Lauren Celenza (she/they) is a UX designer, writer, and educator. Through design consulting and team training, she partners with organizations worldwide to develop tech products and industry practices that thoughtfully consider the relationships to our environments, our communities, and ourselves.

As an independent UX designer, I partner with product, UX, and engineering teams worldwide–connecting the dots across their teams, research, and design systems to catalyze their growth in a time of uncertainty and information fatigue. I do this through design consulting, product strategy, team training, and community building. Recent organizations I’ve worked with include: World Resources Institute (climate), Coursera (online learning), PlatformAbuse.org (trust & safety), Swiggy (urban mobility), and Hmnty Cntrd (future of work, wellbeing).

Formerly, I worked as a Design Lead at Google, where I led a global, multidisciplinary team towards the path of making Google Maps navigation inclusive for motorbikes, public transit, and communities new to the internet, offering clarity amid the chaos of urban transportation. I implemented changes to Google’s product development process and design system to dismantle silos and develop relationships with communities, startups, and activists, guiding teams towards inclusive and transparent technology. This process culminated in a series of product launches that resulted in millions of previously excluded businesses, addresses, routes, and several languages being mapped out for the first time in Google Maps history. In tandem, thousands of new people joined the Google Maps Local Guides community worldwide.

I also served as an early member of the Alphabet Workers Union, where I advocated for healthy workplace conditions for data centers across the US and petitioned against the discrimination of ethical AI researchers. Before Google, I designed projects for The Gates Foundation, P&G, Viacom, Citizen Schools, Gates Ventures, Wikipedia, and more. I started my career in book and brand design. 

I teach the course, Design in a World of Chaos & Uncertainty, to design, engineering, product, and marketing students at Harbour.Space University in Barcelona and Bangkok. Through interactive games and activities, design and research exercises, and vulnerable storytelling, I teach methods for building equitable and inclusive design systems, how to alleviate fear, harm, and uncertainty in tech products today, and how to advocate for ourselves in the workplace. In June 2022, there were 20 countries represented in one hybrid classroom. 

Through personal storytelling, cultural analysis, and reportage, I write essays on tech, humanity, and the workplace. My essays and commentaries have appeared in Forbes, In These Times, The Economic Times, UX Collective, People Nerds, among others. 

I'm the author of the newsletter, How to Work in Tech Without Losing Your Soul, where I report on the messy relationship between humanity and technology, how tech is changing our everyday relationships, and pathways towards a healthier, inclusive industry. In 2022, I petitioned for the Silenced No More Act, making Washington state the second in the nation to pass this bill, barring employers in the state from using NDAs to prevent workers from talking about instances of illegal discrimination, retaliation, and wage violations. I grew up in rural Ohio during the decline of manufacturing and the rise of tech, witnessing industry disruption and work-life imbalance from a young age.

My work has been selected for writing workshops at Tin House, Barrelhouse, and Catapult, and I’ve learned from award-winning authors like Nadia Owusu, Lilly Dancyger, Cinelle Barnes, Meredith Talusan, and Lidia Yuknavitch.