Rachel Been

Rachel Been is a senior design leader with extensive experience in the tech industry. She currently serves as Sr. Design Director at Airbnb, where she leads product design across multiple core Guest, Host, and CS teams.25 Prior to joining Airbnb, Been held significant roles at Google, including Design Director for Google Nest and leading the Systems Design team for Material Design.15

Been's career journey is notable:

1. She started as an aspiring photojournalist at UCLA, where she studied Art History.1
2. She worked as a photo editor before transitioning into design, driven by a desire to improve online user experiences, particularly for visual content.1
3. At Google, she:
   • Developed engaging emojis and served as the first creative director of Emojis.1
   • Led the system design team for Material Design.1
   • Art directed Google Calendar.1
   • Directed design for Google Nest, overseeing projects like the Home Controls design system and the Google Nest Hub's sleep quality visualization.1

Been's expertise lies at the intersection of design and technology, with a strong background in art direction, imagery, and design systems.13 Her approach often involves rethinking traditional design paradigms to create more intuitive and user-friendly experiences.1

As of November 2023, Been was actively involved in recruiting design talent for Airbnb, seeking a Senior Manager of Experience Design for their Design System team.4