Emma van Niekerk

Emma van Niekerk is an experienced UX leader with a diverse background in design and education. Currently serving as a Senior UX Lead at Google Labs and Google AR since January 2019, Emma manages cross-functional teams to enhance user experience across various platforms, including the Google Phone app. Previous positions include Director of Product Design at Intercom and Gradle Inc., where Emma led design teams and was responsible for user experience from initial engagement to activation. As a design instructor at UC Berkeley Extension and Cooper, Emma developed and taught courses in User Interface and Interaction Design. Emma’s professional journey also includes co-founding Urbantag, working as Principal Interaction Designer at Cooper, and serving in UX roles at Microsoft and USPS/Carnegie Mellon University. Emma holds a Master of Design in Interaction Design from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Arts in Information Design from the University of Pretoria.