Hi, I'm Lori — welcome to my desk.

A few folders are scattered across the cream. Open any one to take a closer look — background, skills, what I'm exploring now, and the things that shaped how I think.

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Background.txt

A designer who works where ambiguity lives.

I work best in complex, constraint-heavy environments — early-stage products and system redesigns where the real challenge is uncertainty, cross-functional trade-offs, and shaping something scalable from a blurry start.

Advertising → business development → HCI → UX design. Each stop reframed the previous one — and pointed me at the question I'm still asking: how do we make intelligent systems more human-centered?

Advertising
Stories carry meaningHow narrative shapes adoption — the difference between a product people understand and one they only see.
Biz Dev
Value meets metricsHow to align user value with the metrics that actually keep a product alive past the demo.
HCI
Intuition becomes evidenceHow research turns design instinct into something testable — and how systems behave at scale.
UX · Now
Human-centered intelligenceTranslating constraints into things people actually want to use — currently focused on AI-native experiences.
Skills · principles & tools

What I care about when design gets hard.

Six principles I keep coming back to — earned across product, research, and design.

01

Clarifying the core

Prioritize the few decisions that move the product forward — let the rest follow.

02

Embracing constraints

Focus on the high-frequency actions. The 80% the user does daily matters more than the 20% they might do once.

03

Intentional partnership

Use prototypes — not opinions — to align stakeholders. Show the trade-off, then decide.

04

System-level thinking

Favor scalable patterns over one-off fixes. Today's interaction is tomorrow's foundation.

05

Iteration as risk reduction

Test the riskiest assumption first. Cheap iterations early prevent expensive ones later.

06

Designing for transitions

State changes are where users get lost. Pay attention to the seams between flows, not just the screens.

Tools & methods

Fluent · daily

Figma FigJam Notion Miro Design systems Prototyping Information architecture User research Journey mapping Storyboarding

Comfortable · regular

Photoshop Illustrator Webflow Contextual inquiry A/B testing

Currently exploring

Framer Spline After Effects Cursor Three.js

Buckets reflect today's working state — recategorize as proficiency shifts.

Now.txt — updated daily

What's on the desk right now.

A snapshot of where my attention sits this season.

Founding designer at Nestify Building 0→1 — product strategy + design system + the first ten flows.
Current
Researching robotics interactions How do humans build trust with a robot arm? What does a "good handoff" feel like?
Side
Shipped 8+ AI products to date Edge AI, conversational search, autonomous HMI, mentorship, last-mile delivery.
Done
Studying — UW MS HCDE Research methods, evaluative studies, AI ethics. Seattle, WA.
Ongoing
Recommendations · 8 letters

What people who've worked with me actually said.

From founders, PMs, professors, and the designers I've shipped with.

Blake TianCEO, MentorUp

Lori has one of the strongest ownership mindsets I've seen. She never waits to be told what to do — she anticipates needs, brings solutions, and follows through with impressive reliability. You can trust her with ambiguous problems!

Yiwei XuAssociate Prof, UMD

"Lori is someone you can trust with ambiguous problems. She doesn't wait for direction — she clarifies the problem, proposes thoughtful options, and follows through with consistency."

Alan ZhuProduct Lead, Nexa.AI

Working with Lori was an absolute pleasure. She doesn't just 'design screens'; she deeply understands the product vision and strategy behind them. Her design system became the foundation for all our future features.

Yuan TanStartup Partner

Lori is the kind of person people naturally follow. She's kind, smart, reliable, and steady under pressure. She makes the team feel safe to experiment and fail, and motivated to work hard. Even back then, it was clear she was going to build an exceptional career.

Joanna YangMKT Manager, Govee

Lori is the kind of collaborator who elevates everyone's work. She asks smart questions, challenges assumptions respectfully, and always finds elegant ways to make research insights tangible through design.

LD CabezasPM, Sevco

What stood out most was Lori's system-level thinking. The design foundations she set up continued to support new features long after the initial release.

Chang LiuSr. PD, Articulate

Working with Lori feels steady. Even under pressure, she stays clear-headed, makes sound decisions, and helps the team move forward without panic. Her clarity of thought and execution is inspiring.

Mandy FaberExhibit Designer, MoF

Lori doesn't just design interfaces, she understands the product intent behind them. Her design decisions consistently strengthen the product.

Recognitions.txt

Awards, features, and other small wins.

A running log of work I'm proud of and the moments that marked it.

2026
iF Design Award 2026 · ×2Recognized for an AI autonomous trucking platform (driver HMI, operator dashboard, fleet analytics) and an AI pregnancy diagnostic app.
iF Design
2026
Founding Designer, NestifyShipped two App Store releases through the seed funding round as sole designer and de-facto PM.
Nestify
2026
Amazon Business · Capstone SponsorSelected for the UW HCDE capstone project sponsored by Amazon Business.
UW HCDE × Amazon
2025
New York Product Design AwardRecognized for product design work in AI & complex systems.
NY Product Design
2025
MUSE Design Award · SilverInternational design recognition for AI product work.
MUSE Design Awards
2025
AI Design Award · BronzeHonored for design contribution to AI-driven product experiences.
AI Design Awards
2025
MentorUp 0→1 launchShipped to 500+ registered users as founding PM & designer — vision, MVP scope, end-to-end execution.
MentorUp
2024
UW Medicine GIBHS Grant · $24K+Lead designer-researcher on AI-mediated mental health communication study.
UW Medicine
2024
#1 Product of the Day, Product HuntLed first-run UX redesign for NEXA.AI's conversational search — 35K+ new registrations.
Product Hunt
2024
$10M+ investment decisionsProduced 4 high-fidelity prototypes that anchored NEXA.AI's funding pitches.
NEXA.AI
Writing · essays

Essays I've written while making sense of AI.

A small but growing shelf — more on the way.

Want to know more about my work?

Check out my resume to see how I bridge product thinking, research, and design across teams.

Check Lori's resume