Dan Becker

Head of Design

San Francisco, California, United States15 yrs 8 mos experience

Most Likely To SwitchAI Enabled

Key Highlights

Led AI-driven product design at Google Workspace.
Co-founded an investment fund focusing on design integration.
Scaled Strava's community from 8M to over 45M users.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a Product Design Leader with expertise in SaaS and Fintech industries.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Product DesignAi IntegrationDesign LeadershipTeam LeadershipUser ExperienceExperience DesignBrand StrategyCommunity GrowthUx DesignProduct InnovationSaas Product DesignCustomer EngagementArt DirectionE-commerce Design

Other Skills

AI-driven experiencesUser adoptionMonetizationProduct strategyWorkflow productsProduct incubationVR/Metaverse developmentCreator monetizationGlobal search experiencesVideo content developmentMarket scalingUser-centric designRevenue generationStrategic frameworksFeedback systems

About

I lead product design across complex consumer and enterprise environments, most recently building AI-driven experiences inside Google Workspace. My focus is translating new technology into practical product value, and doing that in a way that’s grounded in real user needs, usability, and measurable business impact. Earlier in my career, I worked across brand systems, mobile apps, and platform UX at Airbnb, Strava, Instagram, and Square, focused on moments when the product was redefining itself or scaling fast. That taught me how to move between hands-on design, cross-functional alignment, and longer-range product direction without losing the details of the actual user experience. Today I’m focused on work where design meaningfully influences product direction from the beginning, especially in AI-native products, platform growth, and productivity tools. I also invest in early-stage teams through my fun, Ligature.

Experience

15 yrs 8 mos

Total Experience

2 yrs 2 mos

Average Tenure

5 yrs 4 mos

Current Experience

Google

Head of Design, Workspace AI Growth

Jan 2024 – Present · 2 yrs 4 mos · California, United States

Product design lead for AI-centric growth and monetization across all of Google Workspace. Focused on bringing AI across the entire suite of apps (Gmail, Docs, Drive, Slides etc.). Responsible for scaling the $XB Workspace business through:
Driving discovery, adoption, and monetization of Gemini
Improving user adoption, habitual use, and retention of Gemini across all Workspace apps.
Driving SMB and consumer revenue growth.

Product designAI-driven experiencesUser adoptionMonetizationProduct DesignAI Integration

Pulley

Head of Design

Jan 2023 – Jan 2024 · 1 yr · San Francisco Bay Area

Hands on executive design leader. Within the year, rebuilt and launched product, brand, and go-to-market experiences at the intersection of the fintech/legal for token & equity management product. Joined at Series-B stage (backed by Y-Combinator, Stripe, Founders Fund, etc).
Developed new product strategy and guided execution for founder-friendly experiences
Shipped workflow products, brought simplicity to a complex space
Built and scaled world-class product and design teams

Product strategyDesign leadershipWorkflow productsProduct DesignDesign Leadership

Instagram

2 roles

Head of Product Design, Creator Ecosystem

Promoted

Jan 2022 – Jan 2023 · 1 yr

Launched and led an org of teams responsible for incubating new product experiences for Creators.
Formed Artists & Audio team at IG, responsible for all music and audio experiences platform wide (discovery, manipulation, sharing, playback)
Shipped a new trend discovery experience, fueled by a personal recommendations engine.
Developed 0-1 work to showcase Instagram’s potential in VR/Metaverse.

Head of Product Design, Creators & Discovery

Aug 2019 – Jan 2022 · 2 yrs 5 mos

Built and supported an org of teams focused on:
Creator ecosystems, growth, and creator monetization
Global Search and Discovery experiences for the $XB revenue generating Explore tab
Kickstarting and developing the flywheels for Reels video content to thrive on Instagram

Product incubationTeam leadershipVR/Metaverse developmentProduct DesignTeam Leadership

Ligature

Founder & Partner

Jan 2021 – Present · 5 yrs 4 mos

Co-founded Ligature, an early-stage investment fund, with former Square colleague Daniel Scrivner. We've invested in over 75 startups, including Galileo, Bridge, Anything, ZIINA, Kick, Public.com, AtoB, Array, Opal, Dakota, Reforge, and many others. We're focused on embedding design into a startup's DNA from inception. Contrarian by design, optimistic about the future.

