Software Engineer

& Product Designer

People reach out to me for exceptional design work, especially when it comes to translating those designs into code with meticulous precision.

Works

Unexpected Italy mobile app interface showcasing authentic places across Italy

Unexpected Italy supports and promotes local communities and businesses whilst discovering Italy's most unexpected people and places.

2024 - Present

Dreamind dream journal and mental health mobile app interface

Dreamind helps you improve self awareness and mental health through your dreams.

2018 - 2023

Dreamind app icon

Dreamind Icon

2018 - 2023

Notable app icon

Notable Icon

2023

Frames digital art investment marketplace mobile app interface

Frames is an app that evolves the art market, giving everybody the possibility to invest on digitized works of authorship.

2021 - 2023

Homely DIY tool rental mobile app interface

Homely is a concept app that allows people to rent DIY tools. Users can pick up and return tools from designated locations using a QR code.

2021

Ability accessibility barrier reporting mobile app interface

Ability allows users to report architectural barriers by taking photos and submitting them with AI recognition. Users can categorize, edit, and add notes to their reports, helping to monitor and address accessibility issues in their municipality.

2020 - 2021

About Me

I'm Marco, a Software Engineer and Product Designer who loves coding and designing beautiful stuff that solves real market needs.

I'm passionate about technology and design, and I enjoy hiking and traveling. I'm always cheerful and ready to face every obstacle with great tenacity. While I was studying computer science at technical high school, I continued to practice redesigning my favorite apps and posting the final results on Dribbble every day.

Quick Reply mobile interaction concept

I have been posting concepts on Dribbble since I was 14 years old. The “Text quick response” one went rapidly viral. After this episode, I connected with talented designers who contributed to my personal growth. Within just a few months, this innovative concept was adopted by all major mobile operating systems.

Experiences

Freelancer

Unexpected Italy was created in response to overtourism, with the goal of highlighting authentic and lesser-known places across Italy. When I joined the project, the app was little more than a non-functional prototype. I built the iOS and Android app from scratch and turned it into a stable and growing platform, now used by over 30k people.

After refining the initial design to release the first version and validate the product, I led a complete redesign and relaunch. Together with the team, we gathered feedback and rethought every aspect of the experience. I redesigned and expanded the interface, introduced new features, improved its structure and usability, and optimized its overall performance. The result is a cohesive and carefully crafted product, designed to feel truly native and meet the needs of its users.

I also built Mosaico Alchemy, an open-source Python toolkit and the first Robotic Manipulation Pack, which provides ready-to-use pipelines for importing public robotics datasets into the Mosaico Data Platform. I researched heterogeneous robotic manipulation datasets and developed a system that maps different source formats to the same ontology, making the data accessible through one consistent semantic model. Its extensible architecture allows new datasets and use cases to be added through dedicated plugins and adapters.

Spods Studio

I designed and developed Dreamind, a Flutter app based on Clean Architecture and BLoC, reaching the Top 5 in the Italian App Store's 'Health and Fitness' category.

I designed and developed the first MVP of Frames, an NFT marketplace for fractional ownership of cultural assets, including the investor pitch. I also delivered commissioned digital and brand projects, including websites, business cards, wine labels and a C# Windows quotation tool for a luxury furniture company.

Dribbble

I have been posting concepts on Dribbble since I was 14 years old. The "Text quick response" one went rapidly viral. After this episode, I connected with talented designers who contributed to my personal growth. Within just a few months, this innovative concept was adopted by all major mobile operating systems.

Caffeina | Ideas Never Sleep

For family reasons, I turned down an internship offer from Caffeina when I was 15. Tiziano Tassi and Henry Sichel later made me a new offer, allowing me to join their design team through a school-work internship program. I was immediately integrated into the team and treated as a full team member, despite my young age. I worked on the design of the new SMEG website and on a service design site that Caffeina intended to use internally.

Discover my resume

Honors & Awards

Top 30 Free Apps in the App Store

Issued by Apple

Unexpected Italy broke into the Top 30 of the overall free apps chart on the Italian App Store, and ranked among the Top 10 in the 'Travel' category.

Associated with Unexpected Italy

Aug 2024

Top 5 Health and Fitness Apps in the App Store

Issued by Apple

Dreamind made it into the Top 5 in the App Store's 'Health and Fitness' category and also into the Top 150 of the general Italian national ranking of free apps.

Associated with Dreamind

May 2023

Airport Design Awards 2020

Issued by Airport

The Airport Design Awards celebrate TestFlight applications and developers who have inspired with their unique and joyful designs.

Associated with Dreamind

Dec 2020

Top 50 Italian User Interface Designers

Issued by Bending Spoons

Designflows is the first Italian mobile UI design competition.

Mar 2019

Top 365 Awesome Designer 2015

Issued by WILD

365 awesome designers is a project by WILD, where they post one designer each day for one year.

May 2015

My Workspace

My desk and monitor setup
MacBook and model car on my desk
Headphones beside my workspace
A detail of my desk setup
My desktop computer build

Let's work together now