Esther J. Yip | History

About

History

About

History

I strive towards using design as a facilitative force for good, and doing right by those we design for / with.

✺
At Endowus, I lead design to drive meaningful outcomes, and align design with the broader goals of the business.

I set direction on design strategy initiatives and execute on 0-1 strategic priorities, as well as complex projects on personalisation, growth and advisory, most recently with AI-powered experiences.

Esther's design thinking goes well beyond UI into system complexity, and she has a rare ability to turn abstract strategy into something a team can build against. She was consistently ahead on AI-enabled ways of working, and she raised the design maturity of the whole company alongside her delivery.

She is regarded as strongly for her own craft and judgement as she was for how she led the team.

Gregory Van

CEO & Co-founder, Endowus
Manager during my time at Endowus

Esther's meticulous attention to detail provides us with a clear roadmap, highlighting critical decision points that require resolution before delving further into the design process.

She's able to pick up context quickly, ask the right questions to clarify her understanding, and provide thoughtful results ranging from designs to facilitating sessions.

Vinod Raman

Head of Product, Venmo
Manager during my time at Endowus

Esther is an exceptional designer and manager who leads with empathy and pushes everyone in the team to become a better designer. Her systems-level thinking has benefited not only the design projects she's worked on, but also the team's operations — improving the way we conduct design crits and driving our monthly retrospective sessions. Above all, her genuine care for others is what makes her not only a great manager and designer, but also an awesome human in general.

Yu Siang Teo

Staff Product Designer, Endowus
Report during my time at Endowus

She is regarded as strongly for her own craft and judgement as she was for how she led the team.

Gregory Van

CEO & Co-founder, Endowus
Manager during my time at Endowus

Esther's meticulous attention to detail provides us with a clear roadmap, highlighting critical decision points that require resolution before delving further into the design process.

She's able to pick up context quickly, ask the right questions to clarify her understanding, and provide thoughtful results ranging from designs to facilitating sessions.

Vinod Raman

Head of Product, Venmo
Manager during my time at Endowus

Yu Siang Teo

Staff Product Designer, Endowus
Report during my time at Endowus

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At Shopify, I led initiatives towards Marketplace Connect – a platform approach to sell across marketplaces, Checkout and Shopify Point of Sale.

In the early days of multi-channel commerce, I saw first-hand how Shopify innovated for scale, strategically partnering with social media giants to unlock opportunities for merchants.

Esther is a rare breed of designer who genuinely cares about the quality of her output, team process and culture. At Shopify, she consistently demonstrated her ability to distill ambiguous and large-scale projects for partners like Meta, while also maintaining effective communications with stakeholders. She is calm, kind, and diligent. You’d be lucky to work with her — I’d work with her again if I could.

Wenshu Kwek

Senior Product Designer, Meta
Peer during my time at Shopify

Esther is an amazing designer to work with. Not only is the output of her work always of extremely high quality, she is also passionate and takes full ownership of any work she owns. She is both detail-oriented and able to zoom out and consider the bigger picture at hand, and is able to give very useful and critical feedback to any design. Her superpower is that she is able to thrive in situations of high ambiguity, and dig deep to find answers to any questions she has.

Chelsea Tan

Senior Project Designer
Peer during my time at Shopify

Working with Esther has been a delight - on top of being able to distill and provide structure to ambiguous problems, she is very organised, thoughtful and conscientious.

On top of contributing from a UX perspective, she goes over and beyond, proactively investing time to improve team dynamics; an example is facilitating workshops which has improved the team's working styles.

Wei Qing Toh

Principle Engineer, DIS
Peer during my time at Shopify

Wenshu Kwek

Senior Product Designer, Meta
Peer during time in Shopify

Chelsea Tan

Senior Project Designer
Peer during my time at Shopify

Working with Esther has been a delight - on top of being able to distill and provide structure to ambiguous problems, she is very organised, thoughtful and conscientious.

Wei Qing Toh

Principle Engineer, DIS
Peer during my time at Shopify

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At GovTech, I worked at the intersection of product, policy and operations.

I led projects around streamlining the food support system in Singapore using technology, financial planning for citizens, and a front-and back-facing platform for processing work passes.

Awards

Paula Rhodes Memorial Award for Exceptional Achievement · School of Visual Arts, 2021

DesignSingapore Scholarship · DesignSingapore Council, 2019

MIT Grand Hack, Grand Prize winner (Mental Health) · Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2019

Women at Work Hackathon, Grand Prize winner · Lylas Labs, NYC, 2019

TTSH Make-a-thon, First Place · Tan Tock Seng Hospital, 2017

Workshops

Design Thinking for Media Innovation · Our Grandfather Story / UNFOLD Asia, 2023

UX/UI 101 · Singapore University of Technology & Design, 2017

Teaching

Interface Design · Nanyang Technological University, 2023

UX Design Immersive (Teaching Assistant) · General Assembly, 2015—2016

Writing

Reflections on designing beyond the interface · Endowus, 2026

Lessons on facilitating systems-level conversations · Government Digital Services, Singapore, 2021

My Hope for Design · NYC Design, 2020

Empathising with Persons with Disabilities · Medium, 2016

Talks, interviews & panels

"Designing the Future" Human Library · Tusitala x Singapore Design Week, 2024

Navigating the Journey from a Senior Designer to Design Lead · SEEK Design, 2024

Esther Yip on Empathy Driven Design · The SundayPyjamas Perspective, 2023

Interview Ready for UI/UX · Women Who Code, 2022

Design with People, not just for People · TU Delft, 2022

Chart Your Course To Become A UI/UX Designer · TechLadies, 2021

Design Ethics in a Parallel World · Archifest x DSG Associates Network, 2021

I strive towards using design as a facilitative force for good, and doing right by those we design for / with.

✺
At GovTech, I worked at the intersection of product, policy and operations.

I led projects around streamlining the food support system in Singapore using technology, financial planning for citizens, and a front-and back-facing platform for processing work passes.

Working manifesto

Cultivate trust

Approach with care and humility

Understand systems at play

Working manifesto

Cultivate trust

Approach with care and humility

Understand systems at play

Working manifesto

Cultivate trust

Approach with care and humility

Understand systems at play

I strive towards using design as a facilitative force for good, and doing right by those we design for / with.

✺At GovTech, I worked at the intersection of product, policy and operations. I led projects around streamlining the food support system in Singapore using technology, financial planning for citizens, and a front-and back-facing platform for processing work passes.

Working manifesto

Cultivate trust

Approach with care and humility

Understand systems at play

Working manifesto

Cultivate trust

Approach with care and humility

Understand systems at play

Working manifesto

Cultivate trust

Approach with care and humility

Understand systems at play

✺
At GovTech, I worked at the intersection of product, policy and operations.

I led projects around streamlining the food support system in Singapore using technology, financial planning for citizens, and a front-and back-facing platform for processing work passes.