Amnon Freidlin: Portfolio Hub
Designing/building for 50M+ users at Microsoft. Inventor of a USPTO-filed haptic-audio framework. NY Times lauded visual design work as "covetable" for The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Creative for Marvel, Apple Arcade, & NASA. Two International Sound Awards. Microsoft Ability Award.
One of multiple concepts presented to Subset, which ended up choosing a more austere identity that I finalized.
Work for AI Foundry, GitHub Copilot, Visual Studio, among others.
More info available upon request.
Designer-builder working on multimodal interaction & agent-state UX at Microsoft CoreAI. Shipping tools that unlock new ground across Design and Engineering teams.
Visual / IA / UX design for Microsoft AI Foundry signed-out experience; CoreAI brand visual design including wordmark, typography systems; + built an interactive competitive audit tool for Microsoft's Foundry AI marketplace redesign — auditing six peer platforms across 11 UX parameters; shipped to design, PM, and enterprise stakeholders.
Built RAI Observatory + RAI Signal Flow Architecture + RAI Ecosystem Dashboard end-to-end (concept → code → delivery) for Microsoft's Responsible AI org — interactive dashboards and visualization tooling for AI governance and risk-signal communication across the AI lifecycle
AI-assisted prototyping workflows producing production-grade prototypes — Claude, Claude Code, Cursor, ChatGPT, Midjourney, GitHub Copilot; sequential code generation, gesture detection refinement, audio crossfade algorithms
MediaPipe gesture-controlled UI prototypes for Microsoft AI Foundry — dwell-based selection, three-screen agent workflow, multimodal interaction patterns
Sonic Keystrokes typing-sonification app — built end-to-end in JavaScript + Web Audio API; embedded MP3 samples, ADSR/EQ/reverb chain, global keyboard event system; 32+ iterative versions
Built interactive competitive audit tool for Microsoft's Foundry AI marketplace redesign — auditing six peer platforms across 11 UX parameters; shipped to design, PM, and enterprise stakeholders.
Immersive Web Audio API soundscapes for Foundry — multi-channel generative ambient audio system with cave stream, wind, tinkle, and dew-drop layers
Diagnosed cross-tool audio playback failure engineering couldn't reproduce — RIFF/hex-level analysis isolated a malformed metadata block; unblocked a critical product sound
Inventor · USPTO-filed · Assigned to Microsoft Technology Licensing
Concept · Visual Design · Information Design · Editorial Design · Diagrammatic Illustration
Bespoke graphics and poster for Haptic Design Principles and Documentation. Created the key art used to evangelize Microsoft's Haptic Design Guidelines.
Invented a framework for Microsoft that tunes haptic vibrations to musical pitch — enabling pitch-aligned haptic patterns, or "haptic melodies," that can harmonize with audio cues and remain consistent across different hardware. Replaces arbitrary noise with designed, musical feedback;
This technology to inform upcoming Microsoft products. Applied at Microsoft for Sensory Mixer (multi-sensory accessibility product, Microsoft Ability Award for Innovating for the Future, 2024).
Patent and internal documentation details available on request, subject to NDA where applicable.
External Portfolio Index Tool. Browse All Project Descriptions by Category
An interactive index of project descriptions across all three lanes — filterable by category, client, and discipline. Descriptions are live and searchable; viewable deliverable files coming online progressively. For specific access, reach out.
The New York Times lauded design work as "covetable" for The Metropolitan Museum of Art — project design lead for major Met Live Arts campaigns featuring Patti Smith, John Zorn, Steve Reich, Laurie Anderson, Diane von Furstenberg, Michael Kors, New York Philharmonic, Alexander Wang, Rosanne Cash
Selected (interactive) hero project → Sonic Keystrokes: browser instrument (Best viewed on desktop)
Turns typing into shaped, customizable sound.
Designed, built, and rendered in code — with a dimensional 3D treatment of the live tool as the hero image. Web Audio API · single-file HTML. More info on request.
