Essential’s Head of UX Heads to Google

Essential’s head of UX, Liron Damir, is headed to Google to fill the same role on the Google Home team. Before Essential, Damir led the webOS design team at HP and then Pebble. In a post published to Damir’s LinkedIn profile, he states he is, “super excited and proud to be joining Google today to lead the design of Google Home products.”

The departure of Damir probably isn’t exciting news for Essential, as the company is still working to launch the phone it announced back in May. Last we heard, the phone should be launching in a couple of weeks.

For Google, the hire makes complete sense. At Google I/O this year, the company showcased how Google Home will be improving over the coming months, including the ability to push info directly to a Chromecast-connected television. For this visual experience, a head of UX sounds like a solid plan, especially one with as much experience as Damir.

More importantly, come on, Essential, where’s that phone?

// Variety | LinkedIn