Ryan Hoback

Innovative product designer with 15+ years experience of creating and refining experiences that solve ambiguous problems that evoke emotional responses.

AI-NativeSpatial ComputingEnterpriseConsumer

Projects

A glowing particle landscape reflected on a still lagoon at dusk
Recent Work | 2022-2025

Personalized Health & Wellness

Prototyping how AI could provide meaningful, personalized health and wellness support safely.

Siri’s glowing orb beside a Messages window in a living room on visionOS
Apple | 2026

Siri AI on visionOS

I collaborated on defining the multimodal interaction model for how people interact with Siri on Vision Pro.

Two avatars with name tags at a blue holographic table in Microsoft Mesh, with a tools panel and a sketch floating between them
Microsoft Mixed Reality | 2020-2021

Microsoft Mesh

Bringing Mesh’s collaboration tools into a coherent experience through information architecture and interaction design.

A person working with spatial windows and a Mac display in a shared workspace
Recent Work | 2026

Next-Gen Productivity

Exploring spatial productivity with AI at the core of the operating system.

A 3D render of the word Omni pressed into a pale teal surface
HTC Vive | 2017-2018

Omni Design System

A design system to bring consistency across Vive products and reduce the need to build VR interfaces from scratch.

A MacBook showing the Coronado Tip Close skill in ChatGPT at a café.
Sure Studio | 2026

AI Productivity Skills

A proposal for AI-assisted tip allocation across café locations, with human review and adjustment.

The top of the proposed product microsite homepage, with navigation, a hero image and product introduction
Sure Studio | 2026

Specialist Product Microsites

A proposal for focused product microsites combining targeted shopping with deeper product education.

A person using the career strategy app’s home view on a large iPad Pro with a keyboard folio at a desk
Personal Project | 2025-2026

GenUI - Career Strategy App

Software that grows around how you work, explored through a personal native AI tool.

White Vive logo and wordmark on a pale blue and white sculpted surface
HTC Vive | 2019-2020

Vive Reality System

A shipped B2B experience for managing device fleets and enterprise software tools.

The RedPen brand mark, a circled pen and wordmark on red
Startup | 2015-2016

RedPen

News organized around evolving events, with multiple sources and reader contributions.

Yahoo Finance on a living-room TV: themed video playlists above a live market ticker, with someone cooking in the kitchen behind
Ratio | 2014

Yahoo Finance for Apple TV

UX and UI design for the original shipped release of Yahoo Finance on Apple TV.

Patents

Two participants share a virtual window. During repositioning, the window moves while the participants fade to reduce distraction. Two participants share a virtual window. During repositioning, the window moves while the participants fade to reduce distraction.

Published application

Devices, methods, and graphical user interfaces for displaying movement of virtual objects in a communication session

Coordinates avatars and shared content in spatial calls, reducing visual distraction as objects are repositioned.

Filed
Published

WO2024254093A1

A pointer activates an animated object, transitioning into an exercise with expanding and contracting virtual elements. A pointer activates an animated object, transitioning into an exercise with expanding and contracting virtual elements.

Patent application · pending

Methods and user interfaces for application-based transitions

Uses an animated interactive object to launch an immersive health experience, with virtual elements that change during guided exercises.

Filed
Published

US20260091194A1

A pinch gesture locks a straight pointing ray onto a target while ghosted lines show the movement being suppressed. A pinch gesture locks a straight pointing ray onto a target while ghosted lines show the movement being suppressed.

Granted patent

Method for stabilizing raycast and electronic device using the same

Locks a hand-controlled pointer during a pinch gesture, keeping the intended target steady for more accurate selection in VR.

Filed
Granted

US11810242B2

Separate articles connect through a network and become one organized event view. Separate articles connect through a network and become one organized event view.

Patent application

Event networks and event view construction and display

Connects related articles and digital content into event views, making stories easier to browse, search, and follow.

Filed
Published

US20160357872A1

About Me

I’m drawn to emerging technologies like AI and spatial computing, where the right interactions are still being figured out. I use prototypes to explore opportunities and give early ideas a clear direction. Then I help teams refine the details and take those ideas through to ship.

Let's make it happen!