Sealed Bid
TypeScriptFourteen managers secretly split 1,000 points across the draft slots, and one night in front of a TV decides who picks first.
Next.jsPostgresMotion
Live demoView →
Senior designer,
design leader,
always building
Always up for an interesting problem
I'm JC Zabel. Currently at Microsoft, designing AI-powered guidance across Azure, from Portal patterns to Advisor recommendations to the tools our field teams use to support customers. Before that, scaled an enterprise platform past 20M devices as the founding designer. AI-native, drawn to mission work, still shipping the software myself.
Flagship case study
Azure Advisor · Build 2026 · Private preview
A wall of recommendations → five decisions that matter.
AI-powered, agentic guidance for enterprise cloud resiliency and retirements. Turning walls of context-free recommendations into five decisions that matter. Private preview, unveiled at Microsoft Build 2026.
Read the case study →Recent projects
King's Bluff
TypeScriptChess and poker in one game: claim a poker hand to fire an effect on the board, and dare your opponent to call you a liar.
ReactGame DesignMonte Carlo Simulation
Live demoView →
CharTaker
ReactA Starfinder character manager that carries a player from a guided build through live play, starships, and shared campaigns. Built solo and shipped to the App Store.
ViteCapacitorSupabase
Live demoApp StoreGoogle PlayView →
How I lead
Grow the people
The best design orgs are built on trust and growth. I invest in 1:1s, design crits, and stretch assignments because a team that's learning is a team that delivers.
Ship over perfection
I run my teams on speed and iteration first. We ship working increments fast, then polish what matters. Momentum beats perfection.
Design the system
I think in systems, not screens. Scalable patterns, shared tokens, and reusable components mean the team moves faster and the product stays coherent as it grows.
Test what you don't know
We build confidently on what we know and test what we don't. Get it in front of users early, validate fast, and iterate. Assumptions are risks; feedback is fuel.
Working on something that matters?
I'd like to hear about it. Climate, energy, healthcare, public good. Those are the ones I lean toward, but if it's real work on a hard problem, drop me a line.
jc.zabel@gmail.com →