First Design Hire
Establishing the product design function as a force multiplier.
Ross Popoff-Walker
Product Design Director
I help ambitious teams
build momentum
by designing clarity,
not just screens.
Design Philosophy
I approach design as a strategic multiplier: aligning stakeholders, untangling complexity, and shipping solutions that actually work.
First-principles Clarity.
I ask the hard questions early and make the invisible visible.
Design as Infra
Patterns and systems that scale beyond any single product or designer.
Upstream Partnership
I shape what gets built, not just how it looks. Strategy and execution, together.
Work History
Design Systems & Data Viz
Created of a scalable data viz design system and redesigned key tools used by the C-suite.
Design Lead, Tools
Developed user-centric tools strategy to increase developer velocity
Design Lead, Consumer Products
Shipped new COVID, wildfire, and AirQuality features globally
Design Pod Lead, Data Analytics
Led UX for BigQuery through a full UI redesign.
Lead & Co-Author
Initiated and led Google's cross-org data visualization guidelines project
Mobile Product Design
Lead designer on global improvements to Google Search for live events
Past Projects
Waabi2024–Present
Establishing the Product Design Role
First product design hire at an autonomous trucking startup. Established design as a force multiplier across product, autonomy, and infrastructure teams. Designed internal tools for simulation, evaluation, and test operations. Emphasis on clarity, trust, and speed in safety-critical workflows.
Google Cloud2017–2019
BigQuery UX Leadership
UX lead for BigQuery, Google Cloud's flagship analytics platform. Grew UX from one to eight across design, research, and prototyping. Led a full UI modernization for data analysts. Research and vision work unlocked new revenue features and informed the $2.6B Looker acquisition.
Netflix2021–2024
Unifying Data for Decision-Makers & Netflix
Led design systems and product design for Netflix's internal data ecosystem. Built a scalable data visualization system adopted by a 500+ person Data & Insights org. Standardized patterns across 400+ enterprise tools. Improved findability, consistency, and time-to-insight for executives.
Google Maps2019–2021
Platform & COVID/Weather Layers
Core designer on the Maps platform and cartographic system. Simplified basemap color complexity and improved accessibility across light and dark modes. Defined motion tied to user intent. Launched large-scale data layers including COVID, Weather, and Air Quality. Helped frame Maps as a platform for contextual data.
Google Material Design2017
Data Visualization Spec
Creator and co-author of Google's Data Visualization spec. Initiated a cross-company effort spanning 12 product orgs. Authored internal and public guidance published on Material.io. Seeded a dedicated data visualization discipline inside Google.
Let's work together
Available for part-time consulting.
Interested in iterative work with small teams.