Germaen Rom Nicolas

Selected Work
Strategy and Design



Redesigning Existing Systems
Across Modern Business



Parsons School of Design
Research Partners: Google, IDEO, and scenarioDNA
New York, NY




2025
11x17” Softcover pp. 63
Full copy available upon request.Digital systems have been optimized for frictionless. Prioritizing efficiency, conversion, and scale, but this has led to unintended consequences including impulsive decision-making, rising operational waste, and declining user trust.  

Through cross-industry research spanning UX, behavioral science, and systems thinking, supported by expert interviews (Google, IDEO, ScenarioDNA) and case studies, I examined where frictionless design creates value and where it fails.

The project resulted in a strategic framework that repositions intentional friction as a design and business lever, introducing targeted intervention points across value chains and user journeys, supported by measurable KPIs that move beyond speed and conversion to evaluate decision quality, comprehension, and calibrated trust.





The Forum




Parsons School of Design
Fidelity Investments
New York, NY











2026
Full render available upon request.
Fidelity faces an estimated $4.6 trillion in assets at risk as wealth transfers to a generation of beneficiaries with no meaningful relationship to the brand, and only 40% meet the engagement threshold that predicts retention at inheritance.

Through primary user research, competitive benchmarking, and economics analysis, we identified the barrier. Fidelity has never been designed for the life stage its next generation of customers is in right now.

The response was a two-part system, a redesigned app organized around life-stage milestones and Fidelity Forum, a membership-based physical space in New York City where peer relationships form around shared financial milestones and G1 and G3 meet in a structured environment designed to make the inheritance conversation feel natural, with access earned through asset thresholds rather than a fee.

Presented to Fidelity's senior leadership as a phased NYC-first go-to-market strategy, the work projects a payback period of under two years, repositioning Fidelity from a platform people are enrolled in to one the next generation chooses and stays with.



Estilo



Parsons School of Design
Abstracted Data Visualization
New York, NY






2024
5.5x8.5” Softcover pp. 21
Full copy available upon request.Estilo is a speculative data-visualization project that responds to the limitation of traditional analytics, which often flatten personal style into rigid categories.

To address this, the project adopts an observational, ethnographic approach. Over 100 data points were collected through on-site studies across Lower Manhattan, documenting variables such as dress, silhouette, perceived age, and style cues.

Rather than presenting this information through conventional charts or graphs, the data was deliberately abstracted into a zine format, challenging normative ideas of what data visualization can look like and aligning the method with the experimental nature of fashion itself. This approach allowed for a more interpretive and layered reading of the dataset, revealing subtle patterns and emerging aesthetics that might otherwise be lost in standard representation.





Vibrations



Parsons School of Design
Abstracted Data Visualization
New York, NY






2024
8.5x11” Softcover pp. 32
Full copy available upon request.Vibrations investigates the limitations of reducing creative identity to fixed tastes, challenging the assumption that distinct groups share singular musical preferences. Framed by the questions of “what do creatives listen to, who do they listen to, and why”

The project employed a mixed-method approach combining Qualtrics surveys, spectrogram analysis, and data abstraction to uncover patterns in listening behavior. Rather than visualizing the data through conventional hierarchies or rankings, the findings were translated into more interpretive forms, emphasizing relationships and emotional resonance over definitive outcomes.

The result revealed no singular artist or genre dominating the dataset; instead, it highlighted a collective openness and fluidity in preferences, suggesting that creative individuals are defined less by a fixed taste and more by their ever-changing engagement with music.


























Information

Germaen Rom Nicolas

germaen.nicolas@outlook.com
LinkedIn



Strategy and design live on opposite sides within most firms. The interesting work happens when you bring them together. That is the space I have always gravitated toward: taking complex, ambiguous problems and finding the opportunity inside them, whether that means building an analytical framework, designing a narrative, or both at the same time.

I am drawn to problems where the answer is not yet obvious and the path forward requires equal parts analysis and imagination.

Let’s connect.





2026 Education

Parsons School of Design
(BBA) Strategic Design and Management
(Minor) Economics
2026


Experience

NBCUniversal
Intern, Sponsorships Strategy
New York, NY
2026

Fidelity Investments
Partner, Thesis
New York, NY
2026

McKinsey & Company
Forward Program
New York, NY
2025



Skills

SQL
R
Tableau
PowerBI
Excel
Jamovi

Figma
Affinity
Illustrator
Premier Pro
InDesign
Photoshop
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