I grew up on animated movies. Like many kids in the 1990s, this meant I watched most of the Disney classics on VHS including; Dumbo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Snow White. But unlike many kids, I only watched the Japanese versions of these movies. Both of my sisters were enrolled in Japanese school and my mom bought these "foreign" films  to help immerse them. While this could've worked if we knew some Japanese to begin with, we're a Chinese-American family. Although not able to understand what was being said, I had little trouble understanding what was going on. The language barriers almost invisible with the story being portrayed by the character design and environments alone. This inspired me to learn how to draw. Without any art lessons, I just copied from Youtube art covers and perspective from the graffiti on the side of I-5 in LA. Later, I pursued Graphic Design at university where I more formally learned how to be creative and for the past ten years, I've honed my skills to create detailed, unique, and compelling graphics that tell a consistent story.

Tools: Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom), Figma, Photography, Autodesk Maya
Skills: Branding/Design Systems, Color Theory, Typography, Illustration, Print Media, Wireframing, Icon Design, Storyboarding, Mobile Design, Social Media Design, Ideating

I like to skip forward. In one of my  courses we were told to make a presentation about any notable artist mentioned in the textbook and I skipped to the final chapter where John Maeda was listed. I remember only feeling, "I want to do what he's doing." With an insufficient amount of course offerings in interactive technology, I took a gap year to enhance my skills for web design and look at other programs. I made the decision to go to UC Davis for a design track that specialized in the design x tech space that I craved.

In my first quarter I was able to slide into a computational design course where I met Katia Vega. I exhausted the design technology track, pursuing physical computing and wearable electronics. She let me join her lab, where I got first hand experience working with applied technologies, learning computer vision, and understanding biodegradable devices. I was able to pursue my own research project investigating tangible user interfaces, using relief punctures to create dynamically-changing, and highly responsive physical changes. This unique research-driven approach to design inspired me to look for lectures, conferences, and research presentations to understand what new trends and technologies are being developed and dream about incorporate these into my own work.
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During my seven years of school, the most influential text I've read was Dunne & Raby's Speculative Everything. This book shifted my focus from the far future, to the near future. Every breakthrough has significance, gradually building towards a future that you want.

Tools: Tableau, R, Python, HTML/CSS/JS, Mobile Design, Arduino, Processing, ArcGIS
Skills: 3D Printing, Soldering, Physical Prototyping, Web Development, Image Processing, Schematic Design, Soft Robotics, Wearable Technology, Product Research, Data Visualization,

Empathy is everything. In my passion for design x technology, I had forgotten the most crucial aspect, the end-user! Instead I was making things to be innovative, a fault that many companies can relate to, as opposed to solving real problems. It was hard to come up with a compelling "why-" statement without making it too abstract or over-inflating its purpose. My  approach shifted from the science-fiction to the modern day application.

I joined the UC Placemaking Initiative primarily to chase my inspiration from a one-off art show in Sacramento called the Art Hotel. This limited-time exhibition was about giving artists free reign to transform a building before its demolition as commentary on gentrification. Despite being perceived as solely art, the importance of the experience felt more perceivable than the technical research I was conducting. At the UC Placemaking Initiative I strove to help amplify community through coordinating art grants, lectures, tools, and workshops regarding architecture, community-based programs, holograms, and even simple chatrooms. I knew there was still a lot missing from my knowledge on user-centered design so I decided to pursue a masters degree.

At University of Washington, it felt natural shifting my focus to public health. I've spent all my life driving up and down California, looking at scales of extreme wealth and economic disparity. Coupled with my history of coordinating medical outreach events, experience with adolescent mental health crisis, and witnessing the impact of substance abuse, I wanted to help make change. Although a global pandemic soured the experience, I managed to work with organizations to make their services for efficient and effective while learning the tools to evaluate human behavior and create human-centered products.

Tools: Miro, Mural, Google Sheets, Excel, RedCap, Google Forms, Google Analytics, Bing Webmaster, Snov.io
Skills: Usability Studies, Quantitative User Research, Qualitative Research, Survey Design, User Interviews, Concept Mapping, Co-Participatory Studies, Information Architecture, User Recruitment, Journey Mapping, Concept Testing,  A/B Testing, Accessibility Design

Change is incremental. The short-term future is all about these increments, and how we can build on what currently exists as stepping stones into the future we want. Where resources are limited, and they often are, it's how to plan to make positive change out of minimal resources.

I have gained  experience in overseeing multiple creative projects, navigating multiple resource constraints. I have worked with clients and management to identify business goals and create actionable project timelines for product launches. I have worked closely with key stakeholders and teams of creatives, financial, legal, engineering, and external vendors to ensure projects are met on time while meeting requirements. These interdisciplinary teams are kept on track with team-wide meetings organized with detailed notes, meeting agendas, and necessary project updates to gather critical information and gain stakeholder buy-in.  leverage my multifaceted background to help facilitate communication, improve quality, and identify critical issues. I can identify prospective projects for future improvements and develop product roadmaps with detailed steps on how to build, deploy, and test for effectiveness with the end user.

Tools: Powerpoint, Monday, Trello, LinkedIn, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Gmail
Skills: Service Design, Design Strategy, Creative Project Management, Stakeholder buy-in, Product Roadmaps, Multi-platform campaigns, Interdisciplinary Team Management, Feedback Review, Design Hand-off, Asset Management,