The world of user experience (UX) design has long been enriched by creative minds who transform digital interactions into memorable, seamless journeys. Known for her innovative designs, Ms. Hong has worked on award-winning design projects. Currently, Ms. Hong works as a UX Designer at Amazon where she strives to improve the home productivity experience for Alexa users.
Q: How did you first become interested in UX design?
[Muyang]: My interest in UX design tracks all the way back to my freshman year at USC [University of Southern California]. I started with a graphic design focus and I slowly discovered that I was not satisfied by just creating pretty logos and posters. I am very passionate about the problem-solving aspect of design. I spend all day thinking about questions like: how can we make people’s day-to-day lives easier with design? There was a very selective technology innovation club on campus called Lavalab. This club opened my eyes to a different field of design: UX design. During my time at the club, I designed an app to help children with ADHD. When I received positive feedback from the parents, I felt so empowered and set my mind to dive into UX design. At Amazon, I work on the home productivity team for Alexa. Our task is to design in a way that will help people complete their daily chores easier. This completely aligns with my essential drive of becoming an UX designer — helping people improve their daily experience.
Q: You worked on the XYG Window project, which won the prestigious Red Dot Design Award. Can you discuss your role and design philosophy for this project?
[Muyang]: XYG Window is a project dedicated to cross-cultural design. Our goal was to create a visual identity that blends classical Chinese culture with modern design elements. In this project, I was responsible for the entire visual and interaction design. We incorporated design elements from ancient Chinese scholars’ seals and Suzhou classical garden windows, merging them with modern design techniques. Ultimately, we successfully fused these seemingly contrasting elements, creating a design that is rich in Eastern charm while retaining a modern touch.
Q: How do you approach user testing and feedback in projects where classical Chinese culture is integrated into the design?
[Muyang]: It was a little bit challenging to gather user feedback since my project is about classical Chinese culture in the U.S. Luckily, I was able to reach out to my family and friends back in China. They are very supportive of my career. I translated our project mission into Chinese and showed them my design. It is extremely helpful to receive feedback from people who have deep understanding of Chinese culture.
Q: What is your approach to making products and platforms accessible to all user groups, including users with visual, hearing, and motor disabilities?
[Muyang]: I am so glad you ask! Accessibility design is vital to UX design since many commercial digital products are targeting a variety of user groups. Hence, creating accessible products and platforms is essential to ensure that all user groups, including those with disabilities, can effectively use and benefit from technology. The first step to designing for accessibility is to understand accessibility guidelines. When I first started in the industry, I would spend a lot of time familiarizing myself with established accessibility standards and guidelines, such as WCAG [Web Content Accessibility Guidelines]. I will consistently iterate my design based on the industry standards. The other important approach to accessibility design is to conduct testing. I regularly test my product or platform for accessibility. There are many automated tools to help UX designers identify and fix issues. Last but not least, get your design to the users. This way, you can gather the most thorough feedback. The designers might not be your target users, so it is important to hear what do the actual users think.
Q: Is there a specific person or a particular influence that has significantly shaped your approach to UX design?
[Muyang]: Designing Interfaces, a design book, has a huge impact on me. I would recommend anyone who wants to break into UX design to read this book. This book starts with a high-level overview of UX design and dives deep into identifying effective design pattern for UX. I remember the authors choose to have “Designing for people” as the first chapter of this book. In this chapter, they emphasize the importance for human-centered design. This shaped my approach to UX design completely. After reading this book, I always prioritize my users first. UX design is a conversation between designers and users.
Q: What do you think makes a great UX designer?
[Muyang]: There are many factors that go into making a great designer: your ability to create something meaningful, to articulate your design decision, and most importantly your attention to detail. I am a very detail-oriented designer. If I have enough time on projects, I will always try to make them pixel perfect! As a UX designer, you need to hold yourself to high standards. This means sometimes you have to take time out of the equation. Because quality design always takes time. Never stop polishing the design until it can meet your standards for excellence. In the real world, a lot of times UX designers are working with time constraints. There might be an urgent deadline around the corner. However, you should always try to deliver the best design possible.
Q: Looking ahead, what do you see as the most exciting trends or opportunities in the UX design field?
[Muyang]: This is such an exciting time to be in the UX design field! There are so many new technologies to help designers realize their goal. It is hard to not talk about generative AI when we talk about design trend. Generative AI refers to artificial intelligence models and systems that have the capability to generate new and original content, such as text, images, or other forms of data, often based on patterns and examples from existing data. With the support from AI, I will be able to provide a better, more personalized, more creative experience to help users solve problems in their day-to-day lives. There are so many possibilities we can realize with the help of AI.
