Oh, hello 👋
I'm Kiyana (she/her), a research-driven designer adept at translating user goals and needs into clear engineering and product specifications. I’m a California native turned New York transplant (I live with my girlfriend and our dog, Chuck, in Brooklyn), and I’m currently a Senior Product Designer at Spotify.
Photo by Bảo Ngô
Education
As an undergrad, I went to UC Berkeley and double majored in Computer Science and Cognitive Science. This major combination led me to focus in Human-Centered Design.
After graduating from Berkeley, I went on to earn a Master’s of Human Computer Interaction and Design from the University of Washington. This interdisciplinary program integrates courses from four departments at UW – the Information School, the Human Centered Design and Engineering department, the Computer Science department, and the Division of Design within the Art School.
Professional Experience
After earning my Master's, I joined Yelp as a product designer. I was one of two designers working on the Search UX vertical team, which meant that I was responsible for making sure that users are able to search for and find what they need across web, mweb, iOS, and Android platforms. In addition to crafting Yelp's search experience, I also led generative and evaluative user research efforts across multiple vertical teams and led hiring efforts for the company’s first UX Researcher.
In 2017 I moved from California to Brooklyn and began working on BuzzFeed’s cooking platform, Tasty. I designed the Tasty Android app, which was named one of the Google Play Store’s “Best Daily Helpers of 2018” and a Google Play Store Editor’s Choice app. At the same time that I was working on the Tasty Android app, I was also designing the Tasty Action on Google. The Action was demoed at two conferences – Google I/O and Made by Google – and Chrissy Teigen demoed the Action, well, ~in action~. The Tasty Action also won a Webby in the “Apps, Mobile, and Voice: Food & Drink” category.
In addition to working on Tasty, I also designed Goodful’s online presence as part of a larger partnership with Macy’s.
I was the sole designer working on the BuzzFeed iOS app, which I redesigned. I also lead BuzzFeed’s User Research Council, which helped Product Managers, Product Designers, Project Managers, and Product Support Specialists conduct user research on a more frequent basis. As the lead of this group, I reached out to members of the Tech Org to understand what their research goals were, and then worked with them to craft a research study plan and script. In addition to hands on coaching, I have also given talks on user research basics to the Tech Org at large and have crafted playbooks detailing when and how to conduct different types of user research.
As of October 2019, I joined Spotify as a Senior Product Designer working on R&D projects for the Freemium business unit.
For Fun
I am a big nerd, thank you for noticing!! But I do have some interests outside of work too!
You can usually find me wearing a jumpsuit and hanging out in my neighborhood parks — especially WYNC Transmitter Park and McCarren Park — listening to queer, comedy, arts & culture, basketball, and current events podcasts. I love making playlists (I’ve made a playlist every month since 2014) and discovering queer artists.
In addition to consuming ridiculous amounts of audio media, I also love to knit (at this point in time I’d describe myself as an “advanced beginner”/“hesitant, but intermediate” level knitter). So if you know of any good patterns (I especially love Scandinavian patterns), hit me up!