# A.J. A. > Principal Product Design Director | AI-First Design Leadership | Ex-Microsoft Copilot & Fluent Design, Xbox, Amazon | Co-Founded AI Startup (Acquired by MSFT) | Research to Production Code Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/aja I've shipped AI and design system work to hundreds of millions of users at Microsoft, Amazon, and Xbox, and I've built two AI companies from zero (one acquired by Microsoft). My career spans enterprise platforms, consumer products, entertainment, and gaming at scale. Today I work independently across the full product lifecycle: research, systems thinking, interaction design, rapid prototyping in code, specification, and production frontend. I build custom agentic AI workflows for design teams using large language models, generative prototyping tools, and automation pipelines that compress traditional design-to-dev handoff from months to days. I'm a heavy Claude user and build custom AI design pipelines around LLMs daily. Before the current work: five years at Microsoft as Principal Product Design Director, where I led design for AI experiences in Copilot and contributed to the Fluent Design System across Windows, Office, and Xbox. Co-founded Genee (AI scheduling, acquired by Microsoft 2016) and Brainquake (AI edtech, $2M+ in White House STEM grants). Designed early Kindle, Fire, and Alexa experiences at Amazon. Led Xbox Live UI directing a 30-person design team. VP of Product and Game Design at Gazillion (Marvel Heroes MMO). I also have deep roots in game UI design across MMO, indie, mobile, console, and VR/AR, and I produce independent films and music videos through MR Media, including building AI-powered production pipelines for studio workflows. Strong portfolio showcasing user-centric design thinking, polished UI craftsmanship, and innovative interaction paradigms. Open to Principal, Staff, and Lead Product Design roles in SF and LA, especially at AI-native companies where design-to-code pipeline matters. Remote works too. ## Work Experience ### Principal Product Design Consultant @ Scorpion Computer Services Jan 2025 – Present | San Francisco, California, United States Leading the complete UI redesign and design system buildout for a Fortune 500 company's legacy enterprise platform, migrating to a component-based React/Tailwind architecture. Replaced a fragmented legacy interface with a unified design language, component library, and living specification system spanning admin console, operational dashboards, and complex multi-role workflows. Reduced design-to-dev cycle time through agentic AI design workflows using LLMs for specification authoring, generative prototyping tools for rapid iteration, and AI-assisted code validation. ### Founder | AI-First Design Systems & Creative Pipeline Consultancy @ PsyVision Jan 2021 – Present | Los Angeles, California, United States Founded PsyVision to bridge enterprise product design and AI-driven creative workflows. Focus areas: AI-assisted design systems, production pipeline automation, and design operations for creative teams. Consult on AI-enhanced product strategy for enterprise and entertainment clients, defining interaction specifications and design system standards using modern LLM-powered prototyping toolchains. Developing an AI for UX/UI Designers course. Also operate MR Media, an independent film and music video production company (NYC/LA). ### Advisory Board | AI Native Experience Design @ Ingenimax Jan 2024 – Jan 2025 | San Francisco Bay Area Advised on design and UX architecture for natural language-driven DevOps workflows, optimizing prompt engineering, intent disambiguation, and context persistence for infrastructure management via LLM interfaces. Guided the integration of conversational UI patterns into the product, enabling users to deploy, monitor, and scale Kubernetes workloads using plain language commands, significantly reducing cognitive overhead for non-specialist users. Defined UX principles for trust, transparency, and intervention in AI-powered automation, ensuring LLM responses are actionable, auditable, and aligned with DevSecOps best practices. ### Principal Product Design Director | AI/Copilot, Fluent Design System @ Microsoft Jan 2016 – Jan 2021 | Greater Seattle Area Led design for voice-driven AI experiences in Microsoft Copilot, defining multimodal interaction patterns (screen + voice) grounded in conversational design principles and human-centered UX. Core contributor to the Fluent Design System: led the M365 iconography and brand language redesign, establishing component standards, design token architecture, and cross-platform visual consistency across Windows, Office, and Xbox. Directed executive visual storytelling for Surface, Windows, and Xbox hardware launches at flagship events including Microsoft Ignite. Won Microsoft Hackathon 2019 (Xbox Gaming For Everyone) and 2021 (Xbox Adaptive Controller), both first place. Managed cross-functional design teams spanning UX, visual, motion, and prototyping. ### Co-Founder | Director of Experience Design @ Genee Jan 2014 – Jan 2016 | San Francisco, California Co-founded AI-powered scheduling assistant. Designed the full product experience from zero: conversational UX, NLU interaction models, brand identity. Microsoft acquired Genee in 2016 and integrated capabilities into Cortana and Office 365. Pioneered "UI-less" natural language interaction patterns built on intent recognition and task orchestration across email, SMS, and enterprise messaging. These patterns were foundational to conversational UX later incorporated into Microsoft Copilot. Led UX research, conversational design, and unified brand identity development, positioning the platform for enterprise adoption that drove the acquisition. ### Principal Director of Design | Mobile Platform Redesign (iOS and SaaS) @ Firstup (formerly Dynamic