchron, Blackrock Neurotech, and more. I am also constantly working on little side projects. Currently, I am building Cognify, a passive cognitive fatigue tracker that lives on your desktop.

Education

University of California, Berkeley

Bachelor of Arts in Cognitive Science, Minor in Data Science

Graduated: December 2024

  • Completed interdisciplinary coursework in cognitive science, combining studies in psychology, linguistics, computer science, philosophy, and neuroscience.

  • Gained practical knowledge in data analysis methods and techniques through the Data Science minor program.

  • Active member of the UC Berkeley Kickboxing Club, participating in training sessions and club events.

  • Engaged in UX@Berkeley club activities, exploring the intersection of cognitive science and user experience design.

University of Washington

Certificate in Computational Neuroscience

Get in touch.

dzk503@berkeley.edu