Identity

Designer, thinker, craftsperson.

I'm Yuan Fang, a UX designer shaped by over 10 years of fine arts training, bringing strong visual judgment and taste to AI-native workflows, rapid iteration, and the translation of ambiguity into clear product direction.

My name literally means “Square and Circle.” In Chinese culture it represents balance — the square is logic, systems, and structure; the circle is empathy, flow, and the human experience. I bridge the gap between rigid technology and soft human needs.

MS @ UW HCDE · UX Designer @ Alibaba

Manifesto

How I work

Research
Data
Cross-functional alignment

Clarity before output.

Ground in users, data, and constraints first—then align with PMs and engineers so the first frames answer the right question.

Research · Data · Cross-functional alignment

Sketch
Prototype
Validate

Move fast, validate often.

Sketch early, prototype in tight loops, and slice ambiguity into testable pieces. Velocity and craft only clash when process gets fuzzy.

Sketch · Prototype · Validate

Claude
Cursor
Figma
Midjourney
Stable Diffusion

AI is the medium.

Models synthesize research and pressure-test directions; coding agents turn structure into UI; Figma is where the narrative ships.

Claude · Cursor · Figma · Midjourney · Stable Diffusion

Story

Design Journey

01 / 04
It started with drawing.
My first sketch was a character from Code Geass, done in primary school. By junior high I had a tablet. By high school I was experimenting with portraits, landscapes, and mixed-media installations. Making things — figuring out what they meant — was always the point.
Primary school to high school
02 / 04
Then it became something bigger.
At Pratt in New York, the medium expanded: 3D rendering, Unity VR, TouchDesigner, physical computing. I built installations for New York Fashion Week. The real shift came when I worked on a mobile classroom for a Brooklyn environmental organization — taking something from a pencil sketch to a physical structure. That was the first time I felt what design actually does.
Pratt, New York
03 / 04
That led me to UX.
My first UX project was a Design-a-thon: helping local artists sell their work. On-site interviews with small businesses, an AR platform that let them try artworks for free. For the first time, the thing I was designing was shaped entirely by listening. I wanted more of that.
First UX project
04 / 04
So I followed it to Seattle.
I graduated with four years on the president's list, moved from New York to LA to Seattle, and enrolled at UW HCDE — building the vocabulary to do this work precisely: qualitative research, usability testing, accessibility, service design, visual communication.
Visual experiments
UW HCDE, Seattle