About, in the words I'm built from

I like turning messy ideas
into things that work.

Design Engineer working across interaction, systems, and implementation.

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Typographic portrait of Jinyao Ouyang — the words of her story arranged into her faceDesign EngineerTrailAI-NativeMandarin & EnglishFLEXI-CASAGlobal Innovation ExchangeStrength trainingImagine CupWriting on MediumFLEXI-CASAGrowth & ToolingSilkroadCursor and ClaudeTEAGUEGrand RapidsImagine Cup

How I work

I move between Figma, product systems, frontend implementation, and AI-assisted development instead of treating design and engineering as separate handoff stages. The interaction, the state machine, and the code that ships are one job.

Right now that means Isleo — an iOS focus product where I own the design language, the Blender and Rive asset pipeline, and the React Native implementation — and production work at FLEXI-CASA, where I'm the sole design engineer with end-to-end product ownership and design decisions have to survive contact with a real storefront.

I'm drawn to AI-native products and emerging interaction models — where the product question is what a person and a model do together, and no pattern library has the answer yet.

Based in Grand Rapids, MI.(willing to relocate) H-1B transfer-ready.


Beyond the work

  • MS in Technology Innovation (HCI) from the University of Washington
  • Originally from China — fluent in Mandarin and English
  • I write on Medium about AI-native development
  • Microsoft Imagine Cup 2022 Americas Regional Champion

When I'm not building, I'm strength training, watching chipmunks in my backyard, or eating my way through whatever cuisine I haven't tried yet.


Skills & Stack

Design

  • Interaction Design
  • Design Systems
  • Prototyping
  • Product Design
  • UX Research

Engineering

  • React / TypeScript
  • React Native / Expo
  • Next.js
  • Supabase
  • HTML / CSS / JS

AI & Systems

  • AI-assisted development
  • Agent-assisted workflows
  • Generative asset pipelines
  • Figma / Blender / Rive
  • Cursor / Claude / Windsurf

Connect

Open to Design Engineer roles at AI-native teams. Say hi.