Rachel Ilan Simpson

Rachel Ilan Simpson is a distinguished product design leader known for her ability to build and scale design teams and cultures from the ground up, particularly in high-growth startup environments. At Tessl, she bootstrapped product design and brand for a $125 million Series A, and at Multiverse, she scaled the UX team from 4 to 20, catalyzing a shift towards a product-led company which contributed to Multiverse becoming the UK's first EdTech Unicorn. rachelilansimpson+2

With extensive experience at Google, Rachel demonstrated her capacity to lead significant product initiatives and drive innovation on a global scale. As a Design Lead for Google Search (Google Go), she championed user-centric design for emerging markets, conducting research trips and launching impactful features for over 500 million users. Her work on Google Chrome involved shipping numerous features across various platforms and leading the Material Design offline spec, showcasing her deep expertise in UX for mass-market products. rachelilansimpson+3

Rachel is a recognized speaker and thought leader in the design community, frequently sharing her insights on topics such as building and transforming design at startups and scale-ups, and leveraging design tools for organizational change. She is also a published writer on building effective UX design portfolios and actively experiments with cutting-edge AI tools like Claude 3.5 to explore their potential in enhancing design workflows, demonstrating a forward-thinking approach to design methodology. leadingdesign+3

Beyond her corporate roles, Rachel is an entrepreneur and community builder. She co-founded the first German version of Maker Faire and founded Design Jam, initiatives that foster creativity, collaboration, and rapid prototyping within the design and tech communities. Her client work with organizations like Doctors Without Borders, Warner Bros, and Seth Godin further illustrates her versatility and broad impact across different sectors. leadingdesign+2