# Aki Tanaka > Product Design Leader | UX Strategy, Design Systems, AI-Driven Experiences | Building & Leading High-Impact Teams Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/aki I lead product design teams and focus on bringing clarity to complex problems and helping teams align on what they are building and why it matters. I have 15+ years of experience in UX and product design, including 5+ years leading and growing high-performing teams. My work focuses on UX strategy, design systems, and building strong, collaborative teams. A big part of my experience has been improving how teams operate. At McAfee, I built and led the Design System team and drove the shift to Figma to standardize workflows and collaboration across the organization. That work improved delivery speed, design consistency, and cross-team alignment. I focus on creating a strong foundation for teams by defining processes, design standards, and decision frameworks that give designers clarity and ownership while maintaining high standards and thoughtful execution. More recently, I have been leveraging AI to enhance design systems and workflows, automating repetitive tasks, surfacing patterns in research, accelerating early ideation, and speeding up prototyping and testing. This allows teams to iterate faster, make higher-confidence decisions, and maintain consistency across products without losing the human-centered focus of the experience. I am focused on Senior Product Design Manager roles at mission-driven, product-led companies where I can bring alignment to complex spaces, lead strong teams, and help build products that make a meaningful difference. ## Work Experience ### Product Design Manager @ McAfee Jan 2021 – Jan 2024 | San Jose, California, United States - Directed UX strategy for desktop, web, and mobile security products with millions of global users - Increased activation and engagement by 25% by redesigning onboarding and account flows - Managed and mentored a distributed team of 6 designers through regular coaching and feedback - Drove discovery by facilitating workshops and prioritization with product and engineering partners - Improved core UX flows through usability testing, iteration, and cross-functional input - Standardized accessibility reviews and documentation to ensure usability and compliance - Streamlined workflows by clarifying ownership and aligning roadmaps with analytics and research ### Product Design Manager, Design System @ McAfee Jan 2019 – Jan 2021 | Santa Clara, California, United States - Built and led McAfee’s first company-wide design system, improving delivery speed by 30% - Managed a team of designers and UX engineers, with several advancing into senior roles - Defined the system roadmap, governance model, and contribution process across teams - Facilitated workshops to align teams on accessibility, design principles, and handoff practices - Unified visual language across platforms using scalable, reusable components - Collaborated with engineering to integrate Figma with code for smoother implementation - Led the company-wide migration to Figma to support collaboration and scale ### Design System Lead @ McAfee Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | Santa Clara, California, United States - Initiated McAfee’s first design system, evolving it from a passion project into a scalable platform - Conducted a design audit and aligned teams on shared principles, patterns, and standards - Built cross-functional alignment with product and engineering to adopt shared practices - Created accessible, reusable UI patterns to improve delivery speed and consistency - Facilitated stakeholder buy-in to embed the system across teams and platforms ### Lead Designer @ McAfee Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 Initiated McAfee’s first design system, evolving it from a grassroots effort into a scalable, shared platform. Aligned product, design, and engineering teams on common principles, patterns, and accessibility standards. ### Sr User Experience Designer, CXD @ McAfee Jan 2014 – Jan 2019 | Santa Clara, California, United States - Designed responsive UX for consumer security products across platforms and screen sizes - Delivered scalable UI systems that balanced usability with platform and tech constraints - Created foundational design documentation to support consistency across global teams ### Senior User Experience Designer @ McAfee Jan 2014 – Jan 2019 Designed responsive UX for consumer security products across platforms, balancing usability and technical constraints. Created foundational UI systems and documentation to support consistency across global teams. ### Sr. Web UI Designer/UI Lead @ McAfee Jan 2006 – Jan 2014 | Sunnyvale, California, United States - Served as lead designer and front-end contributor for the Platform Development team - Designed and maintained large-scale consumer websites and web applications ### Senior User Interface Designer @ McAfee Jan 2006 – Jan 2014 Lead designer and front-end developer for the Platform Development team. Designed and maintained large-scale consumer websites and web applications. ## Education ### B.S. in Business Administration/Economics The University of Kitakyushu ### Graphic Design California State University - East Bay ### Master of Business Administration in Intermedia/Multimedia California State University - East Bay ### Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Management, General The University of Kitakyushu ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/akitanaka - Portfolio: https://www.akitanaka.com/ - Portfolio: https://adplist.org/mentors/aki-tanaka --- Source: https://flows.cv/aki JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/aki/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13