Front-End Code · Information Architecture · Information Design · UI Design · Interaction Design · Data Visualization · AI Workflows
Built RAI Observatory + RAI Signal Flow Architecture + RAI Ecosystem Dashboard end-to-end (concept → code → delivery) for Microsoft's CoreAI & Responsible AI org — interactive dashboards and visualization tooling for AI governance and risk-signal communication across the AI lifecycle
Built with — HTML · CSS · JavaScript · Custom Sankey path rendering · No dependencies
Interactive build available on request.
Interactive tool auditing five peer platforms across 11 UX parameters; shipped to design, PM, and enterprise stakeholders.
More info available upon request.
→ Experience Sonic Keystrokes here (Best viewed on desktop)
A fully interactive browser-based instrument that turns typing into shaped, customizable sound.
Designed and built entirely in code, then given a dimensional 3D treatment in a separate render layer. The live tool, staged as a hero object — playable build available on request.
Drag-and-drop your own WAV/MP3 samples across multiple voice slots — alongside a bank of embedded sounds that run fully offline — then sculpt the response in real time with multi-band EQ, reverb, pitch, and ADSR. Per-stroke humanization nudges pitch, timing, and gain on every press so repeated keys never sound machine-gunned, while automatic loudness normalization levels every sample on load.
Built with — Web Audio API · single-file HTML, no dependencies
40+ page platform strategy document outlining a gaming-record label crossover venture — authoring musical identity, record label architecture, brand, artist roster, recording contract audit, market audit, and competitive analysis of brand-music partnerships.
Viewable upon request.
Client / Org / Partner: Apple Arcade / Bit Fry Game Studios, NBA, WNBA, NHL, NFL, MLB
Subset (Interchangeable Bicycle Pedals) label.
www.instagram.com/subsetnyc
Photo by Stephen Botta
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The New York Times lauded design work as "covetable" for The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Working across tech, marketplaces, cultural institutions, luxury fashion
Visual / IA / UX design for Microsoft AI Foundry signed-out experience; CoreAI brand visual design including wordmark, typography systems; + built an interactive competitive audit tool for Microsoft's Foundry AI marketplace redesign — auditing six peer platforms across 11 UX parameters; shipped to design, PM, and enterprise stakeholders.
Met Museum: Project design lead for major Met Live Arts campaigns featuring Patti Smith, John Zorn, Steve Reich, Laurie Anderson, Diane von Furstenberg, Michael Kors, New York Philharmonic, Alexander Wang, Rosanne Cash
Brand architecture, pitch deck, and visual identity for Gaming/Music Hybrid Platform for Ultimate Rivals: The Court — Apple Arcade × NBA / WNBA / NFL / NHL / MLB / USWNT launch title; album art direction for Orange Milk Records soundtrack release
UX, UI, and visual design for Council on Foreign Relations — end-user-facing digital products; user interviews and prototyped redesign of internal data visualization software; National Geographic microsite partnership
SUBSET (NYC interchangeable bicycle pedal company) — full visual identity build including custom typography, wordmark, apparel design, and collateral system
Production design across major Met exhibitions: Heavenly Bodies, Visitors to Versailles, Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman & Designer, Edvard Munch
Work featured in ACM SIGACCESS 2023 publication on UX for blind developers — co-design work with Megan Rogge (Microsoft) & JooYoung Seo (University of Illinois)
Graduate-level UX coursework: MICA Foundations of UX Design (2018); Designation Design Thinking Workshop (2018); ongoing self-directed work in user experience for web design, usability testing, interaction design, and accessibility (2016–Present)
→ Experience Sonic Keystrokes here (Best viewed on desktop)
A fully interactive browser-based instrument that turns typing into shaped, customizable sound.
Designed and built entirely in code, then given a dimensional 3D treatment in a separate render layer. The live tool, staged as a hero object — playable build available on request.
Drag-and-drop your own WAV/MP3 samples across multiple voice slots — alongside a bank of embedded sounds that run fully offline — then sculpt the response in real time with multi-band EQ, reverb, pitch, and ADSR. Per-stroke humanization nudges pitch, timing, and gain on every press so repeated keys never sound machine-gunned, while automatic loudness normalization levels every sample on load.
Built with — Web Audio API · single-file HTML, no dependencies
Inventor · USPTO-filed · Assigned to Microsoft Technology Licensing
Concept · Visual Design · Information Design · Editorial Design · Diagrammatic Illustration
Bespoke graphics and poster for Haptic Design Principles and Documentation. Created the key art used to evangelize Microsoft's Haptic Design Guidelines.