Signal) Jan 2016 – Jan 2016 | San Francisco Bay Area Led the end-to-end redesign of Dynamic Signal's iOS apps for employees and administrators, architecting mobile-first UI systems that increased communication efficiency across millions of enterprise users in 21 countries. Directed a full rebrand of product and marketing assets, redefining visual identity and interaction patterns to strengthen platform adoption among 100+ Fortune 500 companies and drive global employee engagement. Partnered with engineering and product leadership to overhaul administrative workflows, integrate real-time engagement analytics, and accelerate client onboarding and activation. ### Co-Founder | Chief Product and Game Designer | AI-Enhanced EdTech Games @ Brainquake Jan 2013 – Jan 2016 | Novato, California Co-founded an adaptive learning game platform leveraging AI-driven skill assessment for K-12 education with NPR "Math Guy" Keith Devlin and Romero Games CEO John Romero. Led product, UX, and game design initiatives. Awarded multiple White House Innovation Grants totaling over $2M in funding. Shipped award-winning educational games integrating adaptive AI learning systems. Managed user research initiatives in classrooms to inform game design for mathematics learning and assessment, and teacher analytics reports. ### Principal Product Design Director, Global UX and Brand @ ProQuest Jan 2013 – Jan 2014 | Palo Alto, California, United States, Amsterdam NL Led the creative direction and development of ProQuest's unified brand and UX strategy, consolidating major properties like ebrary and EBL into a single global identity, defining core brand, UI, and accessibility principles in-house. Directed a cross-functional team of designers, developers, and business stakeholders across North America and Amsterdam, driving deep UX research, stakeholder engagement, and executive pitching to secure funding for the platform-wide transformation. Architected a scalable digital design system and living web-based style guide with integrated, developer-ready CSS, embedding design standards directly into engineering workflows and enabling consistent delivery across all ProQuest digital services. ### Senior Product UI Designer | Kindle Hardware @ Amazon Jan 2012 – Jan 2013 | Greater Seattle Area Led UI/UX across Amazon's hardware product line. Designed cross-device UX frameworks for content discoverability, personalization dashboards, and voice interaction. Contributed to foundational Alexa voice UI patterns and early multimodal interaction models. ### Design Director | Xbox Console and Cloud UI Ecosystem (Art Direction, UX, and Visual Systems) @ Microsoft Jan 2010 – Jan 2012 | Redmond, Washington Design Practice Lead for Xbox Live. Directed a 30-person team of designers, motion artists, and UX specialists. Led creative strategy for the 2011 Xbox Live Dashboard update, cited by Engadget as the finest revision the console has seen. Drove visual design for Xbox One unveil and early cloud gaming prototypes. ### Vice President, Product and Game Design @ Gazillion Entertainment Jan 2007 – Jan 2010 | San Mateo, California Founding executive creative leader backed by John Romero and David Brevik (Diablo). Built and managed a 30+ person creative team. Senior creative lead on Marvel Heroes MMO. Led product design for SmartyCard, an award-winning educational platform. Directed full corporate rebranding. ### Independent Designer and Design Lead @ Independent Designer Jan 2004 – Jan 2010 | San Francisco Bay Area Led UX and visual design projects for top brands across entertainment, education, and technology sectors. UX Lead at Landor for the Olympic Games brand system, driving global design consistency across media. UX Lead at IDEO, supporting AT&T's platform transition to align with the launch of the first-generation iPhone. Designed social experience ecosystems for Imbee (acquired by Fanlala), serving clients like Discovery Channel, Nickelodeon, Disney, Ubisoft, and Girl Scouts of America. Specialized in early mobile UX systems, responsive brand frameworks, and multi-platform digital integration. ### Director of Brand Design @ Wild Planet Entertainment, Inc. Jan 2003 – Jan 2004 | San Francisco, Hong Kong, New York Directed brand, packaging, and in-store experience design for five toy and game lines sold through Walmart, Target, and Toys"R"Us. Led a 12-person international creative team across San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, partnering closely with SEGA Toys. Developed character IP and brand adaptation strategies to launch products into North America. Oversaw major installations at NYC Toy Fair (Javits), Hong Kong Toys & Games Fair, and Tokyo International Toy Show. Partnered with Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, and Discovery Toys on licensed product development. ### Head of Creative, Digital Product Design @ Publicis Groupe Jan 1998 – Jan 2002 | San Francisco, California, United States Led UX, branding, and content strategy for major enterprise and consumer brands adapting to early digital platforms. Directed cross-functional creative teams for top clients including Toyota, Orbitz, Estee Lauder, IKEA, McKesson, Levi's, and Home Depot. Creative Directed a Webby Award-winning web-to-instore kiosk platform for Home Depot's retail expansion. Positioned Semaphore for acquisition by Leo Burnett/Publicis Groupe through pioneering digital brand work. Championed user-centered design strategies and scaled creative operations. ## Education ### Film/Cinema/Video Studies McGill University ### BA Honors (Theatrical Design and Production) Acadia University ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/elevation - Website: https://PsyVision.io --- Source: https://flows.cv/aja JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/aja/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-05