Her Story
About Crystal
Crystal Aya is a Senior Product Designer at Optum, where she specializes in designing user-centered experiences that simplify complex behavioral healthcare systems. With nearly a decade of experience spanning front-end development and UX design, she has built a career translating intricate workflows into intuitive, scalable solutions that improve access to care. Her work sits at the intersection of healthcare, artificial intelligence, and experience design, where she leads initiatives to modernize legacy platforms, unify fragmented systems, and create seamless digital experiences for care advocates, providers, and patients.
Crystal's career began in front-end development after studying psychology at Hunter College, part of the City University of New York, and expanding her technical expertise through computer science coursework at the CUNY School of Professional Studies. Although she entered UX design without formal training in the discipline, she successfully transitioned through years of hands-on experience facilitating design workshops, leading stakeholder collaboration, and applying human-centered design principles. Prior to joining Optum, she held product design and UX engineering roles at Airship, Infinity Insurance, TicketBiscuit, and Nineteenth Amendment, where she developed expertise in product strategy, design systems, agile methodologies, and cross-functional collaboration.
Beyond her professional work, Crystal is passionate about exploring the future of human-centered design and the role emerging technologies play in shaping meaningful experiences. She researches and writes about the intersection of AI, healthcare innovation, service design, and the ethics of designing for humanity, believing that every organization has a responsibility to create experiences that help people thrive. Her commitment to service extends beyond her career through volunteer work with A Better Chance, reflecting her dedication to expanding opportunities for others. Guided by curiosity, empathy, and a systems-thinking mindset, Crystal continues to push the boundaries of experience design while creating products that are both technologically advanced and deeply human.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Crystal
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to the combination of hands-on experience, continuous learning, and a passion for solving meaningful problems. Over the past 8–10 years, I've had the opportunity to grow as a UX designer, and in my current role as a Senior UX Designer at Optum Health, I help create AI-enabled behavioral health workflows that improve experiences for providers, care advocates, and patients. My educational background in psychology and computer science from CUNY Hunter College has given me a unique perspective, allowing me to blend human-centered design with technical expertise to develop thoughtful, impactful solutions.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
You can have a successful career that you love and be able to help others as she had some excellent mentors like Adam Stevenson who was an inspiration to her, and helped her advance in further her skillset in her career.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Learn how to leverage relationships. Right now, AI can do a lot of the technical work. That's still left to be done is being able to coordinate between teams, and that takes relationship.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Being able to stay connected with others that are like minded and can help each other advance in their careers
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that guide both my work and personal life are empathy, connection, creativity, and service. I'm passionate about building meaningful relationships, whether I'm collaborating with colleagues in a remote environment or volunteering with A Better Chance, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding educational opportunities for talented students. I believe the human touch is essential, and I strive to create authentic connections that foster trust and collaboration.
Outside of work, I value being present with my family and making time to recharge. I'm a proud wife and mom, and my husband, who is a high school art teacher, and I enjoy expressing our creativity together. Whether I'm playing tennis or pickleball, getting lost in a good book, or reflecting through journaling, I find that these moments help me stay grounded, inspired, and bring my best self to both my personal and professional life.
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