Aynne Valencia

Experience

California College of the Arts
Professor

Chair August 2017 - Jan 2019
Associate Chair - April 2015- August 2017
Professor 2015-Present

Led one of the United States’ leading interaction design programs while building a high-performance creative organization.

• Recruited and led 27+ industry design leaders and faculty

• Directed a full curriculum transformation aligned with emerging technologies, driving 40% program growth

• Built long-term partnerships with organizations including Google, Adobe, Oracle, Visa, and Medtronic

• Established critique systems and knowledge frameworks that elevated creative standards across the program
  
  Future of Work, Spring 2019
  IxD, Interior Design, Industrial Design, and Architecture
  Future of Retail Fashion
  launching a new course with Fashion Design in Spring or Fall
  Future of Home

City of San Francisco Digital Services
Design Director  

October 2019-August 2020
Directed UX and design operations for SF.gov during the COVID-19 response, delivering accessible information and services to millions of residents.

SF Digital Services works with city agencies to design highly accessible and usable citizen-facing experiences and the systems and services that city employees use to support them.

The director of the Design Team comprised of UX designers, researchers, service designers, and content strategists.
• Led & managed an 18-person multidisciplinary design team, including Content Strategists, UX Designers, Service Designers, Design Managers, Design Researchers, & Visual Designers.

• Directed the city’s design system, expanding the brand & UI framework across social media & print materials.
• Oversaw user experience strategy for the COVID-19 disaster response, supporting websites, mobile apps, service design, & signage.
• Managed design operations for the SF.gov website, ensuring cohesive & user-friendly digital experiences.
• Distilled complex requests into tasks & sub-projects to prioritize workload.

Released Projects:
• Creation of the Workers and Family First Program
• In-person service and Online application and appointment booking experience design of the CityTestSF, Citywide COVID19 Testing sites
• Creating a site for people experiencing homelessness to shelter in place during the COVID Pandemic 
• Moving building permits from a paper application to a fully digital process 

Avalen
Product Strategy Consultant

2006-Present
Product lead and strategic consulting for multidisciplinary teams
Clients: eBay, Adobe, Bank of America, AOL, Comcast, Cooper, Intuit, Tangible UX

R/GA, San Francisco
Associate Creative Director

October 2012 – May 2013
Led multi-disciplinary teams, including Strategy, Visual Design, and Experience Design Lead, and trained and mentored the design team.
• Led the successful design & strategy efforts for an extensive e-commerce system for JCPenney, the JCP Home launch, the Oscars social media activation campaign, & website design for Microsoft Surface. 
Clients: Microsoft, JCPenny

Fjord
Service Design Lead

December 2011 – October 2012
Design direction for over ten client projects. Pitched projects, led, trained, and mentored the design team.
Brought in over 2.5 million in retainer client business
Clients: Apollo Group, Intuit, PayPal, SunTrust Bank, Citibank, University of Phoenix 

Cisco Consumer Products
(Formerly MOTO Development)
UX Design & Strategy Lead

October 2009-September 2011
Led end-to-end experience design and strategy for five next-gen consumer products.

• Responsible for the end-to-end experience design for consumer products.
• Drove & managed design schedules, oversaw contract design & vendor resources for interaction, visual design & production.

• Planned & conducted user research: contextual, A/B Testing, & RITE Studies

• Led designers in day-to-day tasks. 

• Created physical & digital prototypes

AKQA
Digital Product Design Director

January 2006-September 2009
Creative & design lead of products, projects & campaigns for AKQA, a cutting-edge digital agency servicing Fortune 10 clients
• Managed creative strategy projects & served as the primary client design  liaison
Clients: Microsoft Messenger, Microsoft Pioneer Studios, Visa, Nike, & McDonald’s

Yahoo! 
User Experience Lead

July 2005-July 2006
Product design, ideation for the user experience & business strategy for the next generation of Yahoo Groups.

Microsoft, Redmond, WA
Lead Product Designer

February 2001- July 2005
New Consumer Products & Consulting Services Projects & Products: Surface Table, Home networking, MSN Messenger, Consumer Home Concepts

• Planned & conducted contextual user research for experimental hardware
• Created physical & digital prototypes
Clients: Verizon, Wachovia Bank, State of Kentucky

Luminant Worldwide
Art Director

March 1999-January 2001

Charles Schwab
Web Developer

April 1996-May 1999

Related Experience

General Assembly
Curriculum Design/Design Instructor

May 2013-May 2015

San Francisco State University
Lecturer

September 2008- June 2015
September 2022-Present

IxDA Interaction Design Association San Francisco
Co-Leader

2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

Education

B.A, Art History, and New Media Studies
June 1994
California State University San Bernardino

M.A, Design
May 2022
San Francisco State University
Phi Epsilon Tau Technical Honor Society


M.A, Anthropology
Expected Spring 2023
San Francisco State University