Design System Architect with 20+ years building scalable, cross-cultural systems across the U.S. and Asia. Ex–W+K, IDEO, Microsoft, Yahoo. Now co-running UNIMAGINED Co., applying system thinking to brand and product work while exploring AI-assisted workflows and leading an AI Design Alliance community.
Experience
2024 — Now
U.S., Shanghai, and Japan
UNIMAGINED Co. is a cross-cultural design studio that blends system thinking, cultural insight, and AI-driven workflows to create brand systems and product experiences across the U.S. and Asia. My role focuses on shaping creative direction, defining scalable brand and product systems, and exploring new AI-enabled ways of working.
Beyond our studio practice, I co-founded the AI Design Alliance—a growing community where designers collaborate on emerging AI workflows, experiment with tools and prototypes, and host events that connect perspectives across regions and disciplines.
2015 — 2024
2015 — 2024
Sunnyvale, CA
Major contributor to Yahoo’s Global Design System—defining design principles, system guidelines, component structures, modules, and design process standards. Led the redesign and systemization of Yahoo Mail for its relaunch across desktop, iOS, Android, and iPad/tablet. I additionally redesigned AOL’s “Yellow Man” character for the brand refresh.
2012 — 2015
2012 — 2015
Taipei
Led creative direction and regional system strategy for Yahoo APAC, shaping visual language, product personality, and multi-language design rules across Media and three e-commerce products. Built the foundation for a scalable APAC design system that later informed global system work.
• Redefined regional typography, density models, and layout patterns to improve clarity and usability for Mandarin interfaces and APAC reading behaviors.
• Established PC and mobile design guidelines for APAC, aligning local product needs with global Y!design principles while adapting for cultural relevance.
• Created e-commerce design system “personalities” and identity frameworks, enabling clearer differentiation across product lines while preserving system coherence.
• Provided creative direction and design governance, raising quality and efficiency for regional visual designers and guiding product teams toward user-centered decisions.
• Led Yahoo TW + Kimo co-branding system, ensuring visual consistency and scalable brand integration across properties.
• Shared methodologies across international teams, strengthening collaboration between APAC and U.S. design orgs.
This work established multi-language, culturally adaptive system foundations that later integrated into Yahoo’s global design system.
2010 — 2012
2010 — 2012
Shanghai
Collaborated with multidisciplinary teams to drive innovation through human-centered design—using empathy research, insight synthesis, modeling, and visual storytelling to create concepts that balanced user needs, business constraints, and creative vision.
2007 — 2010
2007 — 2010
Shanghai, China
At Microsoft, I contributed to the evolution of mobile experiences across Windows Phone, Windows Live, and iPhone clients—spanning system language adaptation, cross-platform visual strategy, and new design–engineering workflows.
• Adapted the Metro design language for East Asian markets, redefining typography, density, motion, and conceptual UI patterns to improve readability and cultural alignment across Windows Phone.
• Led visual design for Windows Live mobile ecosystems (Windows Mobile 6.5, iPhone, Wave 3–4), creating cross-platform visual strategies that balanced OS conventions with Microsoft’s brand language.
• Introduced a new redline specification method that streamlined communication between design and engineering, improving delivery clarity and consistency.
• Developed storyboards, scenarios, and illustration libraries that accelerated team workflow and improved narrative cohesion across mobile clients.
This work established regionally relevant design patterns while helping unify the visual and interaction language across Microsoft’s early mobile platforms.
Education
Hubei Institute of Fine Arts