Meet Chenlu Wang | User experience designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chenlu Wang and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chenlu, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?
I didn’t fully understand this until I entered the design industry: while design and art intersect, they are not the same. If I had to explain the difference in one sentence, I would say that design focuses on creating experiences for people – there shall be people who use it to tell whether the work is helpful or not, while art can be about self-expression. There are, of course, self-expressive designs and art that meets specific needs.

Many people who are not familair with design field, especially the domain of human-machine interaction design tend to think of designers as people who create fancy illustrations and visualize inspiring ideas. While this is one aspect of design, user experience designers don’t need to excel in illustration to do an excellant job. Their job is more about understanding user needs, crafting a journey that meets those needs, and translating that journey into a digital product in collaboration with other partners including technogist, researcher, product manager and engineer to make the product accessible, usable, and user-friendly by people of various abilities. This is not a one-time process but an iterative one. People who use and experience the product or services provide feedback, which we then use to refine and improve the experience, helping people achieve their goals more effectively.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a cross-disciplinary user experience designer currently working at Google, where I design for YouTube to facilitate connections between advertisers and creators. My role involves enabling them to make deals, produce creative videos, and use these videos as more organic and engaging ads. Prior to this, I worked on Google Display Ads and Google Cloud. I also have experience in video editing products, game design, exhibition design, and other areas.

Transitioning to different verticals was challenging at first, but with accumulated experience, I found more similarities than differences. The key is to approach each new role as a beginner and not be afraid to ask questions. I used to hesitate in meetings, unsure whether to speak up if I didn’t understand something. Now, I simply raises hand in the question breaks saying “May I ask a clarifying question?” I’ve found that people are surprisingly receptive and open to such inquiries. Moving from novice to skilled designer involves a process and steps. Taking proactive actions not only helps my own growth but also aids the team.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My best friend is visting me this weekend (what a nice surprise!) so I will go over what we had

We drove to carmel by the sea, which is a lovely little coastal town with great architectuers and many cute stores to visit. The aquarium along the way is a nice place to visit some ocean friends. Sardine Factory will be the place I recommend for food.

Summer and wine tasting are best match. We had a great day in Mountain Winery in Saratoga, which is about 30 mins drive from downtown area of Mountain View, California. They have good variety of wines with quite a couple of categories local available only. Limon and Daeho are 2 of my fav places for Perutian and Korean food, especially for a party of 3-4 people.

Then Sausalito and Tiburon are towns that shall not be missed. They are both located at the northern part of San Francisco. Driving through the San Francisco bridge, the town will show in front of the eyes. The ice creams there are really nice, and sea views are beautiful.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to thank Xiaoning Lyu, founder and CEO of VIVA, for her support and guidance in my career development and design journey. Since 2019, I have collaborated with Xiaoning, working as a volunteer designer for her art NGO, VIVA. Our journey began with a street experiment where Xiaoning asked people a simple question: “What’s your life?” People responded by drawing their answers. This experiment quickly grew, spanning over 60 countries and collecting more than 20,000 life drawings. We decided to share the stories behind these drawings so people could hear each other’s voices.

Through my work with VIVA, I explored many different design domains, including exhibition curation, app design, web design, offline activity design, and event planning. Xiaoning’s support and encouragement allowed me to try new things and explore various aspects of design. VIVA’s success today is thanks to everyone’s contributions. Throughout this process, I learned a great deal about being a cross-disciplinary designer.

Website: https://www.chenluwang.me

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chenluwang51