Erin Essex is a versatile Senior Interaction Designer at Google. Currently supporting the YouTube Labs team, she focuses on creating new experimental features for creators while simultaneously advancing the ads ecosystem and user experience across the platform. Her work spans exploratory design, applied AI, and scalable product systems, with experience across geospatial, aviation, generative AI, AR, and consumer products.Prior to Google, Erin served as Design Director at MongoDB and Shutterstock. There, she led cross-functional teams, shaped product vision, and scaled design systems across enterprise platforms. In these roles, she expanded design maturity, strengthened product-design alignment, and built frameworks that helped teams move faster without sacrificing craft, ethics, or usability.Outside of the office, Erin is a sought-after speaker, educator, and mentor specializing in storytelling, digital design, and AI. She teaches designers how to work with emerging tech to support better thinking, building, and decision-making. Her mission is to empower designers to leverage new technologies to create user-centric products that simplify life and foster trust in innovative tech.
