# Carina Ngai > Product Design Leader · Creator Ecosystems, Emerging Experiences & AI-Powered Products · UX Strategy at Scale Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/carinangai I build design organizations and product experiences that reshape how people create, connect, and belong. Roblox, Google, Netflix, Coursera, Skype, MetaLab — leading UX at platform scale and in the zero-to-one stages where direction isn't given, it's made. My deepest work lives where platform thinking meets human behavior — creator tools, community systems, emerging formats, and AI-powered experiences. I think in systems, lead with research, and hold a high bar for both vision and execution. Currently advising across AI platforms, climate tech, and immersive experiences — and selectively pursuing senior leadership roles where design has real strategic influence. ## Work Experience ### Design Partner (Founding & Advisory) @ Independent / Multiple Ventures Jan 2023 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area • Founding Product & Brand Design Partner for Superbiochar — defining zero-to-one product strategy and brand identity for a regenerative climate technology venture at the intersection of soil science and carbon markets • Product Design Advisor for FlaiChat — shaping product vision, UX frameworks, and multilingual real-time communication experience for an emerging AI communication platform • Brand Strategy Lead for Tailyn Technologies — partnering with executive and legal leadership to build a trademark-ready, cross-market brand system for an industrial AI platform expanding into Asia markets ### Advisor, Product Design @ David Gagliardi Productions Jan 2023 – Jan 2025 | Bendigo, Victoria, Australia • Design a metaverse for an inclusive End-of-Life discussion. • Lead a digital audience experience design that complements a live theatrical performance. • Create space to explore the creation of an immersive experience that centers around mortality, legacy, and the human existence • Facilitate a design workshop on defining audience experience with 3 industry-leading experts: a game narrative designer, a product strategist, and the creative director. ### Design Director @ MetaLab Jan 2021 – Jan 2022 • Led product design strategy to help clients find product–market fit and move from early concept to shipped MVPs • Led cross-disciplinary teams spanning product design, research, brand, motion, product management, engineering, and business partners • Partnered closely with client leadership and key stakeholders to navigate complex product challenges • Worked across Web3, gaming, financial services, travel, entertainment, and health • Contributed to multiple client engagements progressing from early concept to shipped MVPs and follow-on phases ### Product Design Manager, Player Experience @ Roblox Jan 2019 – Jan 2021 | San Mateo, California • Led UX design across six platform pillars — Avatar, Social, Discovery, Monetization, Growth, and International — creating a cohesive experience system for one of the world's largest creator and gaming platforms • Built and embedded UX research practice into the design team: defined research strategy, led studies, synthesized findings, and translated insights into product decisions across multiple concurrent workstreams • Drove cross-functional alignment across product, engineering, and business partners in a fast-moving, high-ambiguity environment ### Product Design Lead, Growth & Discovery @ Coursera Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | Mountain View, CA Designing for the future of Education! ### Sr. Design Lead @ Skype Jan 2017 – Jan 2018 | Palo Alto, CA ### UX Design Lead, Augmented Reality Platforms @ Blippar Jan 2015 – Jan 2017 | San Francisco, CA INTRO: Designing for emerging technology means designing products in an ambiguous domain: Often without a clear audience base, limited data on competitive products. One of my most challenging tasks is to retrofit technology into a meaningful scenario to create values and experience in the AR (Augmented Reality) product line. MY ROLE #1: Design the design process, from generative research to insight analysis, to ideation, to collaboration, to interaction design / wireframing, to design strategy, to cross team collaborations. MY ROLE #2: Initiate and implement a global design research program for the AR product line. Conduct 1:1 interviews, moderate group conversations, run live prototype sessions. A glimpse of the projects I'm working on: 1. Mobile app with Face Recognition feature: Why would anyone use this? How can we design to make it fun instead of creepy? What makes people want to come back and use this again? 2. What is the future of AR? How do we move away from being a cool gimmick towards an utilitarian experience? What does utility means in AR? 3. BlippBuilder, an online AR Content Creation Tool: How do we design a tool that’s simple enough for novice user (drag and drop), to a sophisticated developer (code based)? How do we introduce 3D features to novice users? ### UX Design Lead @ Feastly Jan 2015 – Jan 2015 | San Francisco, CA - Lead product experience design for web, mobile - Lead service design for offline experience (User journey map and touch-points) - Define, design and lead user experience from conception to implementation - Design the design process for product development cycle Features: Loyalty Credit program, Referral incentives, Onboarding for chefs/diners Relaunch: Browse page, Meal details page, Purchase flow ### Sr. Information Architect (UX Consultant) @ Google Jan 2014 – Jan 2015 | Mountain View, CA - Led UX to build a new ecosystem across 19+ Google ad products, both web and mobile - Created design strategies and navigational models via UX research - Established design processes with visual designers, engineers, agencies, analytic, and product teams ### Lead Product Designer @ Netflix Jan 2014 – Jan 2014 - Partnered with product managers to develop design hypothesis based on business opportunities - Led tactical execution with visual designer, prototypers, researchers, engineers, and data scientists - Rapid prototyping based on behavior patterns identified during international research sessions Feature: Acquisition & Onboarding: Domestic and International Market Feature: Kids OnRamp Experience & Parental Controls ### Product Design Lead @ Inflection Jan 2012 – Jan 2013 - Established new product visions and roadmaps with Product Managers - Coached and grew a UX team: interaction/visual designers, researchers, front-end developers - Designed processes to integrate UX and research into agile product development cycle Public Launch: GoodHire.com Beta Launch: Identity.com ### Design Futurist, UX Innovations Lab (R&D Center) @ Samsung Electronics Jan 2011 – Jan 2012 - Led a year long project on “Design for Aging”, to build a product vision for Samsung's mobile phone for seniors. - Defined strategy roadmap for emerging market via design research and inclusive design - Designed for future consumer electronic experience in the next 5 years across TV, mobile, wearables - Trend spotting, competitive analysis, system design, interaction flow, storyboards, scenario movies Project themes: Accessibility, Mobile, Internet of things, Smart Home, Family, Social Education ### Sr. Experience Designer @ Adobe Systems, Inc. Jan 2007 – Jan 2011 - Initiated and drove design research projects on emerging market, created new research methodologies - Partnered with Product Managers, Engineering Leads to create roadmaps and design strategies - Designed with engineering team (in India) through rigorous iterations Shipped: Adobe Premiere Elements / Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0, 6.0, 7.0, 8.0, 9.0, 10.0 Features: People Recognition, SmartSound, Auto Edit, Organizer, Sceneline View, Instant Movie Initiatives: Accessibility & Inclusive Design projects to bring awareness ### User Experience Designer @ Microsoft Jan 2006 – Jan 2007 - Designed workflow and wireframes for futuristic user interfaces on Search - Led brainstorming sessions and prototyped visual experience ### Art Director @ Tonic Brand Communications, Inc. Jan 2005 – Jan 2006 - Led and managed the creative department - Led concept development, wireframe interaction models, prototype design - Art directed branding, video, print projects and various marketing campaigns ## Education ### MFA in Media Design ArtCenter College of Design ### B.S. in Neuroscience UCLA ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/carinangai - Portfolio: https://womentalkdesign.com/speakers/carina-ngai/ --- Source: https://flows.cv/carinangai JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/carinangai/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13