Michael is the Vice President Product Design at Uber, leading a talented and diverse team of over 250 designers and researchers that are helping shape current and future versions of Uber experiences.
A longtime advocate for quality in digital experiences, Michael has become obsessed with the way the digital world interfaces with the physical world, and the way complex systems are created, adapted and disrupted.
Prior to joining Uber he was the Chief Design Officer for the Office Product Group at Microsoft. He also spent 10 years as the Vice President of Design at Adobe. Gough was the Chief Creative Officer at Macromedia, the Vice President of Brand Design at Nike, the Chief Creative Officer of Quokka Sports and the Creative Director of Construct. Prior to his move to the digital world he spent 12 years as an architect helping shape the physical world more directly.
Past Talks
8 October 2019
The future of Uber is far from determined, and the decisions and actions of Gough will help define it."The core of design is empathy. That's the starting point no matter what. That will always be how you address any product challenge. The classic way products were developed was you solved functional needs, and then maybe business needs, and then you lean heavily into human needs over time. This arc, all of the [PR] challenges aside, is a natural arc. The next big step is to become a company that's really, really good at connecting with people and people's needs."
