Malika Kanatbek
Lead Product Designer. Stanford UXDS.
About me
I'm a Product Designer shaping how students navigate one of the world's most complex universities. Based in the Bay Area, I lead UX and design at Stanford — building systems, tools, and interfaces used by tens of thousands of people every quarter.
My Master's in Learning, Design, and Technology gave me more than a design degree — it grounded me in learning sciences: how people acquire knowledge, build mental models, and make decisions under cognitive load. That lens shapes everything I design. I pair it with a B.A. in Journalism from the American University of Central Asia, which taught me to ask the right questions before reaching for any solution.
Stanford Bulletin
Unified academic source of truth — replacing three fragmented legacy tools
CCC Design System
180+ components in Figma and Storybook powering Stanford's academic platform
Navigate Classes
Replaced Stanford's broken class search — 336K views/wk, growing 40%+ WoW
Navigate Enrollment
2 screens replaced a paid agency — used by 17,000+ students every quarter
These products were redesigned and built from scratch using AI as a core tool — same UX rigor, from research and information architecture to fully deployed experience.
Cayu
A distributed network of AI agents that designs, builds, ships, and operates custom software.
Avitutor
AI tutor that helps you speak and read English better — through real conversations, real articles, and vocabulary practice that feels nothing like a lesson.
Clever Med Clinic
Premium integrative medicine clinic — evidence-based and functional medicine.
How I think, and what I build with.
Occasional essays from my Substack.
Open to discussing new projects, design collaborations, or product design opportunities.
malikanatbek@gmail.com