By: Natasha Levenson, Xinyue Guo,
San Francisco Bay, July 19, 2024 – Yang Cheng, a highly skilled product designer, has been recognized for her pivotal contributions to the award-winning XYG Window project. This project, which seamlessly integrates traditional Chinese cultural elements with modern design principles, earned the prestigious 2023 Red Dot Design Award. Cheng’s extensive experience in EdTech, FinTech, and Generative AI has enabled her to bring complex concepts to life through exceptional storytelling and user-friendly design.
Yang Cheng’s career is a testament to her versatility and expertise in various design fields. Currently, she serves as the Founding Product Designer at CharacterStrong, an EdTech company dedicated to transforming educational environments by fostering holistic development. At CharacterStrong, Cheng has designed professional development systems, developed a scalable design system, and revamped the content management system to improve user experience.
Before joining CharacterStrong, Cheng was a Product Designer at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) from December 2022 to February 2024. During her tenure, she optimized and redesigned tag-based search pages, reducing bounce and exit rates by 24.3% and 22.6%, respectively. She also worked in an agile team to improve mobile and web experiences for UNICEF.org, shipping over 15 features that led to higher engagement and improved user retention. Furthermore, she transitioned UNICEF’s design system from Sketch to Figma, modernizing the design process.
Cheng’s diverse experience includes her role as a Contract Product Designer for OpusClip, a Generative AI video tool, where she optimized the brand template flow and enhanced the manual video editing process. Her work resulted in improved editing efficiency and consistency in video branding. She also performed usability testing and collaborated with product managers to prioritize issues.
In the realm of FinTech, Cheng worked as a Contract Product Designer for Ark7, a real-estate investment platform. She led the design of rewards and learning features based on extensive user research, which boosted user engagement and conversion rates. Additionally, she performed fast prototype iterations and A/B testing with end users, contributing new design components to Ark7’s design system.
Cheng’s early career includes her role as a Digital Media and Web Designer at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) from January 2020 to December 2022. Here, she delivered design solutions for AIDA, an AI tool that increased user engagement and supported supervised machine learning capabilities. She also redesigned UNDP IEO’s website and created a comprehensive design system.
Yang Cheng holds a Master’s in User Experience Design from Pratt Institute, completed between January 2022 and December 2023. She also earned a Master’s in Adult Learning and Education from the University of British Columbia from September 2017 to May 2019. Her dedication to design excellence has been recognized with numerous awards, including the European Product Design Award for Interface Design/UX Product Design, the Red Dot Design Award for XYG Studio Window in 2023, and the International Design Awards for the same project.
The XYG Window project is a groundbreaking visual identity design that merges elements of ancient Chinese literati culture with modern design aesthetics. The project, developed for XYG Studio, involved deconstructing Chinese characters into their strokes and reorganizing them using traditional seal script. This process preserved cultural heritage while embracing modern simplicity. The design was further refined with grids and the Fibonacci spiral, creating a unique and cohesive visual identity.
The website design for XYG Studio leverages the yin and yang spaces formed by the structure of the visual identity as navigation buttons, enhancing user interaction and immersing visitors in the rich cultural heritage of China. This innovative approach played a significant role in earning the project the 2023 Red Dot Design Award.
Yang Cheng’s role in the XYG Window project was instrumental. Her ability to blend classical aesthetics with modern design principles showcased her exceptional storytelling skills and user-centric approach. The success of the XYG Window project is a testament to her dedication to preserving cultural heritage while pushing the boundaries of modern design.
As a key member of the design team, Cheng’s contributions have not only earned her recognition but also set a new standard for integrating traditional art with contemporary design. Her work continues to inspire and influence the design community, demonstrating the power of thoughtful and innovative design solutions.
Yang Cheng’s remarkable career and her contributions to the XYG Window project highlight her as a leading figure in the design industry. Her ability to simplify complex concepts, create user-friendly experiences, and seamlessly blend tradition with modernity sets her apart as a visionary product designer. The XYG Window project’s success and the accolades it has received are a testament to Cheng’s exceptional talent and dedication to excellence in design.
Published by: Holy Minoza