Designer fund

Advisor

Jan 2019 – Jan 2024 · 5 yrs · San Francisco Bay Area

Advisor for Fund II (40M) & Fund III (45M) on design and product to existing and prospective portfolio companies. Actively engaged in building and growing the Designer Fund community in SF/NY.

Airbnb

2 roles

Senior Manager, Experience Design

Oct 2016 – Sep 2019 · 2 yrs 11 mos · San Francisco Bay Area

Led an org of design teams which built Airbnb's first sub-brand; a tiering and verification platform called Airbnb Plus:
Defined strategy, and drove execution for the end to end guest experience at launch.
Scaled Airbnb Plus host onboarding and growth from 20 to 200 international markets
Drove strategy and execution which accelerated the business from $0 to $XXXM within 3 years

Creator monetizationGlobal search experiencesVideo content developmentProduct DesignUser Experience

UX Design Lead, R&D Products

Sep 2014 – Feb 2015 · 5 mos · San Francisco Bay Area

Led UX Design for Airbnb’s R&D org (Home to Homes) under co-founder and CPO Joe Gebbia, focusing on piloting new products to complement Airbnb’s core business:
Launched innovative features such as Mobile Guidebooks, Experience Marketplace, Guest Trip Mementos, and Pocket Concierge.
Developed strategic frameworks for the Dynamic Trip Platform.
Advanced entrepreneurial products before the team was restructured to enhance core experiences.

Community growthUser-centric designRevenue generationCommunity GrowthUser Experience

Strava

Director, Head of Design

Feb 2015 – Nov 2016 · 1 yr 9 mos · San Francisco Bay Area

Co-Led the design team during hypergrowth, alongside Ryan Noonan, reporting directly to the CMO/CPO:
Scaled the Strava community from 8M to over 45M through rebuilding and improving core aspects of the product experience to serve more athletes.
Grew the subscriber base from 500k to 3M paid subscribers.
United product and brand teams to implement user-centric design processes, resulting in award-winning work that accelerated community growth and unlocked business revenue.

Experience designBrand strategyMarket scalingExperience DesignBrand Strategy

Square

Senior Product Designer

Jan 2013 – Jan 2014 · 1 yr · San Francisco Bay Area

Contributed to multiple product teams within a small, agile design group of fewer than 15 members:
Conceived and launched Square’s inaugural SaaS products, Feedback and Receipts, transforming digital receipts into opportunities for customer engagement.
Worked on initiatives including Order 2.0, Caviar, and Market, enhancing Square’s product offerings.
Played a key role in developing tools that enabled merchants to receive and respond to customer feedback directly through digital receipts, improving customer service interactions.

UX designProduct innovationStrategic frameworksUX DesignProduct Innovation

Huge

Art Director (Contract)

Jan 2013 – Jan 2013 · 0 mo · San Francisco Bay Area

Led design and art direction for digital mobile products, e-commerce platforms, and interactive experiences for clients including The Peninsula, Salesforce, Restoration Hardware, and TheFind:
Directed comprehensive 0-1 brand and product design for TheFind, contributing to its acquisition by Facebook.
Developed user-centric designs for The Peninsula’s digital mobile products, enhancing guest engagement.
Led e-commerce platform design for Restoration Hardware, improving user experience and increasing online sales by $XM

SaaS product designCustomer engagementFeedback systemsSaaS Product DesignCustomer Engagement

Manual

Senior Designer (Contract)

Jan 2012 – Jan 2012 · 0 mo · San Francisco Bay Area

Design and Art Direction for Apple Music and an SF fashion boutique

Art directionE-commerce designUser experienceArt DirectionE-commerce Design

Nurun sf

Designer II

Jan 2010 – Jan 2012 · 2 yrs · San Francisco Bay Area

Worked at Odopod, Nurun pre-acquisition. Design lead for client work with Apple, Nest, Tesla, Sony, and Ford among others.

Turner duckworth

Designer

Jan 2009 – Jan 2010 · 1 yr · San Francisco Bay Area

Created strategic visual identity systems for Coca-Cola, Kraft, Honest, Sprite, and Motorola among others.

Pentagram

Associate Designer

Jan 2008 – Jan 2008 · 0 mo · New York City Metropolitan Area

Worked under the tutelage of partner Michael Bierut on a variety of projects ranging from visual identity systems to posters and editorial concepting.