Nobu Nakaguchi

Nobu Nakaguchi is a Japanese-American designer and entrepreneur. Nobu is the Co-Founder & Chief Design Officer at Zola, a wedding registry and planning startup.

Previously, they were the Sr. Director of User Experience at Gilt Groupe, heading and managing the UX team across the company. Nobu was responsible for defining a singular vision, fostering team communication, defining hiring processes, managing resources, supporting career development, evangelising UX internally and externally, and improving design deliverables.

Before Gilt Groupe, Nakaguchi was the User Experience Lead for New Business & Strategy at Interpublic Group (IPG), leading creative efforts across key new business pitches, including Microsoft, Verizon, and Intel for Ansible Mobile of IPG.

Nakaguchi has also founded their own design consultancy, nn27. As Design Director, they provided product strategy direction, design direction, and specifications for rich mobile and web experiences for startups and more established clients, including Gilt Groupe, Jetsetter, HopStop, OMGICU, Producteev, Match.com, and Nomi. Notable projects include: Gilt on the Go iPhone, Gilt iPad, Jetsetter iPhone and Match.com iPad.

Nobu Nakaguchi received their Bachelor of Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University and their Master’s Degree in ITP from New York University.

Nobu Nakaguchi reports to Shan-Lyn Ma, CEO. They are on a team with Connie Cyran - VP, Merchandising, Kate Furst - SVP, Operations, and Suzanne Lee - SVP, Legal.