By: Lanette
In the California Bay Area, a center of global innovation, Yifeng Wang stands out as a visionary UI/UX and product designer, revolutionizing complex enterprise user experience at an innovative tech startup. With a career spanning over 9 years, Yifeng blends design excellence with a deep understanding of business. His approach to design, focusing on users’ pain points and business objectives, has significantly impacted projects involving cutting-edge technologies like cloud computing, blockchain, VR/AR, and AI highlighting his commitment to enhancing the accessibility and practicality of these technologies. His work underscores the pivotal role of design in rendering new technologies not just usable but also enjoyable for both early adopters and the broader public.
Yifeng’s design journey has crossed conventional boundaries. Initially focused on designing human interaction with physical spaces, his perspective shifted during his graduate studies at UC Berkeley. Located in the heart of global tech innovation, UC Berkeley emphasizes design thinking as a means to address real-world challenges. This new environment offered Yifeng a fresh outlook on designs’ potential impact.
While at Berkeley, Yifeng had transformative experiences, notably at the 2019 MIT XR Reality Hack, where he led the design of an AR tool to improve public speaking skills, enabling users to practice in a mixed-reality setting. This tool not only won the best tool prize for its usability but also demonstrated the practical benefits of new technologies for the general public. Another pivotal experience was the 2019 Ford Future Mobility business case competition. As the sole designer among business analysts, Yifeng’s user-centered design approach was instrumental in developing a profitable multi-modal mobility ecosystem for Ford Mobility. His contributions significantly differentiated their proposal, leading to a first-place win, with judges specifically citing his user-centric approach as a key factor.
These experiences fueled Yifeng’s passion for applying his design thinking, honed in physical space design, to broader fields like UI/UX and product design. His focus shifted to making complex technologies like cloud computing, blockchain, VR/AR, and AI, particularly in enterprise applications, both accessible and enjoyable. Yifeng’s journey illustrates his commitment to transforming the interaction between users and cutting-edge technology, ensuring it is not just functional but also delightful.
“Embracing this transition has deepened my connection with end users” Yifeng reflects. He witnessed the fast evolution of technologies like cloud computing, blockchain, and AI and how they’ve reshaped everyday life. Mark Andreson’s notion that “software is eating the world” particularly resonates with him, underscoring the transformative power of technology. For Yifeng, design is pivotal in addressing the challenges of adopting new technologies, and enhancing their potential to benefit a broader audience. His distinct background, combining architecture design and involvement in technological innovation, equips him with a unique perspective. He crafts design solutions that are not only practical and impactful for businesses but also visually appealing and accessible to users.
Yifeng’s commitment to integrating design with emerging technologies has been recognized with prestigious awards, including the New York Product Design Silver Award, and a finalist in the ETH Global FEVM Hackathon. His innovative designs, particularly in AI and blockchain, have set new standards in user experience, paving the way in these advanced fields. These accolades serve as a testament to Yifeng’s exceptional prowess and recognition as a leading product designer in the realm of new technology.
His project “Outfit Club” won the New York Product Design Silver Award in the Design for Sustainability category in 2023. This project addresses the waste caused by excessive returns in online shopping due to uncertainties about fit and style. Yifeng’s design, featuring a personalized avatar-based virtual try-on platform, merges advanced AI and 3D modeling to revolutionize the e-commerce experience, boosting consumer confidence and significantly cutting down on returns.
Yifeng’s design expertise was further demonstrated in SpendDAO, now DALN (Data as Labor Network), earning him a finalist spot in the ETH Global FEVM Hackathon. This project disrupts traditional data ownership models, granting users control over their credit card data using blockchain technology, a stark contrast to the norm of credit card companies profiting from consumer data without user awareness.
Designing SpendDAO, Yifeng navigated the complexities of blockchain technology and user education about data value. He remarks, “The most rewarding part is making new technology accessible to a wider audience.” This project reflects Yifeng’s ability to simplify complex technologies and his commitment to user empowerment and privacy.
With a wealth of design experience and influential awards, Yifeng is now channeling his talents into tackling more complex and ambitious user experience challenges. Contributing significantly to the rapid growth of the tech startups he works at, he is also extending his vast knowledge of new technology design to mentor AI and Web3 startup founders. His guidance is pivotal in their product development, helping them harness advanced technologies to enhance user experiences. Yifeng’s unique blend of curiosity, passion for innovation, and commitment to solving real-world user problems distinguishes him in the world of design. Yifeng’s journey is a testament to the transformative power of design, bridging complex technologies and user needs, keeping him at the forefront of innovation in the ever-changing tech landscape.
Published By: Aize Perez