Invented a framework for Microsoft that tunes haptic vibrations to musical pitch — enabling pitch-aligned haptic patterns, or "haptic melodies," that can harmonize with audio cues and remain consistent across different hardware. Replaces arbitrary noise with designed, musical feedback;
This technology to inform upcoming Microsoft products. Applied at Microsoft for Sensory Mixer (multi-sensory accessibility product, Microsoft Ability Award for Innovating for the Future, 2024).
Patent and internal documentation details available on request, subject to NDA where applicable.
Work for AI Foundry, GitHub Copilot, Visual Studio, among others.
More info available upon request.
Designer-builder working on multimodal interaction & agent-state UX at Microsoft CoreAI. Shipping tools that unlock new ground across Design and Engineering teams.
Visual / IA / UX design for Microsoft AI Foundry signed-out experience; CoreAI brand visual design including wordmark, typography systems; + built an interactive competitive audit tool for Microsoft's Foundry AI marketplace redesign — auditing six peer platforms across 11 UX parameters; shipped to design, PM, and enterprise stakeholders.
Built RAI Observatory + RAI Signal Flow Architecture + RAI Ecosystem Dashboard end-to-end (concept → code → delivery) for Microsoft's Responsible AI org — interactive dashboards and visualization tooling for AI governance and risk-signal communication across the AI lifecycle
AI-assisted prototyping workflows producing production-grade prototypes — Claude, Claude Code, Cursor, ChatGPT, Midjourney, GitHub Copilot; sequential code generation, gesture detection refinement, audio crossfade algorithms
MediaPipe gesture-controlled UI prototypes for Microsoft AI Foundry — dwell-based selection, three-screen agent workflow, multimodal interaction patterns
Sonic Keystrokes typing-sonification app — built end-to-end in JavaScript + Web Audio API; embedded MP3 samples, ADSR/EQ/reverb chain, global keyboard event system; 32+ iterative versions
Built interactive competitive audit tool for Microsoft's Foundry AI marketplace redesign — auditing six peer platforms across 11 UX parameters; shipped to design, PM, and enterprise stakeholders.
Immersive Web Audio API soundscapes for Foundry — multi-channel generative ambient audio system with cave stream, wind, tinkle, and dew-drop layers
Diagnosed cross-tool audio playback failure engineering couldn't reproduce — RIFF/hex-level analysis isolated a malformed metadata block; unblocked a critical product sound
External Portfolio Index Tool. Browse All Project Descriptions by Category
An interactive index of project descriptions across all three lanes — filterable by category, client, and discipline. Descriptions are live and searchable; viewable deliverable files coming online progressively. For specific access, reach out.
Front-End Code · Information Architecture · Information Design · UI Design · Interaction Design · Data Visualization · AI Workflows
Built RAI Observatory + RAI Signal Flow Architecture + RAI Ecosystem Dashboard end-to-end (concept → code → delivery) for Microsoft's CoreAI & Responsible AI org — interactive dashboards and visualization tooling for AI governance and risk-signal communication across the AI lifecycle
Built with — HTML · CSS · JavaScript · Custom Sankey path rendering · No dependencies
Interactive build available on request.
ASSETS 2023 · Microsoft + University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · Peer-Reviewed Publication
Audio UX · Sonic Identity · Sound Design · Accessibility Research · UX Research · Co-Design
Audio UX work featured in the published Collaboration Towards Accessible Development Environment for Blind Programmers at the ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2023). Collaboration with Megan Rogge (Microsoft) and JooYoung Seo (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign).
Designed and conducted upstream UX research informing the work — user interviews, surveys, and multi-disability co-design with blind and low-vision developers. Translated research into audio cues, alerts, and sonic identity patterns shipped in Visual Studio Code for blind and low-vision programmers worldwide.
Read the paper at the ACM Digital Library
Interactive tool auditing five peer platforms across 11 UX parameters; shipped to design, PM, and enterprise stakeholders.
More info available upon request.
