# Aisha Sheikh > Fractional Design Leader ✨ Product, Design, Experience ✨ Agentic AI + XR Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/aishasheikh ✨ I’m a Product Experience and Visual Design leader with 13+ years of experience across digital, physical, and immersive platforms—7 years leading digital products, and 6 years in experience design, education, and storytelling. My background spans AI, XR/AR/VR, developer tools, and education, with deep experience in product strategy, UX systems, design operations, and team building. I’ve worked with corporates, startups, and institutions to deliver both MVPs and scaled products that are both visionary and grounded in real user needs. ✨ Highlights: • Led an 18-designer department to deliver the largest cross-reality experience for Expo Dubai 2020 • UX Architect of an award-winning app named TIME’s Best Innovation of 2022 • Supported clients like GitHub, IDEO.org, KPMG, and Google through fractional product design leadership, UX strategy, and systems thinking ⸻ ✨ Now: I work with enterprise clients and startups in the San Francisco Bay Area and remotely as a Fractional Design Leader and Player-Coach, helping establish product design teams, UX systems, and internal enablement programs. I’m especially excited about opportunities to design and scale AI-powered products, enhance productivity, and build a human-centered strategy and products with excellent craft and taste. ⸻ ✨ Let’s Connect: 💻 www.aishasheikh.com 📬 DM me or email aisha@aishasheikh.com ⸻ ✨ Key skills: UX & Product Design: UX Strategy · Product Design for AI · Interaction Design · Information Architecture · Design Systems · Service Design · Journey Mapping · Wireframing · Prototyping Visual & Brand Design: Visual Design · Creative Direction · Presentation Design · Branding Systems · UI Patterns · Internal Communication Design · Figma Systems Setup Design Leadership & Ops: DesignOps · Team Management · Hiring & Mentorship · Design Culture · Cross-Functional Collaboration · Stakeholder Alignment · Scalable Internal Tools · Product Roadmaps · OKRs User Research & Testing: User Interviews · Usability Testing · Heuristic Evaluation · A/B Testing · Surveys · Analytics · CSAT · KPI Analysis · Contextual Inquiry · Market Research Emerging Tech Patterns: Agentic AI UX Patterns · Prompt Design & Feedback Loops · XR Interaction Models · Spatial UI Design · Multimodal Workflows · Cross-Reality Design Systems Tools & Platforms: Figma · Adobe CC · Miro · Unity · Unreal Engine · JIRA · Confluence · Notion · Airtable · Asana · Hotjar · Google Analytics · GitHub · Monday.com · Trello · Seismic · Articulate Rise & Storyline ## Work Experience ### Fractional Chief Design Officer @ Stealth AI Startup Jan 2025 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area Building. Data, AI, Platform. ### Founder & Fractional Design Leader @ Simplexity Labs Jan 2016 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area & Remote I founded Simplexity Labs to help fast-moving companies building in agentic AI and XR scale their impact through intuitive product design, human-centered strategy, and clear internal communication systems. I also support companies in building or maturing their design teams and product design rituals. Many of the teams I work with face one or more of the following: • They need to build their MVP, alpha, or beta release • Their product is evolving rapidly, but the user experience is lagging • Internal communication is fragmented across functions • Their team is growing, but design systems and workflows haven’t kept pace • They need a design leader who can plug in quickly and balance strategy with execution As a fractional design leader, I partner with CEOs, product, engineering, marketing, and operations to bring clarity to complex challenges—bridging the gap between vision and execution during moments of transition or growth. My work spans UX strategy, design systems, and visual communication—whether I’m leading a product redesign, building enablement tools, or designing brand-aligned materials that drive adoption and trust. Roles I’ve filled through Simplexity Labs: Fractional Chief Design Officer / CXO · Interim Design Lead · Senior Product Designer (UX) · Fractional Head of Design · Brand Designer · UX Consultant · Presentation & Communication Designer · Enablement Strategist Client examples: GitHub (Microsoft), Stealth Startup ;), IDEO.org, KPMG, Google, Simon Fraser University Notable projects: GitHub Revenue Enablement, IDEO.org–UNICEF HCD Training (see