My Career Arc

Intro

— Hi, I’m Anu. I’m currently a senior product design lead at Yelp. I’m based out of the San Francisco Bay Area. Throughout my career, I’ve dabbled between IC & manager roles and enjoy the transformation & challenges that come along with it.

What I’m currently up to

— IC is the new flex. To get closer to the craft and building again, I intentionally transitioned back into a full-time IC role. Before this, I was a Senior Design Manager at Yelp, leading a team of five product designers.

How my day-to-day looks

— I lead end-to-end design, UX vision, strategy, and execution for Yelp's consumer content ecosystem—including reviews, photos, videos, new content experiences, Community Q&A, and AI-powered experiences.

What I believe in

— Building a culture of continuous learning, candid feedback, design excellence, attention to details, and strong cross-functional relationships. I also deeply care about people, and believe in helping them do their best work while also having fun!

What are my super powers

— I'm a good listener, a pragmatic visionary, and someone who enjoys making thoughtful, high-quality product decisions quickly.

What are my side projects?

— I'm currently leading Yelp's first AI Design Enablement initiative, helping 50+ designers adopt AI-powered workflows & processes, understand productivity gains, and prototype faster while raising the bar for craft. I'm also passionate about designing products with personality and delight—experiences that feel like they have a soul.

What I’ve been up to before:

— Before my current role, I designed e-commerce, SaaS, monetization, payments, and cancellation experiences on Yelp's business platform. Earlier in my career, I worked in New York and Boston, leading digital transformation projects across 50+ brands. One highlight was leading the end-to-end Samsung USA e-commerce experience—from product discovery and PDPs to checkout and post-purchase experiences.

My Personal Story

I’m an ambivert driven by intuition, high EQ, resilience, and a desire to solve meaningful people problems.

I grew up in the small town of Aurangabad, India, where, at age 10, I dreamt of becoming the Prime Minister — simply because I couldn’t stand the civic problems around me. That instinct to notice, care, and fix never left me. Today, I try bring that same drive into product design — finding user problems fascinating and solving them fulfilling.

Raised by hardworking, middle-class parents who modeled authenticity, treating people specially, and relentless grit, I moved to the U.S. in 2011 to unlock the next level of my life.

Starting humbly as a junior UX designer at a Boston agency to a Senior Design Manager at Yelp and now back to a full time IC role, I’ve grown by pushing past comfort zones, staying curious, hard work, continuous learning, and always connecting the dots.

Currently based in the Bay Area, I live a joyful, intentional life with my high-EQ toddler, husband, and two beautiful, Bernedoodle & Labradoodle dogs. Outside work, you’ll find me designing home spaces, building Legos, organizing, or figuring out how to raise emotionally strong kids. Some of my favorite things are legos, fashion and beautiful things.

What drives me? A belief in being world-class — if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing exceptionally.

📩 Drop a line: anushri.thanedar@gmail.com