Microsoft · GitHub Copilot Voice (Hey, GitHub) · Visual Studio Family · 2022
Audio UX · Sound Design · Sonic Identity · Interaction Sound · AI Interface Sound Design · Prototyping · Coding
First‑ever shipped Copilot sounds in Microsoft, and part of my initiative to introduce “microvariations” in Microsoft’s developer‑centric products — subtle alternations in repeated UX sounds that make interactions feel more natural, less mechanical, and more like the physics of the real world. Created the audio‑UX flow, prototyped interactions, and designed the sound set for GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code. Collaborated closely with engineering to implement the microvariation playback logic, ensuring the system could alternate between variants dynamically. Work also included light coding for prototyping and behavior tuning.
Shipped via GitHub Copilot Voice (formerly Hey, GitHub) and Visual Studio Family. In collaboration with Microsoft D3 Studios — Marie Robbins and Gino Scarpino.
Covered by The Verge and TechCrunch
When a critical product sound (WAV file) failed to play correctly across audio toolchains — a failure engineering teams couldn't reproduce or trace — I performed RIFF- and hex-level analysis of the file's binary structure to isolate the cause: a malformed metadata block introduced by an undocumented Pro Tools metadata-container discrepancy, with implications for industry-standard WAV interoperability. Identifying the malformed block unblocked engineering, restored the product sound, and surfaced a previously-undocumented behavior with broader implications for the audio toolchain. We learned that Pro Tools tends to export significantly more metadata than other industry standard audio software (e.g. Logic). Some applications are confused by these additional chunks.
When a critical product sound failed to play correctly across audio toolchains — a failure engineering teams couldn't reproduce or trace — I performed RIFF- and hex-level analysis of the file's binary structure to isolate the cause: a malformed metadata block introduced by an undocumented Pro Tools metadata-container discrepancy, with implications for industry-standard WAV interoperability. Identifying the malformed block unblocked engineering, restored the product sound, and surfaced a previously-undocumented behavior with broader implications for the audio toolchain. We learned that Pro Tools tends to export significantly more metadata than other industry standard audio software (e.g. Logic). Some applications are confused by these additional chunks.
When a critical product sound (WAV) failed to play correctly across audio toolchains — a failure engineering teams couldn't reproduce or trace — I performed RIFF- and hex-level analysis of the file's binary structure to isolate the cause: a malformed metadata block introduced by an undocumented Pro Tools metadata-container discrepancy, with implications for industry-standard WAV interoperability. Identifying the malformed block unblocked engineering, restored the product sound, and surfaced a previously-undocumented behavior with broader implications for the audio toolchain. We learned that Pro Tools tends to export significantly more metadata than other industry standard audio software (e.g. Logic). Some applications are confused by these additional chunks.
Microsoft · CoreAI / Developer Division · Design Documentation
Haptic Design · Framework Design · Design Systems · Information · Documentation ·
A design system establishing the process, principles, vocabulary, and design patterns for haptic feedback across Microsoft's developer-centric products. Authored to establish and evangelize a haptic design language across product teams — companion documentation to the USPTO-filed haptic-audio framework.
Designed and written from the ground up: principles, terminology pairings (audio ↔ haptic), conceptual diagrams, bespoke illustrations, and a unified visual system.
Applied at Microsoft for Sensory Mixer (multi-sensory accessibility product, Microsoft Ability Award for Innovating for the Future, 2024).
More information available upon request.
Part of the broader STEAM education initiative tied to the film's release: Marvel Studios · Microsoft (Azure Space) · NASA · Redwire Space · International Space Station National Laboratory.
Music inspired by Paula Abdul, Timbaland, Britney Spears, and New Jack Swing — riffing on Star-Lord's 90s/00s music in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (where the Zune, a Microsoft music player, carried his evolving library). Compositions written and implemented into MakeCode Arcade's in-game music player.
→ Read about it on Fast Company
→ Read about MakeCode Arcade's music player activity.
→ Kiki's Corner (Medium) — Save the Galaxy with MakeCode Arcade
→ Play the Galaxy tutorial: aka.ms/galaxy
→ Experience MakeCode Arcade's Music player activity: aka.ms/ZunePrototype
→ “Microsoft, Marvel, and NASA team up to 3D print a Zune in space.” Florida Today
Part of the Paramount × Microsoft partnership tied to the motion picture’s theatrical release.
