Irene Au

Irene Au is recognized for her contributions to user experience design and digital product innovation. Au holds a bachelor's degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of South Carolina Honors College and a master's degree in industrial engineering and human-computer interaction from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She began her career as an interaction designer at Netscape Communications, contributing to the design of the internet's first commercial web browser.

Au was the first interaction designer at Yahoo, where she conducted user experience research and led developments for the website. She spent eight years at Yahoo, ultimately serving as vice president of user experience and design, overseeing product and platform design globally. Au later joined Google as global head of user experience design, coordinating user-centered approaches across the company’s online services. At both Yahoo and Google, Au established human-centered design practices, built and scaled design teams, and directed research and design efforts across a broad portfolio of products and services.

At Udacity, Au served as vice president of product and design, helping the company identify product-market fit and develop project-based learning for students pursuing technical careers. She later became the first design operating partner at Khosla Ventures, advising startup CEOs on integrating design and user research into their organizations. Her influence has been noted in portfolio companies such as Nutanix, where design became central to company culture and business outcomes.

Au is the author of the O'Reilly book, "Design in Venture Capital," and her work has been featured in Wired, Fast Company, CommArts, and Mindful. She is an adjunct lecturer at Stanford University, teaching product design, and serves as a trustee for the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Museum of Design. Au is also a juror for the Red Dot Design Awards. She frequently speaks and writes on topics including human-centered design, mindfulness practices, and creativity, with many of her talks published on Medium.