Product design leader.

Startup founder and advisor.

Advocate for ethics in tech.

—— elayne safir

Product design work ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

MOBILE APPS ╱ CONSUMER WEB ╱ DATA + ADMIN PLATFORMS ╱ XR ╱ VOICE ╱ DESIGN SYSTEMS ╱ CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ╱ INTERNAL TOOLS ╱ AUGMENTED REALITY ╱ AI + ML ╱ OFFLINE EXPERIENCES ╱

Design leadership is many things these days. A toolbox full of vision, deep inquiry, insatiable curiosity, aspirational work standards, a love for process, artistic aesthetics and design principles, hard-earned experience, a healthy dash of realism, community-building, and grace.

Utilizing these and more, I guide product, design, content, strategy, and research teams through complex problem spaces —— and make tech more human.

I care about…

DESIGN ETHICS ╱ OFFLINE-FIRST DESIGN ╱ AUGMENTED REALITY APPLICATIONS ╱ TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN CULTURAL SHIFTS ╱ COGNITIVE BIASES ╱ POSITIVE SOCIAL IMPACT ╱ HUMANITARIAN OPPORTUNITIES IN DIGITAL SPACES

Currently, I am leading Product Design and Content Strategy at CNN.

Independently, I am the founder of Eforia and the Choice Architects event series — and a Techstars startup advisor.

Most recently, I joined the international task force at the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), developing universal standards for identifying AI-generated and digital media origins.

My downtime is for my art practice, throwing elaborate dinner parties, obscure cinema, and fighting the algorithm on instagram.

My home base is Brooklyn, New York.

“Design decisions are now affecting people across the world in faster, broader, and alarmingly unexpected ways. We can’t afford not to care — and it’s much easier to affect positive change than it seems.”

—— Choice Architects: Design for Humanity’s Best Self panel at SXSW
“You are almost never better off working as a lone wolf. Ask for advice, surround yourself with a truly diverse group of people, and collaborate. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

—— interview with Women in Wellness
“When you're a refugee, the idea of home becomes a bit intangible. You lose a solid connection to the country you're from, and never feel quite like you fully belong in your adopted land.”

—— interview with Girls & Their Cats