Contrapuntal music composed in response to the D&D film score; source music arranged for MakeCode Arcade's interactive adventure-game format. Compositions implemented into the game's audio system. Includes a secret burger MIDI easter egg.
→ Kiki's Corner (Medium) —Create an Adventure
→ Play on MakeCode Arcade

Original sound design, music, UI, and visual design
Sound, non-linear composition, UI, and interaction design inspired by city life and the refuge found in nature. The work explores the ability to toggle between sonic environments (Oceanic vs Woodlands) and sonic functions (sound design and music). Channeling immersive, wellness and meditative energy, it draws from eco and ambient-inspired genres.
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Designer-builder working on multimodal interaction & agent-state UX at Microsoft CoreAI. Shipping tools that unlock new ground across Design and Engineering teams.
Built RAI Observatory + RAI Signal Flow Architecture + RAI Ecosystem Dashboard end-to-end (concept → code → delivery) for Microsoft's Responsible AI org — interactive dashboards and visualization tooling for AI governance and risk-signal communication across the AI lifecycle
AI-assisted prototyping workflows producing production-grade prototypes — Claude, Claude Code, Cursor, ChatGPT, Midjourney, GitHub Copilot; sequential code generation, gesture detection refinement, audio crossfade algorithms
MediaPipe gesture-controlled UI prototypes for Microsoft AI Foundry — dwell-based selection, three-screen agent workflow, multimodal interaction patterns
Sonic Keystrokes typing-sonification app — built end-to-end in JavaScript + Web Audio API; embedded MP3 samples, ADSR/EQ/reverb chain, global keyboard event system; 32+ iterative versions
Built interactive competitive audit tool for Microsoft's Foundry AI marketplace redesign — auditing six peer platforms across 11 UX parameters; shipped to design, PM, and enterprise stakeholders.
Immersive Web Audio API soundscapes for Foundry — multi-channel generative ambient audio system with cave stream, wind, tinkle, and dew-drop layers
Diagnosed cross-tool audio playback failure engineering couldn't reproduce — RIFF/hex-level analysis isolated a malformed metadata block; unblocked a critical product sound
Graduate-level CS coursework: Pace University Computer Science Bridge Program — Java OOP, data structures, threading, and nand2tetris-style 16-bit CPU construction (9 credits, all A's, 2019); Brooklyn Research — Machines Learning Movement (2017); Stanford University Online — CS Fundamentals (Nick Parlante, 2017)

• UI Sounds (00:00-00:12)
• Audio Logos (00:12-00:24)
• Game Trailer Sound & Music (00:24-00:41)
• Audio Logos (00:41-00:54)
• Live Action Spot Audio + Gaming Visual
(00:54-01:24)
Detailed credits here.

Excerpt 1
00:00 — Microsoft brand track (bespoke composition)
00:07 — Original music
00:15 — VS Code for Education spot (composition + sound design)
00:21 — AI Show sonic signature
00:26 — .NET Conf sonic signature
00:29 — Audio UX sounds, Visual Studio family (interaction sound for 50M+ users)
00:37 — Original music
Motion/video by Lisa Cai & Marie Robbins
Two International Sound Awards: Audio Branding • Better Sound — Audio Marketing.
Orca Security Audio Identity.
Full sonic identity for cloud security platform including spatial-mixed audio logo, modular brand/podcast music toolbox, and UI sounds. Helmed by Sonic Minds and in collaboration with BBC composer David Reynaud.

Inventor · USPTO-filed · Assigned to Microsoft Technology Licensing
Concept · Visual Design · Information Design · Editorial Design · Diagrammatic Illustration
Bespoke graphics and poster for Haptic Design Principles and Documentation. Created the key art used to evangelize Microsoft's Haptic Design Guidelines.
Invented a framework for Microsoft that tunes haptic vibrations to musical pitch — enabling pitch-aligned haptic patterns, or "haptic melodies," that can harmonize with audio cues and remain consistent across different hardware. Replaces arbitrary noise with designed, musical feedback;
This technology to inform upcoming Microsoft products. Applied at Microsoft for Sensory Mixer (multi-sensory accessibility product, Microsoft Ability Award for Innovating for the Future, 2024).
