About

Yuan Wang

I'm Yuan Wang, a product design leader who's spent the last decade building products and teams at companies like Airbnb and Twitter.

My career has taken me from scrappy startups where I was the only designer to managing teams of 12+ at some of tech's most influential companies. Along the way, I've learned that great design doesn't come from great designers alone — it comes from great teams, clear processes, and leaders who know when to step in and when to get out of the way.

At Airbnb, I led the redesign of the host experience platform, working to make it easier for anyone to become a host. At Twitter, I led the design team that launched Spaces, bringing live audio conversations to hundreds of millions of users.

Today, I channel everything I've learned into coaching design leaders, speaking at conferences, and writing about the craft of design leadership. I believe that the design industry needs more thoughtful leaders — and I'm committed to helping develop them.

My Philosophy

I believe design leadership is a practice, not a title. It's about creating the conditions for great work to happen — through clarity, empathy, and relentless focus on what matters. The best design leaders I've worked with share three traits: deep craft sensibility, genuine care for their people, and the courage to make hard calls.

Career Journey

A decade of building products and leading design teams across startups and big tech.

Independent

2023 — Present

Design Coach & Educator

Coaching design leaders and teams at high-growth companies. Running workshops on design leadership, team building, and career growth for designers at all levels.

  • ●Coached 50+ design leaders across startups and enterprise
  • ●Developed curriculum for design leadership programs
  • ●Speaking at major design conferences worldwide

Twitter

2021 — 2023

Senior Design Manager

Led product design for core engagement surfaces including Spaces, Communities, and the tweet composer. Managed a team of 12 designers and built cross-functional design processes.

  • ●Led design for Twitter Spaces from 0 to launch
  • ●Built and scaled a team of 12 product designers
  • ●Established design critique and review culture

Airbnb

2018 — 2021

Design Lead

Led design for the host experience platform, including listing creation, pricing tools, and the host dashboard. Contributed to the Airbnb design language system (DLS).

  • ●Redesigned the end-to-end host onboarding experience
  • ●Contributed to Airbnb's Design Language System
  • ●Mentored junior designers and established growth frameworks

Lyra Health

2016 — 2018

Lead Product Designer

First design hire. Built the design practice from the ground up, establishing design systems, research processes, and hiring the founding design team.

  • ●Built design function from zero as first design hire
  • ●Established design system and component library
  • ●Hired and mentored founding design team of 4

Various Startups

2013 — 2016

Product Designer

Cut my teeth at early-stage startups, wearing every hat from user research to visual design to front-end development. Learned the fundamentals of building products from scratch.

  • ●Shipped products from concept to launch at 3 startups
  • ●Developed strong full-stack design skills
  • ●Learned to thrive in ambiguity and move fast

Let's connect

Whether you want to work together, have me speak at your event, or just say hello — I'd love to hear from you.

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