Sana Maqsood · UX Design Leader · Professor

UX Design Lead and Manager

Amazon Supply Chain Portal

Problem: Amazon’s supply chain capabilities were spread across separate services and experiences, making it difficult for merchants to discover, adopt, and manage their operations.
Solution: A unified platform bringing inventory, orders, shipments, returns, planning, analytics, and AI-powered assistance into one experience.
My Role: Led UX strategy and designers across the platform, from launching the new console to shaping its evolution into an action-oriented, AI-powered supply chain experience.
Opportunity: $12B off-Amazon opportunity by 2031
2K+ registrations
8+ services unified

Lead UX Designer

Amazon Buy with Prime

Problem: Shoppers buying directly from brands often missed the convenience, speed, and trust of their Prime shopping experience on Amazon.
Solution: Buy with Prime brings the benefits of Prime shopping off Amazon, giving Prime members fast, free delivery, easy returns, and a familiar checkout experience directly on participating brands’ sites.
My Role: Led UX across key Buy with Prime experiences, shaping product strategy and end-to-end customer journeys across checkout, orders, returns, cancellations, and multi-item shopping.
Impact: 880+ merchants onboarded
20+ major brands
2.69M Orders views

Senior UX Designer

AWS FinTech

Problem: AWS finance teams managed billions of product SKUs through fragmented tools and manual workflows, making financial data difficult to manage and scale.
Solution: PLATO, an enterprise financial platform that centralized product data and gave teams and executives a unified view of AWS financial information.
My Role: Led UX from 0→1, defining the product experience and partnering with Product and Engineering to launch the platform in four months.
Impact: Used by AWS C‑suite
348B SKUs onboarded
1,300+ users
P0 in 4 months

Sana presenting from a standing desk beside a projected slide

Sana in front of her talk slide, “Is UX a good fit for you?”

Adjunct Professor, Integrated Design & Media at NYU Tandon

New York University

Focus: Teach graduate-level courses in UX Design & Research, UX & Augmented Reality, and Engineering Research Methods, helping students connect research, emerging technology, and human-centered design.
My Role: Develop course curriculum, lead lectures and workshops, mentor student teams, bring in industry speakers, and connect academic learning to real-world product and design practice.
Impact: 60+ graduate students taught and mentored
Helped students pursue UX and product design roles
Built connections between academia and industry through guest speakers and career programming
Grew a broader academic network across design schools and universities

Panel discussion, “Are We Designing What’s Next or Improving What Exists?”

Sana speaking to an audience in a grand hall

Global talks, panels, academic engagements

Public Speaking

Focus: I speak on UX design, AI, emerging technology, biosensors, design leadership, and building human-centered experiences.
My Role: Speaker, panelist, and educator, sharing lessons from my work across Amazon, Afterpay, NYU, SOOD, and experimental technology.
Impact: Invited to speak at UX on the Beach in Italy, UX Days at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Afterpay conferences, NYU panels, and other industry and academic events in the U.S. and internationally.

NYU Graduate Thesis

Waves of Us

Problem: How might we use signals from the human body to better understand people and design more responsive, meaningful experiences?
Solution: Waves of Us, an immersive sonic experience that transformed real-time EEG brain activity into synchronized sound and visuals, allowing participants to experience their biometric data in a new way.
My Role: Developed as my NYU master’s thesis, leading the concept, research, interaction design, and physical installation from end to end.
Impact: Invited to speak on biosensors and human-centered technology at UX on the Beach in Italy and UX Days at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Exhibited through Maison Mono and GUI/GOOEY by Plexus Projects

Founder & Creative Director

SOOD

Problem: Much of contemporary jewelry and lifestyle design follows familiar trends, leaving little room for bold self-expression and distinctive forms.
Solution: SOOD, a jewelry and lifestyle brand built around sculptural forms, bold silhouettes, and statement pieces across fashion, accessories, and wearable objects.
My Role: Founder, Creative Director, and Designer, leading the brand vision and designing all clothing and jewelry collections from concept through execution.
Impact: Featured in Vogue, ELLE, Glamour, Vanity Fair, and Harper’s Bazaar
Built and led an 8–10 person creative team
Developed collections across jewelry, apparel, and wearable technology

I design. I lead. I make.

I’m a Design Leader at Amazon and an Adjunct Professor at New York University, where I lead designers, shape UX strategy, and teach the next generation of designers.

I work at the intersection of design, technology, and business, turning complex systems into experiences that feel simple. Over the past 12+ years, I’ve worked across e-commerce, fintech, enterprise, and AI.

My work increasingly focuses on AI and agent-based experiences, exploring how emerging technology can make products more useful, intuitive, and human.

Beyond Amazon and New York University, I’m the founder of SOOD, a Board Member at Insight Arts, a mentor to 100+ designers, and a global speaker on design and emerging technology.

Designer · Leader · Professor · Founder · Maker

Sana seated on a clear stool in a black suit and amber sunglasses, hands clasped

12+Years designing
100+Designers mentored
60+Students taught
3New business launches

Experience

Amazon2020 — PresentLead UX Designer, Design Manager
New York University2024 — PresentAdjunct Professor
Brainstation2024Lead Instructor
First Republic Bank2020UX/UI Designer II
SOOD2020 — 2025Founder and Creative Director
Afterpay2019 — 2020Product Design Lead
Thomson Reuters2017 — 2019UX Designer and Account Manager
NASDAQ2016 — 2017Account Manager
PwC2015 — 2016Risk Assurance Associate

Testimonials

“Sana is the ultimate go-getter. During our time working together at Amazon, she was always the first to raise her hand to take on new tasks and challenges for the team and her own growth.”

Emily WisserSenior UX DesignerManaged Sana at Amazon

“Sana is an inspiration. … Her generosity and dedication to her craft is deeply admirable, and I am proud to regard her as my mentor!”

Lauren TsaoUX Designer, Motion Designer & Art DirectorSana’s student at NYU

“Sana is a humble, hungry, and smart teammate that we were fortunate to work with. … Sana’s thorough thinking process is the key to our team’s success!”

Han QinCo-Founder & CEO, JarsyManaged Sana directly

“Sana’s mentorship was truly one of the most valuable parts of my learning journey. … I always walked away from our meetings with very detailed and actionable feedback, which empowered me to keep improving.”

Teresa Ng ChenUX Designer, IHGMentored by Sana at Springboard