I’m Mayene.
Hello there! Since I get this question often: it’s pronounced “my-en”, spelled with one “n” and a silent “e” at the end.
I’m a 1st gen Filipina-American multidisciplinary designer, accessibility advocate, and mentor, born and raised in the Bay Area, living in San Francisco, with 15+ years of experience packed chaotically away in my donut-themed work bag (and brain).
I’ve led product, accessibility, and inclusive design at agencies and startups, bringing my experience, compassion, and love of what goes on in people’s brains into the industry. Working within the constraints of messy, broad topics like healthcare, education, or civic tech that can have many systemic barriers and issues is a challenge that energizes me.
What do I carry in my bag?
UX Design & Product Strategy
My skillset covers a wide range of design, and with that I help teams see both short and long-term visions with structured roadmaps that support business goals, whether that be in slide decks, Google Docs, Figma, Miro, JIRA and Confluence, or whatever software is in the company’s grasp (software is the easy part!).
Accessibility & Inclusive Design
Diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, accessibility: these are all must-haves, not just nice-to-haves. I bring this culture into all teams I collaborate with so the products and spaces we build are welcoming and engaging — these are mindsets and lifestyle changes, not just features to check a box for once or twice. A focus on ethical design facilitates meaningful, sometimes uncomfortable, but necessary conversations among teammates.
Creative Direction & Mentorship
With a background originating in graphic design and agency work, my transition into UI/UX and tech and how I approach product work has offered valuable insights to peers and other designers seeking guidance in their work and careers. Having to frequently adapt in an ever-changing field has helped me help others realize what their transferable skills are and how they can use what they already know to co-create meaningful products.
Perspective & Fun
I like to throw curveballs at people’s perception of designers: I’ve been an Android user since the dawn of the Droid Pro and I prefer to use PCs (in particular, the Surface series). I did however grow up with Macs, starting with the SE and Plus, so my adaptability and flexibility extends to hardware as well (though my pinky finger will sometimes forget that the Command key is not where the Ctrl key is). But since Steam games cater more to PC setups than Macs, I can bring a lot of gaming to virtual team-building, too!
What do others think?
“Mayene worked for me first as a designer and then as a design manager. She is extremely good at seeing the big picture and creating designs and strategies to meet the needs of the product within business constraints. She is both efficient and precise, which is a rare combination.”
Kathleen B.
Executive Product Leader in HealthTech
“From the start, Mayene was a warm and welcoming mentor on our design team and would check in with me as the newest hire to ensure I had the resources to succeed. She is natural at meeting people “where they’re at;” she practices what she preaches and follows through on commitments and responsibilities with the utmost sincerity. She is fantastic as both an IC and manager.”
Taylor S.
President & Co-Founder, Code.X
“Mayene is someone you’d like to have on your team, period. She draws on a wonderfully diverse set of experiences and interests while infusing her work with a clear sense of purpose and advocacy. She cares deeply about the impact she’s making and ensures you’re always moving toward a more inclusive process and output.”
Eric J.
UX, Service Design, and Experience Strategy Consultant
“Mayene tackled some of the thorniest product problems at Pear and did so with grace, patience, and a passion for building meaningful, impactful products through design. Additionally, her expertise in accessibility and inclusive design influenced all of our projects by meaningfully changing the way the company approached building products.
Culturally, she made us a much stronger, close-knit UX team. She understood that in a remote world, it’s so important for us all to connect as people and not just as designers.”
Justin K.
Design Leader + Product Designer
What am I currently into?
Playing:
1. Civilization VII
2. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
3. Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma
4. Balatro
Watching:
1. Extraordinary Attorney Woo
2. The Tale of Lady Ok
Waiting on next seasons of:
Campfire Cooking in Another World With My Absurd Skill
Delicious in Dungeon
Demon Slayer
Reading:
1. Babel, or the Necessity of Violence by R.F. Kuang
2. Junji Ito’s collections
3. Disability Intimacy edited by Alice Wong
Have questions?
I’m happy to chat about UX and Product Design opportunities, the work that I’ve done, and how we can work together to build meaningful products for patients, player 1s and 2s, and people all over.
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MDK 
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