Interview with Yitian Zeng

To me, design is about solving real problems and improving people’s lives whether by making something more efficient, more accessible, or simply more enjoyable.

I’m most passionate about service and system design, especially when it involves helping professionals improve their work efficiency. I find this type of work more challenging because it requires a deep understanding of workflows, problem-solving at scale, and designing with long-term impact in mind.

A campaign design for a nutrition company

My favorite material is my drawing book and my Wacom. Also love Figma, Adobe. Midjourney, GPT etc.

I feel most creative when I’m curious about a problem—especially in the early stages of a project, when possibilities are wide open.

I focus most on understanding the “why” behind the design. Why we’re creating it, what problem it’s solving, and what caused that problem in the first place. To me, a strong foundation comes from uncovering the root needs and motivations behind user behavior.

Curisity, excitement, and responsibility. Curiosity drives me to explore new ideas, excitement comes when those ideas start taking shape, and responsibility reminds me that good design can truly impact someone’s life—for better or worse.

Fulfillment and pride

To me, successful design considers multiple aspects such as adoption and retention rates. We can use the metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of the design in attracting and retaining users over time.

I focus on the target users and whether the functional aspects solve their problems. A good design, to me, is one that meets user needs and also aligning with business goals.

Designers should create solutions that useful and ethical, also sustainable, minimizing harm and promoting positive impact on people and the planet.

"design field" is evolving a lot and merging with AI, or using AI like design's tool/weapon, it can help us build a sustainability products. The future of design lies in creating adaptive, ethical, and inclusive solutions that shape both digital and real-world experiences.

My inspiration comes from real-life observations. I feed my creativity by staying curious—exploring different fields like sculpture, art history, gaming, psychology, and tech, and by paying close attention to how people interact with the world around them.

To me, I combine usability, gamification, and emotional resonance. Curiosity drives me to try new tools, learn continuously, and observe how people interact with products. My approach is user-centered and problem-driven. My approach is understanding user needs through research, then explore solutions through iteration, usability testing, prototyping and feedback loops.

I live in California, but I'm originally from China. This cross-cultural experience gives me a broader perspective, blending Eastern values like harmony and subtlety with Western on clarity and usability. It helps me design with empathy for diverse users, though it can also be a challenge to balance different aesthetic and communication styles in global projects.

Open communication and inclusive.

I follow an iterative design process: starting with understand users first, research, defining problems, ideating, design, testing, and refining/launch.

Keep everything/elements consistency.

Curiosity, learning, communication

Figma, Adobe, AI tools, and I use other tools to support my prototyping, such as Maya, Unreal Engine, etc.

I also like to set daily tasks to focus. But if I get stuck, I will either take a break or change to another task to focus.

It depends on the scope of project, sometimes longer, sometimes short. From my past experience, a project could take 2 weeks or more than a year.

What is your design process? how do you approach it?

I love the most of digital design, but now the more attract me is data visualization. I think it's challenge and I want to use my skills make the complex data into a simple way.

I hope to use my skills and creativity to tackle more complex, meaningful challenges that benefit people’s lives. Beyond designing for enjoyment and gamification, I want to create solutions that make daily life simpler, smarter, and more human-centered.

Yes. I work as a team. Collaborate with other designers.