# Mila Kogan > Strategist & Experience Designer | Founder, San Francisco UXD Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/milakogan I’m a strategist and designer working across products, services, and systems helping people and organizations clarify direction, design with purpose, and move ideas into meaningful action. My work sits at the intersection of design, business, and systems thinking. I focus on turning complexity into clarity, whether I’m shaping a new service, refining an experience, or guiding a team through sensemaking and alignment. I currently lead San Francisco UXD, a 4K-member, volunteer-run, design community, and am developing a small independent strategy practice supporting independent workers looking to start or grow their business or practice. I care about thoughtful transformation: helping ideas, people, and systems move forward with clarity, care, and intention. ## Work Experience ### Design Strategist & Coach @ Unknown Jan 2025 – Present | San Francisco, CA I run a practice that blends design strategy, systems thinking, and reflective coaching. My goal is to help independent workers, founders, and builders find clarity, structure, and momentum in their work. Key highlights: • Working 1:1 with clients on vision, direction, and the strategic groundwork that makes progress possible • Bringing design strategy, systems thinking, and coaching together in a way that meets clients where they are • Supporting independent builders across stages - from early concept through active growth ### Founder, Executive Director @ San Francisco UXD Jan 2015 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area I co-founded SFUXD in 2015 (originally part of Global UXD) as a way to bring designers, strategists, and creative professionals together around shared curiosity, learning, and collaboration. What began as informal meetups grew into a thriving community of over 8,000 members on Meetup, hosting talks, workshops, and panels with partners like Adobe, IBM, Udacity, TikTok, and GoDaddy. When COVID hit, the community went into hiatus, but I was determined to rebuild. I began hosting small, in-person gatherings to reconnect designers across San Francisco, which led to a full-scale revitalization in 2024. With the help of a small volunteer team, we conducted participatory research to reimagine SFUXD’s mission, structure, and offerings for a post-pandemic design landscape. Today, SFUXD operates on Luma with a growing base of 4,000+ members, producing experiences that help designers learn, connect, and grow - from design challenges and portfolio reviews to strategic conversations about the evolving role of design. Key highlights: • Rebuilt SFUXD post-pandemic, growing the community 6x on Luma within six months of relaunch. • Designed and facilitated 150+ talks, workshops, and design challenges since 2015. • Established partnerships with global brands such as Adobe, TikTok, and IBM. • Led participatory research to clarify SFUXD’s mission, structure, and offerings for renewed relevance. ### Product Manager / UX Lead @ SkillsVR Jan 2022 – Jan 2023 Served as both product manager and UX lead for the company’s flagship VR training platform, guiding initiatives from discovery through design and delivery in partnership with engineering and leadership. I established foundational UX and design-thinking practices that shaped how features were prioritized and designed. Key highlights: • Defined and prioritized features for the core enterprise platform, balancing business goals, technical feasibility, and user needs. • Led design and research for key initiatives including the analytics dashboard, customer escalation process, and SkillsVR marketing website. • Introduced user-centered practices across departments, conducting stakeholder interviews and fostering collaboration between product, engineering, and customer teams. • Initiated early frameworks for cross-functional communication and user insight sharing, setting the groundwork for a more human-centered company culture. ### Product Designer @ Tribal Planet, Inc. Jan 2016 – Jan 2022 | San Mateo, CA Served as the sole designer responsible for shaping digital products that supported civic engagement and education. Worked closely with leadership and engineering to align design direction with business and technical priorities, ensuring cohesive, user-centered experiences across multiple platforms. Key highlights: • Designed and evolved multi-platform products, including gamified learning apps, rewards platform, and CMS tool used by global partners. • Maintained and expanded the company’s design system to ensure consistency and scalability across web and mobile experiences. • Introduced UX and research practices within an engineering-driven environment, advocating for user-centered thinking and improved collaboration. • Partnered with leadership to translate strategic goals into actionable design outcomes and clearer team communication. Key projects: Citizen Science, Citizen MPACT, Citizen Rewards, CMS Platform, SkillsVR Website ### Marketing Associate @ JustAnswer Jan 2011 – Jan 2014 | San Francisco, California, United States Managed direct deal advertising operations and A/B testing while seeking opportunities to contribute to product and UX initiatives. Key highlights: - Collaborated with Senior UX Designer and Product Manager on the Lifestyle Offer package (LSO) from initial concept through alpha testing, conducting and leading user interviews - Coordinated on-site UX research sessions for the LSO project, facilitating data collection and cross-departmental collaboration - Conducted ongoing A/B testing and performance optimization for advertising campaigns ## Education ### Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy University of California, Berkeley ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/milakogan1 - Website: https://www.milakogan.com --- Source: https://flows.cv/milakogan JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/milakogan/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-08