David FinlaySenior Product Designer
& Creative Technologist

I design interfaces for complex, interactive systems.

I'm a senior product designer and creative technologist working across AI, interaction design, visual systems, and real-time 3D. I've spent more than 20 years designing products and experiences where the interface has to respond to changing information, user actions, and complex systems.

22+ years in design · HNTB · Rockstar Games · Orvelle Editions · PlayFi Studio

AI · Interaction · Visual Systems

Product Design

Real-Time 3D

View selected work ↓About David →

01 / Selected work

Selected work

Four projects. Each one is an interface for a system where information changes and the user needs to keep up.

01 — Generative AI Product

Orvelle Editions

A personalized publishing product built around generative content. I designed and built it end-to-end: brand identity, product UX, the interaction model, the frontend, a browser-based configurator with real-time product visualization, and the AI content pipeline behind it.

Generative systems produce variable output. The design problem is the rules — how content gets generated, presented, reviewed, proofed, and turned into a physical book that holds together visually.

Brand identity and product UX
Browser-based product configurator
Generative pipeline with visual consistency rules
Proofing and production workflow

Input →

Reader details, story choices, dedication.

Generation →

Text and scenes produced against consistency rules.

Review →

Output checked before it moves forward.

Proof →

Full book preview approved by the customer.

Production

Print, bind, ship.

02 — Real-Time Product Design

HNTB

Real-time Unreal Engine infrastructure application

Fourteen years at HNTB, with seven-plus of those years designing UI/UX for Unreal Engine applications that combined engineering, GIS, architecture, and real-time 3D. The job was how people navigate and understand infrastructure data in a live environment — not just rendering it.

Interface systems for engineering and GIS data
Navigation and visual hierarchy in real-time 3D
VR and working prototypes for executive reviews and general public usage
Sixth Street Bridge · Allegiant Stadium · BWI Terminal D

03 — AI + Real-Time Product Systems CoraFi real-time monitoring interface

A modular SaaS platform for real-time market monitoring: custom alerts, interactive charts, AI automation, and Telegram delivery. The product receives information continuously and its state never stops changing, so most of the design work is status, feedback, and deciding what deserves the user's attention.

Real-time data visualization and alerting
AI automation with human checkpoints
Chart-dense views that stay responsive
Product architecture and frontend implementation

Read the case study →

04 — Interactive Systems

Rockstar Games

Six years in AAA development. Vehicle and environment work inside hard real-time budgets: modular asset systems, visual hierarchy in dense scenes, and tool-assisted production workflows. It's where I learned to design things that respond to what the player does.

Modular vehicle and branding systems
Environmental feedback and spatial design
Real-time performance constraints
Tool-assisted production workflows

Shipped titles

Red Dead RedemptionEnvironments
Midnight Club 3: DUB EditionVehicles · Liveries
Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition RemixVehicles · Liveries
Midnight Club: Los AngelesVehicles · Liveries · Branding
Midnight Club: L.A. RemixVehicles · Liveries · Branding

02 / AI interaction

Designing AI states

An agent that talks and acts needs to show what it's doing at every turn — reasoning, calling tools, asking before it commits. Twelve states, each with its own color, motion, and exit.

Concept study — not a shipped product

ReasoningAssembling a plan

Thought becoming intent. Motion says the system is working — no fake percentages.

PerceivingReading the thread · 12 turns

The agent is listening to the whole conversation, not just the last message.

RecallingPulling prior context

Memory forming — scattered facts connecting into something usable.

Planning4 steps drafted

The plan is visible before it runs. The user can veto a step, not just the outcome.

Tool-callingCalling · calendar.create

Name the tool being used. Opaque action is where trust breaks.

DraftingStreaming reply

Streaming output with a visible cursor. The user can stop it mid-sentence.

VerifyingChecking output

The agent reviews its own work before handing it over — and shows that it did.

ClarifyingNeeds one input

The system stops instead of guessing. One question, not a form.

Awaiting approvalConfirm before booking

Irreversible actions get an explicit gate. The heavier frame is deliberate.

ExecutingStep 3 of 5 · running

Steps are enumerated so the user can follow along and interrupt.

IdleListening

The quietest state on the screen. Presence without demand.

RecoveredDone · 2nd attempt

Failure with a visible retry reads differently than silent failure.

03 / Visual work

Visual work

A short selection, separate from the case studies. More in Experiments.

**Real-time 3D**BWI Terminal D. UE5 VR review build.

**Infrastructure**Transit design review, Unreal Engine.

**Product visualization**Studio lighting, real-time materials.

**Vehicles**Render craft carried over from game production.

All experiments →

04 / Process

How I work

Understand

Define the user, system, constraints, and information that needs to move through the interface.

Model

Map the states, hierarchy, interactions, and system behavior.

Prototype

Test the interaction before investing in production.

Build

Work closely with engineering and, when useful, implement directly.

Refine

Use feedback and observation to improve the system.

05 / Contact

Tell me what
you're building.

Taking on product, interactive, and creative technology projects. Replies within 48 hours.

Start a conversation ↗