Ethan’s mission is to improve the world through design. He does this by fostering healthy and happy teams that create essential and beloved software and services.
In his current role as SVP of Design at Slack, his team manifests tools that enable work to be more pleasant, productive, and simple.
Prior to Slack, Ethan led design at Airbnb where he was responsible for their end-to-end Homes experience. During that time he also served as the GM for the Guest organization, where his teams delivered revenue (through an incredible user experience) for 93% of Airbnb’s business.
Before that, Ethan led design at Uber, where he grew the worldwide design team to 200 people on a mission to make safe, reliable transportation available to everyone.
Ethan spent nearly 5 years at Google, where his Commerce UX team crafted experiences across Shopping, Travel, and Payments. And he started his career at Adobe, where he designed products that unleashed people’s creative talents.
Speaking
Semi Permanent Aoteartoa 2022 -The Future of Work (Slack)
Spark Labs 2020 - The Future of the Future
Designer Fund 2020 - How Slack Launched its Biggest Redesign
Product Hunt 2020 - How to Design Products that Delight Users
Semi Permanent Aukland 2019 - Design for Love (Airbnb)
Better by Design 2017 - How purpose impacts culture
Semi Permanent Sydney 2016 - The Future of Transporation (Uber)
PSFK Future of Retail 2016 - Inside Uber’s Design Thinking
IXDC 2016 - Leading Design at Uber
Writing
How to Design your Digital HQ in 2023 (WSJ)
Why Your Organization Needs Product Principles (Techcrunch)
Why Your Organization Needs Product Principles (Techcrunch)
How to Plan Your Career in 8 Easy Steps (Medium)
Having a Perspective - How to Maintain Creative Prowess in the Face of Big Team Management (Medium)