Twitter Inc Loses Its Design Chief

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Twitter’s bad patch doesn’t seem to end. It lost one more crucial executive, and this time, it is the VP of Design, Mike Davidson. He joined the micro-blogging firm in 2012, immediately taking up leadership of the design team at that time.

No replacement yet

On Monday, Davidson shared his departure news via a tweet. Davidson, who will remain at Twitter until February, had been involved with most of the new product launches at the company over the past three years, including Moments, a new multimedia feature launched in October.

“Personal news: After 3+ years leading Design @Twitter, I’m leaving in Feb to take the 1st break from work in my life. Thank you & GO TEAM,” Davidson tweeted today. “To be a little more clear, I am leaving @Twitter permanently, but it will always be with me!”

Davidson was living in Seattle before he joined Twitter, and most likely he will be heading back, says a report from Re/code citing unnamed sources. A company spokesperson confirmed Davidson’s departure, saying they do not have a replacement lined up yet.

Executive exodus – a big issue for Twitter

The long-running executive exodus has become a major problem for the micro-blogging firm. The issue was at its peak in 2014 and has continued this year as well. In only last two weeks, Twitter lost several employees, including Davidson and engineer Utkarsh Srivastava, with whose help the company built its ads business. The head of Twitter’s video ad program, Glenn Otis Brown, also departed, leaving for Google, while Brown went to Betaworks.

The reasons for Davidson’s departure from Twitter are not clear for now. In his three-year stint with the micro-blogging firm, Davidson has seen a lot of turnover, and maybe he is looking for something new. Presently, Twitter is going through a transformation phase under new CEO Jack Dorsey, who is making sincere efforts to solidify the executive team at the company, and this departure will be a tough one for the company to swallow.

Since Dorsey returned to Twitter as interim CEO this summer, many notable product and design employees have left. Dorsey himself is a well-known product and design guy. Presently, Twitter is hiring for many vital profiles, including VP of Communications, a head of Corporate Development, a Chief Marketing Officer and now a design leader too.

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