Ann Niou.
Product designer with 11 years of experience guiding teams through ambiguous problem spaces and emerging technology to make people's lives better. Currently leading GenAI UX for enterprise security at Google.
I'm a systems thinker who thrives in solving unprecedented challenges – partnering across disciplines to build scalable programs and systems, imagine novel solutions, and turn deep technical complexity into intuitive high-quality products people love.
In my free time, find me at the pottery studio, out for a run, nerding out about coffee somewhere, or planning (if not on) my next travel adventure.
Selected Work
Google Cloud Dedicated
Building the design program and customer experience for Google's first sovereign, partner-operated cloud
GenAI for Cloud Security
Reimagining high-impact security workflows with generative AI
Kind words from people I've worked with
"Ann is not only a fantastic designer — she is a force multiplier who helps teams work better. Ann asks the tough questions and shepherds those lucky enough to work with her through a thoroughly user-centered design process that aligns stakeholders and focuses teams on the outcomes that matter most to their users."
"I had the pleasure of working with Ann for over 2 years at the IBM Garage. While we often partnered on client projects, our collaboration continued outside of work, and Ann and I have written several blog posts as well as presented at conferences together. Ann has an incredible eye for design and a lot of what I practice today is because of her! She's also great with customers and will meticulously complete any project while also keeping the higher vision in mind. Ann is also an amazing team player and any organization is lucky to have her!"
"Ann is everything I wish for in a collaborator. Curious, easygoing, and humble. She speaks the language of design and engineering. It's not uncommon to find her bridging the gaps of a team. I've relied heavily on her expertise as a design technologist to see us through many projects. I can always count on Ann to be the person the project needs. From conducting user research, building wireframes, running workshops, to leading development teams. Ann embodies what it means to have a growth mindset."
"Working with Ann across two different teams gave me a dual perspective on what she brings to a design org: the methodology and tactical chops to make chaotic projects feel navigable, and the levity to balance out the rigor. She'd never put this on a resume herself, so i'll say it: Ann is a damn delight to work with and remains one of my favorite collaborators."
"Ann had been one of the best UX Designers I’ve worked with and has consistently been a great partner to the product and engineering teams. She is not only a collaborative and proactive designer but is also deeply thoughtful when it comes to the end to end experience for the customer. Moreover, Ann has helped plan workshops and brainstorm sessions across multiple teams, helping us align on the overall goals and design principles when the product was in concept phase. "
"Ann is a thoughtful and strategic UX partner, starting from user needs and product goals to build effective user experiences that will truly make products and their users successful. While working together at Google, I appreciated Ann's proactiveness, expertise, and professionalism, drawing on over a decade of experience of reducing complex service or system requirements into journeys that work for all user personas."
Experience
UX Designer, Google Cloud
Launched and scaled Cloud's largest horizontal UX program across 12+ UX teams.
Led Generative AI for Security, Privacy, and Compliance portfolios, shipping experiences that reduced time-to-value by 90%.
Co-led unification of enterprise compliance offering that unblocked a $275M+ pipeline.
Established design system ecosystem (Figma library, governance, and working group) for new converged product comprised of three previously separate design systems, enabling the team to scale without fragmenting.
Product Designer
Led end-to-end redesign of the advertiser trust experience across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger — reducing fraud and friction.
Scaled and launched experience from advertisers to sellers for nascent commerce offering under aggressive timelines.
Global Design Strategist
Led design strategy and UX delivery for cloud modernization and AI adoption across Fortune 100 clients and startups — spanning insurance, climate tech, financial services, healthcare, and government
Lead Product Designer
Led research and design for a $30M AI-powered legal research platform — designing the end-to-end experience and building a design system adopted across 15 global engineering teams.
Front-End Developer
Built responsive front-end interfaces for enterprise client applications using HTML, CSS, and modern (at the time :)) JS frameworks.