Global marketplace for unique stays and experiences. The canonical example of a design-led tech company, founded by two RISD graduates.
Airbnb is THE design-led tech company. Co-founder Brian Chesky is a trained industrial designer from RISD, and design thinking has driven every major company decision. Trust between strangers sharing homes is fundamentally a design problem. Airbnb pioneered the "Snow White" storyboarding process (borrowed from Pixar), created one of the first major design systems (DLS), and popularized the "11-star experience" framework.
Design Leadership
Bek Stone
Director of Design
Bek leads design at Airbnb, continuing the design-led culture established by its RISD-graduate founders.
Brian Chesky
Co-founder & CEO (RISD)
Brian is a trained industrial designer from RISD who built Airbnb with design thinking at its core. He personally reviews designs and created the "11-star experience" framework.
Design team · 15 people
Elisabeth Schwarz
Lead · Head of Design Operations
Bek Stone
Lead · Director of Design at
Cat Nygaard
Lead · Design Director
Lin Gao
Lead · Interaction Designer
Andrea P.
Lead · Staff Product Designer
Ben Christie
Lead · Senior Design Manager
Sergio Vilatimo
Lead · Creative Director
Sara Steinberg
Lead · Creative Director
Ayan Daniels Urbańska
Lead · Design Lead
Shilpi Tomar
Content Designer
Karina Sirqueira
Design Director
Kathryn Gonzalez
Design Engineer
Kendra Ralston
content designer
Kevin Tenglin
visual designer
Charlie Aufmann
Design Lead
Who to reach out to
Design recruiters at Airbnb