Ekin Seker McLean — Head of Design

I sit at the intersection of product design, brand experience, and AI. As the Head of Design Studio, I lead a multidisciplinary group of Visual and Motion Designers, UX Engineers, UX Writers, Content and Conversation Designers. As we reimagine how billions of people explore and navigate the world, we are building the next generation of geospatial and AI-integrated experiences for Google Maps. My career has been defined by leading design at a massive scale. During my tenure at Airbnb, I led the creative team for the Host business and contributed to the high-stakes creative work surrounding the company’s IPO. I spearheaded the strategy for transformative launches, including Airbnb Online Experiences and the introduction of Airbnb.org, ensuring the brand remained resilient and human-centric during a period of global change. Prior to going in-house, I spent over a decade in the New York agency circuit (R/GA, AKQA, JWT) leading digital transformations for the world’s most recognizable brands, including: * Product Innovation: Led the end-to-end redesign of the AI-powered My Verizon app for 100M+ subscribers and modernized the digital landscape for Goldman Sachs. * Venture & Growth: Mentored startups in the inaugural R/GA Connected Devices Accelerator and led the successful Maybelline account win at AKQA. * Global Brand Craft: Directed design initiatives for Samsung, Coca-Cola, and MasterCard, blending high-end art direction with deep functional utility. I believe that at the highest level, design is the connective tissue between a company’s technology and its soul. I hold a BFA in Graphic Design and an MA in Digital Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and am currently based in Los Angeles.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a design leader specializing in product design and brand strategy within the tech and creative industries.

Location: Los Angeles, California, United States

Experience: 19 yrs 8 mos

Skills

Product Design
User Experience Design
Creative Direction
Brand Development
Team Leadership

Career Highlights

Led design for transformative Airbnb initiatives.
Pioneered AI-integrated experiences at Google Maps.
Built multidisciplinary teams across major brands.

Work Experience

Google

Director, Head of Design Studio, Google Maps (4 yrs 3 mos)

Airbnb

Global Group Creative Director (3 yrs 7 mos)

Elephant

Creative Director (11 mos)

AKQA

Associate Creative Director (1 yr 4 mos)

R/GA

Senior Art Director (4 yrs 2 mos)

Visual Designer (1 yr 8 mos)

Ideas at the Intersection

Founder & Design Partner (2 yrs 2 mos)

The Art Institute of New York City

Part-time Faculty Member (1 yr)

J. Walter Thompson Worldwide

Designer (1 yr 7 mos)

Education

MA at Maryland Institute College of Art

BFA at Maryland Institute College of Art

Ekin Seker McLean

Head of Design

Los Angeles, California, United States19 yrs 8 mos experience

Most Likely To SwitchHighly Stable

Key Highlights

Led design for transformative Airbnb initiatives.
Pioneered AI-integrated experiences at Google Maps.
Built multidisciplinary teams across major brands.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a design leader specializing in product design and brand strategy within the tech and creative industries.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Product DesignUser Experience DesignCreative DirectionBrand DevelopmentTeam Leadership

Other Skills

Brand ExperienceAI IntegrationVisual DesignMotion DesignUX EngineeringUX WritingContent DesignConversation DesignCreative LeadershipBrand StrategyIntegrated MarketingMulti-channel CampaignsCreative StrategyFinancial TransformationTeam Building

About

Experience

19 yrs 8 mos

Total Experience

2 yrs 3 mos

Average Tenure

4 yrs 3 mos

Current Experience

Google

Director, Head of Design Studio, Google Maps

Jan 2022 – Present · 4 yrs 3 mos · Los Angeles

Leading a multidisciplinary studio at the intersection of product design, brand experience, and AI. I oversee a global team across Visual Design, Motion Design, UX Engineering, UX Writing, Content Design and Conversation Design, shaping the future of how billions of users explore and navigate the world.
Multimodal Ecosystems: Driving the next generation of experiences across Google Maps.
AI-Driven Innovation: Pioneering new design patterns for AI-integrated features, ensuring complex spatial data is intuitive and human-centric.
Creative Excellence: Bridging the gap between brand storytelling and deep product utility to create a cohesive design language across the Google Geo portfolio.

