# Yukiko Arikawa > Product Design · Creative Direction | AAA games to health tech — clarity under pressure Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/yukiko I believe design should make people feel something. For 25 years, I've designed products that connect with people emotionally — from AAA console games at Electronic Arts to AI-powered consumer apps to children's wellness platforms. My work spans the full creative spectrum: brand identity, UX, UI, interaction design, visual systems, and creative direction from a blank page. My focus has always been the emotional arc of an experience — how someone feels the first time they open an app, what keeps them coming back, and what makes a product feel like it was made for them specifically. That's what I optimize for, whether I'm defining vision at the concept stage or refining details in final production. yukiko.arikawa@gmail.com ## Work Experience ### Independent Design & Creative Direction @ Yukiko Arikawa Jan 2017 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area Early-stage product design across gaming, consumer apps, wellness, and health-adjacent platforms. Selected clients include: Astrid Entertainment, Osmo, Crossing Minds, N3TWORK Studios. Additional clients under NDA. - End-to-end product design (UX, UI, systems, prototyping) - Human-centered design for complex, emotionally sensitive use cases - Close collaboration with product, engineering, and operations Applied Product Design - Home Recovery System (Caregiver-Built) 2025 - Present Designed and iterated a home-based recovery support system for a family member recovering from acquired brain injury. Translated clinical speech, occupational, and physical therapy goals into low-friction daily systems — routines, tracking, scaffolding, and environmental design — optimized for autonomy, cognitive load, and emotional safety. Continuously refined based on observed progress and evolving needs. Designing for someone I love deepened my understanding of what it means to create for high-stakes, emotionally complex environments where clarity and dignity are essential. ### Design @ Stealth Startup Jan 2024 – Jan 2024 Product design for mobile gaming startup. - Led end-to-end design for mobile game (UX, UI, wireframes) - Collaborated with product manager, operations lead, and third-party developers - Designed visual concepts and marketing materials ### Art Department Director @ Osmo Jan 2022 – Jan 2022 | San Francisco Bay Area Creative leadership ### Advisor @ Crossing Minds Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | San Francisco Bay Area ### Creative Director @ Crossing Minds Jan 2017 – Jan 2018 | San Francisco Bay Area Led creative direction for hai, an AI-powered entertainment recommendation app. TechCrunch Disrupt SF Battlefield 2018 finalist. - Designed brand identity, visual language, and product experience to make machine learning feel personal and emotionally resonant - Created an evolving avatar system that visualized each user's developing taste profile — turning an abstract algorithm into an emotional companion - Collaborated with ML engineers and founders to translate complex AI into intuitive, delightful experiences - Launched iOS app in 2019 ### Senior Director, Art & Visual Design @ DeNA Jan 2012 – Jan 2016 | San Francisco Bay Area Led creative strategy and visual development for multiple mobile game titles from preproduction through live operations. - Built and managed a 20+ person creative team across multiple product teams - Owned creative strategy for Blood Brothers 2 and Hellfire — from concept through live operations - Designed and art directed 200+ characters, environments, UI, and VFX across 11 races - Managed co-development with an external studio in Chile, maintaining creative quality across distributed teams - Used player analytics and A/B testing to guide redesign of underperforming characters, elevating them into top-ranked units ### Principal Experience Designer @ Zynga Jan 2011 – Jan 2012 | San Francisco Bay Area - Designed UX and UI balancing game mechanics with visual storytelling - Collaborated with Art Director and concept artists to develop look/feel for target demographic ### Visual Design Director @ Electronic Arts (EA) Jan 2010 – Jan 2011 Led creative vision for AAA console franchises across PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo platforms over 10+ years at EA. Shipped 10+ titles including Dante's Inferno, The Godfather II, The Lord of the Rings: Third Age, 007 Everything or Nothing, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, and more. Progressed from UI Designer (2000) to Visual Design Director (2010), leading production design, art direction, UI teams, and cross-functional project management across multiple AAA franchises. ### UI Art Director/Development Director @ Electronic Arts (EA) Jan 2006 – Jan 2009 - Led UI art team management and cross-functional project management - Production design, art direction, and implementation for The Godfather, The Godfather II - Managed design, art, and engineering teams ### Senior UI Designer @ Electronic Arts (EA) Jan 2002 – Jan 2006 - UI design and implementation for The Lord of the Rings: Third Age, 007 Everything or Nothing, 007 Night Fire, Freekstyle - Visual development and art direction for third-party development - Brand development and design ### User Interface Designer @ Electronic Arts (EA) Jan 2000 – Jan 2002 - UI design and implementation for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002, 007 Agent Under Fire ## Education ### Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Graphic Design University of Denver ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/yukiko-arikawa - Portfolio: https://arikawa.cargo.site --- Source: https://flows.cv/yukiko JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/yukiko/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13