Matías Duarte is a Chilean computer interface designer and

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

's Vice President of Design. Prior to his current role, he was the Director of Android User Experience. Android 3.0 "Honeycomb" was the first release with major elements of his design influence. Prior to moving to Google to work on Android, Duarte had similar roles in Palm’s

webOS webOS, also known as LG webOS and previously known as Open webOS, HP webOS and Palm webOS, is a Linux kernel-based multitasking operating system for smart devices such as smart TVs that has also been used as a mobile operating system. Initially ...

, the

Helio Ocean The Helio Ocean was a dual slider Internet-enabled multimedia wireless mobile device sold by mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) wireless carrier Helio, and manufactured by Pantech Curitel. A distinctive design feature of the Ocean was i ...

and the

Danger Hiptop The Danger Hiptop, also re-branded as the T-Mobile Sidekick, Mobiflip and Sharp Jump is a GPRS/EDGE/UMTS smartphone that was produced by Danger, Inc. from 2002 to 2010. The Hiptop software was designed by Danger, Inc., which was located in Palo ...

(T-Mobile Sidekick).

Career

Duarte started his career at Psycroft where he cowrote

xBill ''XBill'' is an arcade style game for the X Window System. The game features a bespectacled character known as "Bill" (a spoof of Bill Gates). The goal is to prevent Bill's legions of clones from installing "Wingdows", a virus "cleverly designed ...

with Brian Wellington. He left Psycroft in 1996 at which time he moved to Hyper Image Productions where he was the lead designer on ''

Phase Zero ''Phase Zero'' is an unreleased Action game, action-Shooter game, shooter video game that was in development by Hyper Image Productions and originally planned to be published by Atari Corporation on a scheduled September 1995 release date exclusi ...

'', an unreleased

shooter game Shooter video games or shooters are a subgenre of action video games where the focus is almost entirely on the defeat of the character's enemies using the weapons given to the player. Usually these weapons are firearms or some other long-range ...

for the

Atari Jaguar The Atari Jaguar is a home video game console developed by Atari Corporation and released in North America in November 1993. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it competed with the 16-bit Sega Genesis, the Super NES and the ...

. In 1997 he left Hyper Image Productions and moved to MagicArts where he filled the role of Vice President of Design until 1999. In March 2000 Duarte took a role at

Danger Danger is a lack of safety and may refer to: Places * Danger Cave, an archaeological site in Utah * Danger Island, Great Chagos Bank, Indian Ocean * Danger Island, alternate name of Pukapuka Atoll in the Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean * Danger Isla ...

as the Director of Design where his team won the 2002 Wired 'Industrial Designer' Rave Award for their work in designing the Hiptop/SideKick. In August 2005 he took up a role at Helio, as Vice President Experience Design and left shortly before the company was acquired by

Virgin Mobile Virgin Mobile is a wireless communications brand used by seven independent brand-licensees worldwide. Virgin Mobile branded wireless communications services are available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Kuwait, Saudi Ara ...

. In September 2007 Duarte was hired as the Vice President at

Palm, Inc. Palm, Inc. was an American company that specialized in manufacturing personal digital assistants (PDAs) and various other electronics. They were the designer of the PalmPilot, the first PDA successfully marketed worldwide, as well as the Treo 60 ...

to lead development of Palm’s

Human Interface and User Experience and introduced the design of webOS at the 2009

Consumer Electronics Show CES (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event typi ...

. In May 2010 Duarte was hired by

as Director for the Android User Experience working on the interface and design for Android 3.0 (AKA Honeycomb).Engadget
Exclusive interview: Google's Matias Duarte talks Honeycomb, tablets, and the future of Android
7 January 2011.

Award

* 2002 Wired Rave Award, Industrial Designer of the Year "to Matias Duarte, Joe Palmer, and Andy Johnston for their work in designing Danger's hiptop communications device."

Education

Duarte graduated from the Science, Mathematics and Computer Science Magnet Program at

Montgomery Blair High School Montgomery Blair High School (MBHS) is a public high school located in Four Corners, Maryland, United States, operated by Montgomery County Public Schools. The school's total enrollment of 3,600 makes it the largest public high school in Montgo ...

, Silver Spring, Maryland. He earned a Bachelor of Science with Honors from the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

with a B.S. in Computer Science. He took on additional concentrations of study in Fine Art and Art History, and managed the Student Art Gallery from 1993 to 1996 at the

Personal life

Duarte is married, and had a daughter in June 2008, another one in 2010.

References

External links

Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duarte, Matias 1973 births Living people People from Talca Chilean emigrants to the United States University of Maryland, College Park alumni Businesspeople in software American computer businesspeople Chilean businesspeople Chilean computer scientists Google employees Android (operating system) 21st-century American inventors