Product DesignBrand ExperienceAI IntegrationVisual DesignMotion DesignUX Engineering+4

Airbnb

Global Group Creative Director

May 2018 – Dec 2021 · 3 yrs 7 mos · San Francisco

Directed internal creative teams and top-tier agencies through a transformative era for the company.
Integrated Leadership: Led the creative evolution of the global Host business by building and scaling a multidisciplinary creative team that harmonized product design, marketing campaigns, editorial content, and physical events into a unified ecosystem for millions of Hosts worldwide.
Strategic Pivots: Directed the rapid creative strategy and execution for the launch of Online Experiences and the introduction of Airbnb.org, meeting the shifting needs of the global community during a critical era and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Brand & Growth: Developed high-impact, multi-channel campaigns that redefined Airbnb’s brand narrative and scaled the Host community globally.
IPO & Major Initiatives: Contributed to the cross-functional creative work surrounding the Airbnb IPO and led large-scale brand initiatives that solidified the company’s market position during its transition to a public entity.

Creative LeadershipBrand StrategyIntegrated MarketingMulti-channel CampaignsCreative DirectionBrand Development

Elephant

Creative Director

Apr 2017 – Mar 2018 · 11 mos · New York

Financial Transformation: Embedded with senior leadership at Goldman Sachs to modernize their digital product landscape, primarily focusing on Marcus by Goldman Sachs.
Team Building: Built and scaled a dedicated design team from the ground up to handle high-stakes product lines for the firm.

Financial TransformationTeam BuildingDigital Product DesignProduct DesignTeam Leadership

Akqa

Associate Creative Director

Dec 2015 – Apr 2017 · 1 yr 4 mos · New York

Scale at Speed: Led the end-to-end redesign of the AI-powered My Verizon app, serving 100M+ subscribers.
Business Growth: Instrumental in winning the Maybelline global account, subsequently leading both product and campaign work for the brand.

App RedesignBusiness GrowthCampaign ManagementProduct DesignCreative Direction

R/ga

2 roles

Senior Art Director

Promoted

Oct 2011 – Dec 2015 · 4 yrs 2 mos · New York

Global Client Portfolio: Directed design for e-commerce, product, and retail experiences for Samsung, Coca-Cola, MasterCard, and L’Oréal.
Venture Innovation: Mentored startups in the inaugural R/GA Connected Devices Accelerator, blending traditional agency work with venture-capital-style product development.
Business Growth: Contributed to numerous new business pitches, including those for Coach, Volvo, Google, Red Bull, and Tchibo.

Client ManagementE-commerce DesignProduct DevelopmentCreative DirectionBrand Development

Visual Designer

Nov 2007 – Jul 2009 · 1 yr 8 mos · New York

Collaborated with the Council of Fashion Designers of America to conceptualize and launch a new L'Oreal brand experience. Provided design support for Avaya and Verizon accounts, and led the website redesign for the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Brand StrategyDesign LeadershipCreative DirectionBrand Development

Ideas at the intersection

Founder & Design Partner

Jul 2009 – Sep 2011 · 2 yrs 2 mos · Istanbul

Founded a boutique strategy and design studio in Istanbul.
Led various design projects, including rebranding one of Turkey’s largest engineering companies, repositioning a luxury watch retailer, branding a maritime security company operating in the Gulf of Aden, and collaborating with acclaimed director Amir Naderi on his film CUT in Tokyo.

Strategy DevelopmentDesign LeadershipBrand PositioningCreative DirectionBrand Development

The art institute of new york city

Part-time Faculty Member

Jan 2008 – Jan 2009 · 1 yr · New York

Taught multi-channel brand campaign development to senior-level students.

Design SupportCollaboration

J. walter thompson worldwide

Designer

Apr 2006 – Nov 2007 · 1 yr 7 mos · New York

Co-designed the beautifully branded microsite for De Beers’ famous “Diamond Right Hand Ring” campaign and HSBC’s 2008 Effie-winning “There’s No Small Change” campaign.

TeachingCampaign Development