Alan Mena

Work Tools

Hi, I am Alan. As innovation lead, designer, and curious human, I test and use dozens of digital tools every week. This space is a personal curation of tools that truly make a difference in my work and life.

Think of this page as a living toolbox: practical, evolving, and made to inspire. If you know any others that should be on this list, write to hola@alan.work.

AI Tools

AI reshaped how I work in speed and scope. These are the tools I use most across creativity, analysis, and execution.

ChatGPT

Creative co-pilot for content writing, marketing copy, UX flows, strategic planning, prompts, and idea generation.

Claude

Analytical partner for spreadsheets, budgets, dashboards, structured data, and business decision support.

Google Gemini

Storytelling AI for complex image creation, scene direction, and turning short ideas into video concepts.

Midjourney

Visual exploration engine for concept art, mood boards, and rapid style iteration.

Lovable

Build software products from chat with a fast prototype-to-product workflow.

ElevenLabs

Lifelike voice generation and voice agents in multiple languages.

Wispr Flow

Fast voice dictation to speed up writing and capture ideas with less friction.

Perplexity

AI answer engine for rapid research and source-backed exploration.

Google NotebookLM

Research assistant that analyzes sources and turns complex content into clear notes.

Ollama

Run open models locally and automate workflows while keeping data private.

OpenCode

Open source coding agent for software development workflows.

Suno

AI music generator for quick drafts, creative experiments, and audio concepts.

Poe

Multi-model AI workspace to compare outputs and test different assistants.

Conceptual Thinking Tools

Some ideas are easier to sketch than explain. These tools help map messy thoughts into visual structure.

Excalidraw

Collaborative whiteboard for fast diagrams with a hand-drawn visual language.

Web Tools

Aspect Ratio Calculator (ARC)

Calculate missing values in aspect ratios for design and media workflows.

TinyPNG

Compress AVIF, WebP, PNG, and JPEG images while preserving quality.

Adobe PDF Compressor

Reduce PDF file size quickly in the browser.

Statcounter Global Stats

Usage share data for browsers, operating systems, and search engines.

Maestra YouTube Transcript Generator

Generate YouTube transcripts for analysis and content repurposing.

WebFX Lorem Ipsum Generator

Generate placeholder text in paragraphs, words, or sentences.

Ultimate List of Lorem Ipsum Generators

Curated list of alternative placeholder text generators.

Podcast & Newsletters

My go-to sources for ideas, trends, and perspective across innovation, technology, and business.

Whitepaper.mx

Business and economic analysis by Rene Lankenau.

Espresso Matutino

Morning digest of the most relevant technology and business headlines.

Cracks

Conversations and stories around leadership, growth, and decision-making.

Innovation by Default

Newsletter about innovation, digital business, and technology.

uiFromMars

UX/UI and digital product learning resources in Spanish.

Stock

PresentationGO

Free templates and infographics for PowerPoint and Google Slides.

Three D Scans

Archive of free 3D scans for references and experiments.

Data Sources

Statista

Statistics portal with market, consumer, and industry datasets.

Tukan

Web app, API, and research tools for data-driven analysis.

INEGI

Official Mexican institute for statistical, geographic, and economic data.

Workshops

Gartic Phone

Online Telephone Game for team warmups and creative sessions.

Topics

Design Systems

Who is Alan Mena?

Alan Mena is a Senior Innovation Manager specializing in product design, user experience, and digital platform development.

He has contributed to large-scale digital transformation initiatives at organizations such as Televisa Digital and Walmart de Mexico y Centroamerica.

He leads human-centered initiatives that align strategy, design, and technology to build scalable products with measurable business and user impact.