Liya Safina is a digital designer and innovation expert living in Hawaii. Over the years she has experienced a variety of leadership scenarios, from bootstrapping a startup to designing for the future city built by Toyota in Japan. Her zone of genius is in building digital products utilizing frontier technologies – from XR and smart homes to blockchain and AI.
She is a founder of Safina & Shekhtman, Inc, which aims to build a future where technology serves human needs, instead of humans serving revenue models. Liya is currently collaborating with Google’s AR/VR team and serves as an executive advisor at Verbal+Visual.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
Living in sunny Hawaii can be distracting, so my rule of thumb is to block all my work from 6am to 1pm. This allows me to be productive in the morning and enjoy the beach and mountains in the afternoon. By scheduling this way, I eliminate the temptation to slack off.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I’m a big believer in cross-pollination, where innovative ideas come from unexpected sources. For example, designing a dating app feature might draw inspiration from e-commerce or gaming, and vice versa. By looking at different fields, I find unique and original solutions. And it’s fun!
What’s one trend that excites you?
Diegetic UI is a really exciting approach that’s blending menus / controls seamlessly into the user’s environment. This is a new trend that came from gaming space, now slowly making its way into AR, VR, and XR world. I believe we’ll see it more and more in the experiential design that’s going to become bigger in the next couple of years.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
I stack achievements to build momentum. Starting the day with small, easy tasks gives me a sense of accomplishment, making it easier to tackle bigger challenges. If I’m stuck, I switch to a smaller task to regain focus and energy. Dopamine hit gets the momentum going!
What advice would you give your younger self?
Always start from the users, the bullseye audience who could be potentially your biggest fan and will recommend you elsewhere. Forget about everybody else, forget about 90% of the people who could be consuming your products and services and focus on the 10% of the most motivated potential fans.
Dedicate time: read their takes on reddit, get on phone calls with them, offer free office hours, do anything you can to really dive deep into their psychology and solve a problem for them. Everybody else will follow.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you.
It’s okay to be cringe. Embrace your passions and talk about them frequently, even if it feels awkward at first. Climbing “cringe mountain” is tough, but once you reach the top, you start attracting opportunities non-stop.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Watch a lot of really good TV shows and approach them from the angle of user experience, design, and storytelling.
A lot of people watch shows very passively just for pure entertainment, but I really love peeking behind the scenes and trying to understand how was the narrative crafted… How was the character backstory developed? What was that location scouting experience like? How were the VFX effects created? This approach enriches my work as a product designer and strategist.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
I like to “gaslight myself” into focus – create momentum by proactively seeking inspiration. Listening to interviews or exploring relevant content without pressure helps me generate ideas and regain focus. This method jumpstarts my creativity and makes tasks easier.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
I focus on attracting clients organically by sharing my genuine passions and insights. Instead of asking for favors, I draw like-minded professionals and clients to me. So I really believe in growing your business organically and if you really believe in the idea, people pick up on that passion, nobody can question it.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
As an immigrant from Europe, adapting to the US mindset was challenging. I had to pause and relearn the local mentality to design effectively… Took me over 8 months. This experience was tough, but it expanded my creative palette, making me a better designer with a broader perspective.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
Linkedin meets Tinder on empathy steroids — an app that matches students with professionals for mentorship, not just internships. Using a dating app-style algorithm, it would consider professional goals and personal passions to create meaningful mentor-mentee relationships.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
Flux (https://justgetflux.com/) changes screen color based on time of day, protecting vision and reducing eye strain. It’s crucial for designers and night workers, making it a small but impactful tool.
What is the best $100 you recently spent?
A curved ultra-wide monitor, enhancing multitasking and productivity (I thrifted it!). It’s beneficial for anyone needing more screen space and can be found secondhand for added savings.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast from which you’ve received much value?
“Station Eleven” is a favorite; it underscores art’s importance in post-apocalyptic society. A creative reset that re-energizes and reminds us of the impact of our work in the arts. Page turner too!
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
“Ripley” on Netflix is a beautifully reimagined version of “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” Its cinematography and innovative storytelling show how old stories can be revitalized, revisited, refreshed — offering valuable lessons in narrative reinvention.
Key learnings:
- Innovations comes from cross-pollination — blending concepts from different fields, enhancing creativity and problem-solving.
- Embrace the cringe — persisting through initial awkwardness when promoting yourself can lead to amazing opportunities and motivated clients.
- Emerging trends I love — diegetic UI, which integrates interfaces seamlessly into the environment, is an exciting movement that will shape the future of AR, VR, and XR.