I helped shape an experience that brings the context people already have in other tools into Canva AI, so they can create without starting from scratch. I coached the early vision, brought designers together, and helped turn launch feedback into decisions.
I helped teams bring data from other tools into Canva, then use it in Sheets, turn it into charts or make designs in bulk.
Import data into Canva SheetsBring data from tools like HubSpot into a Canva Sheet and work with it there.Import data into chartsConnect your data to a chart and make the pattern easier to see.Use data to design at scaleFill text and images with your data, then create a batch of personalised designs.
In 2024, I led design for Apps SDK v2. I also worked with Growth on app bundling and helped shape the foundations for premium Canva apps, giving developers more ways to build and earn.
Before Canva, I led the team in shaping a vision for Gumtree’s transactional strategy, exploring how buyers and sellers could pay, arrange delivery and track an item.
I helped shape API Everywhere with product and engineering partners: a strategy to make Canva’s creative capabilities easier for other products and AI to build on.
Good foundations make it easier for more people to build on Canva.
Together, we worked out which capabilities to open up, who would own them, and how to support them over time. I helped set the direction, bring teams together and shape guidance for each stage.
Discover
Own
Launch
Evolve
Still curious. Still making.
How I got here
Alwayscurious.
I’m Juan Córdoba, a product design leader working across ecosystems, apps and AI. I like asking “what if?”, then giving ideas enough shape that we can try them together.
At Canva, I lead design for the ecosystem platform, helping teams connect creative tools and the people who build on them. My work moves between setting direction, coaching designers and getting hands-on with the details. I care about how an interaction feels and how the whole experience fits together.
One sketch led to another.
How did I get here?
I started in graphic design, making icons, and eventually found my way to Australia. Sketching, designing and building are how I think things through, whether I’m exploring an interaction or working out where a whole product could go. I like giving an idea enough shape that we can try it, question it, and find something we hadn’t considered.
I started at Canva in Admin Experience, spending my first six months or so as a Group Product Design Lead before joining Ecosystem. Before that, I led the product design team at Gumtree, imagining what buying and selling could become. Now, apps, the Ecosystem platform and new ways to create with AI keep giving me fresh things to figure out.
What if we tried this?
What’s exciting me right now?
Right now, I’m excited about how short the distance between an idea and a working thing has become. It brings back some of the excitement I felt about the early web: so much to learn, so many things to try.
I’m exploring what I can make with creative apps, AI agents and Model Context Protocol (MCP) connectors. That means sketching, sharing references, prompting, revising and seeing how well the tools work together. Through Juan Creates, I want to share those building journeys: the decisions, the rough edges and what I learn along the way.
A few more revisions…
One prompt and you’re done?
There’s usually a lot of thinking and iteration behind a polished demo. Building something changes my understanding of what it should be. I try an idea, look closely at the result, and change direction when it teaches me something new.
Judgement, taste and good questions matter throughout that process. I bring them to the teams I coach and the tools I explore. Being able to imagine something and have a real shot at building it is what excites me about what we’re making at Canva, and what I might make next.
I helped Lysn move beyond its first MVP, working with founder Jonathan King on a clearer experience for people seeking support and the practitioners helping them.