Irene Au is an operating partner at Khosla Ventures, where she works with portfolio companies to make their design great. Irene previously ran Product Design at Udacity after leading User Experience at Google for six years, where her team was responsible for design and research for all of Google’s products worldwide. Before that, Irene established and led the User Experience and Design team at Yahoo! for eight years, and began her career as an interaction designer at Netscape Communications.
Irene also teaches yoga and meditation at Avalon Art and Yoga Center, one of Palo Alto’s oldest and most established yoga studios. She co-chairs the Board of Trustees at Bowman International School, a K-8 private Montessori school in Palo Alto.
Irene holds a bachelor’s of science in electrical and computer engineering from the University of South Carolina Honors College where she graduated summa cum laude and a master’s of science degree in industrial engineer and human-computer interaction from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Irene also teaches yoga and meditation at Avalon Art and Yoga Center, one of Palo Alto’s oldest and most established yoga studios. She co-chairs the Board of Trustees at Bowman International School, a K-8 private Montessori school in Palo Alto.
Irene holds a bachelor’s of science in electrical and computer engineering from the University of South Carolina Honors College where she graduated summa cum laude and a master’s of science degree in industrial engineer and human-computer interaction from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Sessions
Tales From the Trenches: Lessons Learned from Leading Design at Netscape, Yahoo, and Google
Wednesday, May 6 • 3:00 – 3:45pm
Irene has worked with some of the most important and celebrated consumer internet companies over the last two decades. In this talk, she shares very personal stories from her time at each company that were pivotal moments of growth in her career. Hear the lessons she learned and how you can apply them to your own career trajectory.
3 Main Take- Aways:
- Learn how to work with engineers that "know it all."
- Find out how to build a design practice in a company that doesn't "get it."
- Learn how to hire designers when the CEO shuts down your headcount.