Featured section) Industries: Developer tools, agentic AI, XR, education, revenue enablement, enterprise platforms If you’re scaling or building a product, onboarding design teams, or untangling messy internal systems, I’d love to help design a clear path forward. ### Interim Sr. Design Lead @ GitHub Jan 2024 – Jan 2025 Brought in as an interim hands-on design leader to support GitHub’s Revenue Organization during a team transition, I led end-to-end design efforts across Revenue Enablement (Sales Learning & Development), Customer Success, Developer Experience (DevX). My role spanned both visual design and UX strategy, with a focus on improving internal alignment, communication clarity, and tool adoption across a globally distributed team. Key contributions included: 1. Design and delivery of GitHub’s FY25 Revenue Kick-Off (RKO) materials—including pitch decks, playbooks, and workshop content—impacting 1,300+ team members and reinforcing GitHub’s new sales motions and platform narrative. 2. Designed and implemented scalable internal communication systems, including branded templates for presentations, onboarding materials, and video content—adopted across multiple revenue-facing teams. 3. Drove UX strategy for the Seismic enablement rollout, creating onboarding flows, interactive roadmaps, and templated content structures that reduced internal silos and improved content discoverability. 4. Collaborated with Head of Design, Brand Studio, Comms, and RevOps to align visual identity, streamline design ops, and ensure consistency across internal tools and messaging. My impact was both strategic and tactical—helping the org transition smoothly while leaving behind a scalable foundation for internal design systems, cross-functional enablement, and branded communications. I was happy to be called back by Event Planning Org for more design opportunities. ### User Experience (UX) Architect @ Magnopus Jan 2021 – Jan 2023 | San Francisco Bay Area , Los Angeles An innovative design and product studio, Magnopus excels in XR (VR/AR), working with esteemed clients including Disney, Pixar, and Sony Music. • Leading UX for ‘Connected Spaces Platform’ piloting UX architecture for TIME’s 2022 Most Innovative Platform, enabling effortless AR and cross-reality creation. • Spearheaded user experience workflow for 150 professionals across 10 departments from 0 to 1 with Beta releases of web and iOS platforms.
 • Ensured the successful onboarding of initial users and gathered crucial feedback for ongoing product enhancement. • Established a robust user research practice, enabling comprehensive usability tests and consistent insight collection. ### Managing Design Lead @ Magnopus Jan 2020 – Jan 2021 | San Francisco Bay Area • Managed a diverse design department of 18, reporting to the CEO, leading Design Operations and running company-wide Human-Centered Design workshops that enhanced design thinking capabilities. • Product Design & Experience Lead for end-to-end design team of 10 with global team of 125+ for award-winning Expo2020 Dubai Xplorer App, driving engagement of 100M digital attendees. •Successfully built the Design Operations from the ground up, prioritizing design process, team coordination, and tool utilization. • Led a cross-functional team towards a vision and strategy to then transform high-resolution Figma prototypes to Unity and finally into deployable Android and iOS applications, marking a crucial step in the project's success and ensuring a seamless and engaging user experience for millions of users worldwide. ### Sr. Product Designer & Researcher @ Mach49 Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco Bay Area • Partnering with 'Global 1000' firms to foster innovation and build new ventures • Led product design process for Global 1000 firms, from conception to MVP, training cross-functional teams about lean human-centered design practices, resulting $1.4M in seed funding, launching 3 startups.
 • Delivered UX/UI prototypes within 12 weeks, conducted 278 customer interviews, transformed insights into 56 validated prototypes, and designed the MVP designs to address users' core pain points. ### Sr. Designer & Innovation Strategist @ Stanford ChangeLabs Jan 2016 – Jan 2018 | Stanford, CA Stanford ChangeLabs, A design and strategy unit within H-STAR Institute with a mission to empower leaders, public and private entities to achieve impact. • Ran innovation and human-centered design trainings for a $34 Billion energy company with C-level and managing client relationships.
