# Lucia Chen > Principal Designer · Design System Architect · Cross-Cultural UX · AI-Assisted Workflows Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/luciachen 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. ## Work Experience ### Co-Founder & Executive Creative Director @ UNIMAGINED Co. Jan 2024 – Present | 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. ### Principal Product Designer @ Yahoo! Jan 2015 – Jan 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. ### Principal product Designer @ Yahoo! Jan 2012 – Jan 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. ### Communication designer @ IDEO Jan 2010 – Jan 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. ### UX designer @ Microsoft Jan 2007 – Jan 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. ### Digital designer @ Wieden + Kennedy Jan 2006 – Jan 2007 | Shanghai, China Collaborated on brand and digital projects for Nike, Nokia, and other global clients, creatively integrating Western and Eastern visual styles across websites, logos, and campaign experiences. Contributed to major Nike initiatives including 706, Beijing Marathon, BJCA, Nike+, Yi Jianlian, Olympic campaigns, and Nike Football. ### Senior Art director @ Passion 2 Art Jan 2004 – Jan 2007 | Shanghai Led creative and interactive design for one of China’s largest real estate companies, overseeing brand systems, digital experiences, and cross-disciplinary collaboration across high-stakes marketing and product initiatives. • Delivered large-scale brand and website projects for top real estate clients, leading visual direction, interaction design, and cross-functional collaboration from concept to launch. • Guided and mentored designers, developing training materials and elevating team capability across visual, interaction, and presentation skills. • Partnered with copywriters and strategy teams to shape creative concepts and produce compelling client proposals that won key accounts. • Managed multiple projects independently, ensuring process clarity, schedule adherence, and consistently high-quality deliverables. • Strengthened client relationships through clear communication and strategic design recommendations that supported long-term business success. • Reduced execution risks by introducing early design reviews and structured project planning practices. ## Education ### Bachelor Hubei Institute of Fine Arts ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/lucia-design --- Source: https://flows.cv/luciachen JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/luciachen/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13