Patent and internal documentation details available on request, subject to NDA where applicable.
Part of the broader STEAM education initiative tied to the film's release: Marvel Studios · Microsoft (Azure Space) · NASA · Redwire Space · International Space Station National Laboratory.
Music inspired by Paula Abdul, Timbaland, Britney Spears, and New Jack Swing — riffing on Star-Lord's 90s/00s music in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (where the Zune, a Microsoft music player, carried his evolving library). Compositions written and implemented into MakeCode Arcade's in-game music player.
→ Read about it on Fast Company
→ Read about MakeCode Arcade's music player activity.
→ Kiki's Corner (Medium) — Save the Galaxy with MakeCode Arcade
→ Play the Galaxy tutorial: aka.ms/galaxy
→ Experience MakeCode Arcade's Music player activity: aka.ms/ZunePrototype
→ “Microsoft, Marvel, and NASA team up to 3D print a Zune in space.” Florida Today
Part of the Paramount × Microsoft partnership tied to the motion picture’s theatrical release.
Contrapuntal music composed in response to the D&D film score; source music arranged for MakeCode Arcade's interactive adventure-game format. Compositions implemented into the game's audio system. Includes a secret burger MIDI easter egg.
→ Kiki's Corner (Medium) —Create an Adventure
→ Play on MakeCode Arcade
-
Audio UX for 50M+ daily users at Microsoft. Inventor of a USPTO-filed haptic-audio framework. Two International Sound Awards.
Audio UX for 50M+ daily users across Microsoft's Visual Studio family (VS Code, Visual Studio, Copilot Chat) — sonic identity, adaptive audio, accessibility audio UX, audio implementation
Shipped first-ever Copilot sounds at Microsoft via GitHub Copilot in VS Code, (+ "Hey, GitHub" — covered by The Verge and TechCrunch)
Inventor of USPTO-filed haptic-audio framework (March 2025, assigned to Microsoft Technology Licensing) — musically-tuned cross-device haptic vibration system; to inform upcoming Surface products; received Microsoft Ability Award for Sensory Mixer
Musical-Artist-in-Residence of the Ultimate Rivals game franchise (Bit Fry × Apple Arcade × NBA / WNBA / NFL / NHL / MLB / USWNT) — Lead Composer, Sound Designer, Music Supervisor; designed the Modular Aux Sound Design Library and stinger system with Audio Lead Ryan Buckley (Bioshock, Lord of the Rings Online); led external audio team of 10; Orange Milk Records soundtrack release; Polygon, NPR Music, international press
Audio Director, Nordstrom × John Waters × Fran Drescher "The Blizz" — 5-story flagship interactive holiday takeover; led 12-person Megabloom Audio team across 13 installations; HoloSonics ultrasonic integration
Marvel x NASA x Microsoft (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol III) + Microsoft × Paramount (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) — original music + sound design + implementation for MakeCode Arcade STEAM education experiences
Two International Sound Awards (Audio Branding + Better Sound — Audio Marketing) for Orca Security sonic identity via Sonic Minds Copenhagen — collaboration with composer David Reynaud
Audio UX work featured in ACM SIGACCESS 2023 publication on audio UX for blind developers — co-design work with Megan Rogge (Microsoft) and JooYoung Seo (University of Illinois)
Lead Composer & Sound Designer at Barneys New York (2011–2019) — music, sound design, and voiceover direction for 15 large-scale productions; brand collaborations with Louise Bourgeois, and brands Prada, Comme des Garçons, Christian Louboutin, Maison Margiela, Lexus
Authored 'Leveraging Universal Human Speech Patterns for Interaction Sound Design' — grounded in Fernald's research on the melodic patterns of speech mothers use with babies (with parallels across species); UX sound design framework at Microsoft
Feature film score for Bad Match — co-composed with Brian McOmber (former Dirty Projectors drummer; composer of Krisha, It Comes at Night); via Singapore's mm2 Entertainment & USA's BoulderLight Picture
→Browse the full archive
An interactive index of project descriptions across all three lanes — filterable by category, client, and discipline. Descriptions are live and searchable; viewable deliverable files coming online progressively. For specific access, reach out.
