Hi, I'm Giselle.
I help designers & our partners by being a
strategic executor,
empathetic leader,
organized mentor,
optimistic partner,
& trusted collaborator.
about
My niche is working with product design teams and organizational leadership to promote an environment for people to do their best work and further the mission.
As a manager I help individuals find that constantly-changing-just-right-balance of challenge and fulfillment. I listen deeply to team needs, synthesize, and advocate for the people doing the work. At an organizational level, I build community and move things forward by improving processes or relationships (often, these two overlap quite a bit).
I worked at Quora for six years where I took on various roles¹ as the design team and company evolved. I supported the work of a remarkable team of product designers, brand designers, researchers, and design managers. I cultivated trusting relationships with cross-functional partners² across the organization. When I left to take time off,³ I’d been the Head of Design for a year, leading product design, user research, and brand design.
Prior to Quora I was a design strategist at Level Studios, a small Bay Area agency with global clients. I spent most of my time as a design lead embedded onsite at Apple. We collaborated with employees and other consultants to conceptualize and build a new talent recruiting and management software. Other client projects included crafting business pitches, scoping research and design projects, co-designing and facilitating client workshops.
I spend time toting my kids around in a cargo bike, getting my hands dirty in clay, and maintaining an old house in Denver’s charming Capitol Hill neighborhood. When I lived in Savannah, I restored⁴ a distressed historic house with my now-husband and gave a TEDx talk on community and stewardship.
My roles at Quora in chronological order: Product Design Manager > Design Program Manager + Brand Design Manager > Sr. Design Manager > Moderation Team Product Manager > Head of Design
Peers and individuals from Engineering, Product Management, Data, Finance, People, Legal, Marketing, Ads, and members of the Exec team.
Knowing that three months is not enough from my first two babies, I decided to take a year off for my last parental leave. It’s been great and now it’s time to go back to work.
My career started in anthropology and historic preservation, preservation became a hobby when I went to grad school.
© 2023 Giselle Rahn