We invite you to watch the sixth and final episode of our Exploring Careers in Creative Design series.
Yina Smith-Danenhower ‘09, Head of Product Design, XAPP AI. Since her years at Middlebury, Yina has been a dancer/choreographer, an architectural designer, UX designer, and now a conversational designer at XAPP AI where she directs a creative review process to ensure coherency with design principles and the design language system through contribution and collaboration with the team. After graduating from Middlebury with a degree in Dance and International Studies, she applied her academic preparations as an independent dance choreographer and performer for three years in New York City. Yina subsequently pursued a Masters in Architecture at the Harvard University School of Design, and after graduating, worked as a Senior Architectural Assistant with LWK & Partners Ltd. in Hong Kong. She ultimately determined that UX/UI design and more specifically voice/conversation design was the place to bring her design interests and accelerating technological innovation together in her current role.
About the Creative Design series: Design is absolutely everywhere—from the clothes we wear to the apps we use; from the cars we drive to the chairs we sit on. As a designer, you have the power to shape the world in which we live. The global market for design services is expected to be nearly $250 billion by 2022. This series includes interviews with many professionals who will share their vantage points on how they use creative design in their career roles, their paths from campus to career, and career advice they would have for students interested in this career space.
Exploring Careers in Creative Design is a collaborative series developed by the Center for Careers and Internships and Middlebury in DC with content contributions from members of the Middlebury Professional Network and Middlebury students.