# Iikka Valli > Principal Product Designer & Staff UX Lead | 14 Years at Google | Enterprise AI & AdTech Strategy Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/iikka I am a Staff UX Lead with a passion for bridging the gap between abstract strategy and technical execution. Over the last 15+ years—spanning 14 years at Google and now leading product design at a stealth AI startup—I’ve focused on transforming complex data ecosystems into intuitive user experiences. What I do: I don't just design interfaces; I prototype the intelligence behind them. Currently, I am defining the product design for an AI-native platform. This involves hands-on prototyping with local LLMs and vector databases to validate UX and technical feasibility before engineering handoff. I’m also defining new operational workflows for human-AI collaboration in coding, solving for context retention and hallucination mitigation. Previously at Google, I led UX for the world’s largest advertising products (Display & Video 360, Google Ads, and Google Analytics). I specialized in audience segmentation and high-frequency "power user" tools, including the offline-first Google Ads Editor. I believe the future of design belongs to those who understand the material they are shaping—whether that material is pixels, data, or LLM context windows. ## Work Experience ### Principal Product Designer @ Stealth Mode AI Startup Jan 2025 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area Defining the product vision and architecture for a new AI-native platform. I operate as a hybrid strategist-builder, working directly with the CEO and Lead Engineer to translate abstract intent into concrete engineering execution. AI-Native Prototyping: I don't just mock up interfaces; I build functional proof-of-concepts. Developed a high-fidelity prototype utilizing Vector Databases (RAG), Local LLMs, and cloud models to validate real-time content summarization and image processing workflows before engineering handoff. Product Strategy: Leading the 0-to-1 definition of the product, creating the architectural blueprints and user flows that bridge the gap between strategic business goals and technical feasibility. AI Workflow Innovation: Designing novel operational processes for AI-assisted coding. Solving specific challenges around context retention and hallucination mitigation to create seamless collaboration loops between human developers and AI agents. ### Staff UX designer - Google Ads Editor @ Google Jan 2024 – Jan 2025 | San Francisco Bay Area Led UX for the critical Mac/PC application responsible for a significant share of global ad revenue. Optimized high-frequency workflows for power users managing campaigns at massive scale, designing unique offline-first capabilities for bulk editing and seamless synchronization that vastly outperform standard web interfaces. ### Staff UX designer - Google Ads @ Google Jan 2022 – Jan 2025 | San Francisco Bay Area Audience UX Lead for Google’s flagship advertising platform. Led the overarching Audience UX strategy, collaborating directly with cross-functional Audience Leads to drive alignment and product vision across engineering, product, and business stakeholders. Cross-Product Strategy: Led UX initiatives spanning multiple Google ad products, aligning inconsistent account linking workflows into a unified experience for users moving between Google Ads, DV360, Google Analytics, and other enterprise ad tools. Enterprise Design Systems: Contributor to Material Design for enterprise components, defining scalable component libraries and interaction patterns specifically optimized for high-density, complex enterprise data requirements. Strategic Leadership: Created the "Audience Master Deck," a strategic framework used to align and onboard new Directors and Product Managers, effectively bridging the knowledge gap in this highly technical domain. Design Systems & Scalability: Developed and enforced a proprietary "Audience Design System," creating standardized patterns for audience creation that unified workflows across disparate engineering teams. Complexity Reduction: Simplified the targeting experience for millions of advertisers, transforming abstract data concepts into intuitive selection tools where accurate segmentation is critical for global ad revenue. ### Staff UX designer - Display & Video 360 @ Google Jan 2018 – Jan 2022 | San Francisco Bay Area Led Audience Targeting UX for Google’s flagship enterprise advertising platform (formerly DoubleClick Bid Manager). Design Systems: Developed a proprietary "Audience Design System," creating standardized patterns for audience creation and management across engineering teams. Prototyping Operations: Co-led a specialized prototyping team to elevate technical skills across Google. Designed curriculum and taught advanced prototyping classes to designers globally. ### UX Designer at Google Analytics & Google Audience Center @ Google Jan 2011 – Jan 2018 | Mountain View Played a key role in the evolution of Google Analytics, shifting the platform focus from simple page-view metrics to deep user-centric analysis. Google Audience Center (0-to-1): Founding designer for the tool, building it from scratch and managing its eventual integration as the core Audience Module within DV360. Remarketing Innovation: Designed the foundational workflows for Remarketing, enabling seamless data activation from Google Analytics into Google Ads. ### User Experience/Interaction Designer @ Cisco Systems Jan 2011 – Jan 2011 Worked with UX Manager to create wireframes for the Cisco EOS platform. ### Information Architect (2.5 week contract) @ Beyond Jan 2011 – Jan 2011 Created wireframes for web and iPhone apps. ### Information Architect @ Nimbus Design Jan 2000 – Jan 2010 Developed of wireframes, functional specs, navigational structures, flow diagrams, use case scenarios, and site taxonomies. Clients included: Juniper Networks, MDL/Symyx, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Accretive Solutions, Wham-O, Borel Bank & Trust, Education.com, Sand Hill Advisors, Michael Toschi International. ### Sr. User Experience Architect and Interaction Designer @ Nimbus Design Jan 2000 – Jan 2010 * Directed development of clean, efficient interface designs from conceptualization to implementation. * Identified user needs, defined requirements, storyboarded and prototyped ideas. * Reviewed user interface designs based on usability findings. * Worked collaboratively with creative and engineering teams to bring requirements and functionality concepts to life. Clients included: Google, Juniper Networks, Cisco Systems, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Education.com, Clontech, Coyote Point Museum, San Mateo County Elections and Assessor's Offices, Excite@Home. ### Drupal Architect @ Nimbus Design Jan 2000 – Jan 2010 * Lead Drupal development team. * Coached and mentored junior technical team members. * Designed and directed Drupal implementation strategies. * Estimated project pricing and delivery schedules. * Provided advice on system development, project management, and infrastructure best practices. * Designed, developed and implemented custom modules. * Met with clients/end users to gather requirements. * Reviewed web site design, usability, look-and-feel. * Participated in code reviews. * Provided documentation and customer training. Clients included: Borel Bank & Trust, Cisco Systems, Accretive Solutions, SpringCM, Coyote Point Museum, San Mateo County Sheriff's Department, IRA Services, Safety Users Group. ### Lead Designer @ Nimbus Design Jan 2000 – Jan 2010 Co-led a design agency for a decade, full-stack design delivery, and international engineering operations. ### 3D modeler @ Kaveh Design Jan 1996 – Jan 1998 ## Education ### Computer Science University of California, Berkeley ### Kauhajoen Lukio ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/iikkavalli --- Source: https://flows.cv/iikka JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/iikka/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-08