about ghaida zahran
designer, maker
background
i'm a designer of products and systems, and an all-purpose maker of things. i fell in love with computers at an early age, and learned to program BASIC on a Sakhr MSX when i was 7. i got kicked out of highschool for building a website (it's not what you think 😛), and eventually my coding skills made it possible for me to come to the United States and opened the doors to some of the world's most interesting companies like Netflix, Roblox, and others. i'm currently a Distinguished Designer at Mural.
"the standards Ghaida holds herself to are pushing the rest of the team, and that's a good thing for all of us."
what drives me
"Ghaida doesn't just identify what could work better, she builds scaffolding to make it happen."
i'm driven by play, exploration, and creativity. i like to experiment and tinker. i solve problems in ways that aren't obvious. making things is how i think and conversely when i'm not building, i feel small. it's why i still work on projects like Emdy when i run up against problems that haven't been solved.
i learned this the hard way when i tried management for a couple of years and discovered it was the worst version of me. going back to IC work wasn't a step down; it was coming home.
how i work
i have convictions grounded in evidence, not dogma. i'll voice my opinions even when they're uncomfortable, and i'll disagree and commit when i need to. i'll still be petty and say i told you so if the data proves me right, but i'm just as willing to admit when i'm wrong. when i am, i'd rather know quickly and move on. i realized mid-career that i was missing the business acumen piece to better inform my inclination to experiment, so i completed an MBA at Berkeley. i was told pursuing an MBA is unusual for a designer, but it helped shape how i think about systems, strategy, and the business context around the work.
"Ghaida's combination of confidence, experience, bias for action, and willingness to challenge the status quo is exactly what we needed during a period of significant change."
how i thrive
i thrive with autonomy, transparency, and the space to explore and debate freely. i enjoy collaborating with people who are open, forthcoming, and unafraid to express what they believe is right, even if we disagree. i'm allergic to following scripts or arguments that appeal to authority. i build things that matter, and i surround myself with people and work that make it playful, engaging, and creative. the case studies are the best place to see how this shows up in practice.
"Ghaida has a consistent ability to take a complex or contested point mid-discussion and restate it with precision that lands with the room. It makes us sharper as a team."
