I’m Danie
I design products the way I direct film
reading the room,
cutting what doesn’t serve the story,
and building toward one clear experience for the person on the other end.
about me
I spent years working as a filmmaker before I ever wrote a line of Swift — reading a room, building a narrative, making dozens of small decisions that land as one clear feeling for the audience.
Rewind further and the roots go deeper: I started coding in the 90s, just curious how things worked under the hood, then studied engineering at the University of Michigan. I left engineering for filmmaking — but the two were never as separate as they looked.
Between film work and what came next, I led a creative team of five-plus designers at Rocket Mortgage. That's where I learned design leadership isn't about having the best idea in the room — it's building the conditions for the best idea to surface, get challenged, and get built.
In 2023, I taught myself Swift and earned a seat at the Apple Developer Academy at Michigan State.
Year One, I shipped ConvoJo — an iOS app, concept to App Store — and represented my cohort at graduation, including a meeting with Apple's CEO.
Year Two, I was selected for the Academy's Renaissance program: migrated a production database, wrote Swift front-end code, earned two FileMaker certifications.
Filmmaker, engineer, design lead, developer — every version of that is one practice now
ConvoJo
Published iOS App
Role
UX Research, Lead Coder
outcome
Chosen for VIP tour with Apple
Pilot User testing with MSU
Donor CRM
Client work
Role
Designer, UX Research
Strategy
Conducted User Interviews
Compare existing solution
Ronishanell.com
Client work
Role
Designer
Social Media Manager
Strategy
Improved User Experience
Ticket purchases and showcasing work