 • Co-wrote and designed a comprehensive 150-page guide, with innovation tools and frameworks for innovation training such as design thinking, systems thinking and platform thinking, laying the groundwork for the System Acupuncture® innovation approach. ### Design Instructor & Learning Designer @ The Nueva School Jan 2015 – Jan 2017 | San Mateo, California The Nueva School is a K-12 frontrunner, with 1000 students and 150 staff, nationally recognized for its emphasis on design thinking. • Designed curriculum and delivered seven novel courses in design and entrepreneurship, reaching 250 students. Teaching design thinking, architecture, visual design, branding, and design for social good. • Instructed 200 educators across the U.S. in Design Thinking techniques through the Design Thinking Institute, and partnered with Stanford d.School, bolstering the national adoption and esteem of design thinking in academic spheres. ### SU Ventures Incubator @ Singularity University Jan 2017 – Jan 2017 | NASA Ames Research Center 6-week Incubator with SU Ventures to develop business plan and prepare for launch and capital raise. Spun out of Singularity University's Incubator, our company "Thriver" focuses on the future of work and learning, providing independent workers a platform with products to adapt to a changing work climate. ### Global Solutions Program Fellowship @ Singularity University Jan 2017 – Jan 2017 | NASA Ames Research Center Selected as 1 of 90 innovators from 40 countries as a fellow in the 2017 Global Solutions Program. Program sponsored by Google. The 8-week fellowship was part global challenges think tank, part entrepreneurship incubator located at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA. ### Design Manager @ Elefint Jan 2014 – Jan 2015 | San Francisco Bay Area Elefint Designs is a boutique studio with a 10-member team, driven by a mission to foster kindness and connection via exceptional design encompassing diverse formats like design digital storytelling, apps, web, and more. •Managed a team of 6 diverse professionals, steering the design and development lifecycle. Delivered 5 websites, 3 motion graphic animations, 5 brand revamps, and UX/UI designs according to client goals. ### Design & Special Projects Manager @ JA Worldwide Jan 2012 – Jan 2013 | Remote At Junior Achievement Worldwide, a global NGO in 100 countries inspiring entrepreneurial education and innovation among global youth, I led a diverse team managing communications, brand, and design for 15 MENA INJAZ offices, positively impacting millions. • Built digital assets including regional website, Deloitte entrepreneurship app, and annual reports, escalating user engagement and attracting millions of visitors. • Demonstrated expertise in talent and project management, ensuring the successful completion of four significant projects aligned with JA Worldwide’s commitment to youth entrepreneurship education. Successfully published a global annual report, disseminated to over 25,000 crucial stakeholders. • Solidified high-level partnerships with the World Bank and Microsoft and drove initiatives that received $1 million in funding from Minister of Education by leading five research roundtables. ### Design Researcher @ Facility for Architectural Research in Media and Mediation (FARMM) Jan 2011 – Jan 2012 FARMM is the McGill University School of Architecture Applied Research Lab. The focus is to use technology for simulation & imaging, and fabrication infrastructure. Project: Engaging with local communities in an effort to understand technology’s role in the complex processes that shape the development of the built environment. Through the hosting of a series of interactive community forums, the project allowed local citizens to be involved in decision-making. Outcome: using architecture and facilitating workshops in the community, we connected with the city council and used our research to apply changes to how the neighborhood was zoned and resulted in maintaining public status to a building proposed for demolition. ### Experience Designer, Wayfinding @ Entro Jan 2009 – Jan 2010 | Toronto, Ontario, Canada Designing spatial experiences and wayfinding for clients such as Toronto Hospital for Sick Children, Qatar Science and Technology Park, Singapore Marina Sands Bay, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto Film Festival Center. ### Undergraduate Teaching Assistant @ OCAD University Jan 2009 – Jan 2010 | Toronto, Ontario, Canada Senior - 4th Year Graphic Design Thesis teaching assistant. ## Education ### Master of Architecture (M.Arch.) McGill University ### Bachelor of Design in Graphic Design OCAD University ### Global Solutions Program in Emerging Technologies Singularity University ### Continuing Education in Architecture Ryerson University ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/aishasheikh --- Source: https://flows.cv/aishasheikh JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/aishasheikh/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-05