avalen is the portfolio site for design director, Aynne Valencia
End-to-end product design leadership for human- centered systems that serve people and our planet
What I do
Service design and product leader with experience, delivering future-state strategies across AI, government, enterprise, and education. Currently focused on AI-enabled transformation.
Former Design Director for San Francisco Digital Services, guiding end-to-end digital and service strategy for complex public systems. As Chair at California College of the Arts, driving strategic growth and curriculum transformation.
Experience across Microsoft, AKQA, R/GA, and Cisco, translating emerging technology into scalable, human-centered systems with measurable impact.
Design Management
Leading, mentoring as a hands-on Design leader in technology-forward companies.
Aligning vision, strategy, and creativity to deliver impactful user experiences, inspire teams, and drive business growth through human-centered innovation.
End to End Product Design
Systems design and thinking through users complete experience with physical products, services and digital enabled experiences.
From first discovery, to core experience to help and assistance to advocacy, start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.
Future state strategy projects
Competitive research, persona creation, future casting, and trend research to tangible, specific, actionable, and strategic recommendations, road mapping, and planning.
Recent projects, accomplishments, notes & errata
Questions I have been asked…
Are you an experience designer, a UX Designer, a service designer, a product designer or communications designer?
1
Yes. I design whatever needs to be designed to get the job done.
What kinds of projects do you like to work on?
2
I like to work on projects for companies that want to try something new. I particularly love working in spaces that are experimenting with a new technology, or revolutionizing an industry, or with folks that are mission aligned in making the world a fairer, more equitable and pleasant place for people and nature to exist.
I see you work for an AI company. Are you really into AI?
3
I work in the AI space, and I see AI as I see all technology: it is another medium. It is suitable for some things and not so suitable for others.
I have coded before, but I am not really into it, I vibe code if I need to in the service of doing something I want to get done. But it’s not my deepest passion
How can I contact you?
4
You can reach me via my contact page. But if you are selling something, please, just don’t.
I don’t want to buy anything. :-)