Ani Design

aniavanian-resume

 

Ani Avanian

Product Design Leader | Platforms, Marketplaces & Scalable Systems
Boston, MA | avanian.design | LinkedIn | aniavanian@gmail.com

Product Design leader with 20+ years of experience driving strategy, design, and delivery of complex, global products across travel marketplaces and interactive platforms.

Track record of leading multidisciplinary teams, aligning cross-functional stakeholders, and delivering systems that drive engagement, revenue growth, and scalable user experiences.


Experience

Meta — Sr. Product Design Manager

2018 – Present • Lead global design organization (40+ designers, artists, prototypers) across Developer Platform and Horizon, delivering large-scale interactive systems spanning VR, mobile, and web.

  • Led design for flagship launches including Horizon Home, Central, and Events Arena, surpassing MAU growth targets and improving onboarding, discovery, and engagement across core surfaces

  • Directed development of platform-level systems for identity, social interaction, and creator participation across multiple devices

  • Partnered with Product and Engineering leadership to define and execute 0→1 product strategy in high-ambiguity, emerging spaces

  • Scaled design organization from 10 → 40+, establishing operating models, design standards, and cross-functional alignment across a global team

  • Drove end-to-end user journeys across onboarding, content discovery, real-time interaction, and creator tooling ecosystems

  • Increased team velocity by evolving prototyping and collaboration workflows across design and engineering


Wanderu — VP of Design & UX

2014 – 2018 • Led product and brand identity design for a multi-modal travel marketplace across North America and Europe.

  • Designed and scaled end-to-end booking platform across web, iOS, and Android, supporting millions of customers world-wide

  • Drove UX improvements across search, discovery, and checkout, contributing to revenue growth exceeding targets

  • Played a key role in scaling the business to profitability through product innovation and experience optimization

  • Partnered closely with CEO/COO to define product strategy and align user experience with business outcomes

  • Built and led a high-performing design team within a lean organization (~30 employees altogether), maximizing impact at scale

  • Established design systems and UX standards across all customer touchpoints

EF / Go Ahead Tours — Product Design Director

2011 – 2014 • Led design for the transformation of a catalog-based travel business into a digital-first global commerce platform.

  • Designed and launched a global booking platform supporting 100+ itineraries and international customers

  • Contributed to record revenue year following launch of digital search and booking experience

  • Enabled consistent month-over-month growth in bookings, exceeding targets and accelerating digital adoption

  • Built core flows for trip discovery, booking, account management, and payments

  • Partnered cross-functionally to align product, design, and engineering on scalable, user-centered solutions

Earlier Experience

Designer / Front-End Engineer roles (2005–2011)

 

KEY SKILLS

  • Product Strategy & Execution

  • Platform & Systems Design

  • Marketplace & Commerce UX

  • AI-Enabled Product & Interaction Design

  • Designing for Adaptive & Intelligent Systems

  • Cross-Functional Leadership

  • 0→1 Product Development

  • Team Building & Organizational Leadership

EDUCATION

  • MFA, School of the Museum of Fine Arts

  • BFA, University of Toledo