We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chenlu Wang. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chenlu below.

Alright, Chenlu thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

There are so many projects I’d love to talk about through my career journey, but if we have to say one, I’d love to pick my work at VIVA.

VIVA is a global art organization started by Xiaoning Lyu. I started working for VIVA as a founding volunteer designer since 2019. We ask people a simple question – What is your life, and the answer needs to be expressed through a drawing. Till the moment we have this conversation, we collected over 20k drawings from over 60 countries around the world, and built up the largest life drawing libary that’s accessible to everyone. We collect drawings from children living in wars, moms with AIDs and people entering their 90s telling their life stories to us. It will never be overstated how rewarding and impressive the project is.

At VIVA, our team was small in the beginning, so I took on multiple roles. I designed apps and interfaces for uploading drawings, created promotional posters, organized events, and curated exhibitions. Some of this work fell within my expertise, while tasks like go-to-market strategies were new learning experiences for me.

A special moment in 2019 was when VIVA was invited to the Yunqi Tech Conference by Alibaba, China’s largest e-commerce company. Xiaoning asked me to help design an interactive installation for visitors to experience drawing. Collaborating with Shuran as curators, we focused on art therapy and created Jinxi, an interactive cube space where people could share stories, answer simple questions, exchange messages, and ultimately create a life drawing. In a short time of 2 days, it was visited by 5k+ visitors, and in the closing ceremony, CTO of Alibaba went to our design. He likes the idea and left his drawing expressing his understanding of technology, human, and arts.

I contributed to VIVA, but even more importantly, I learned from my experience there. I was able to leverage my design knowledge to bring people together in a variety of ways. That’s exactly what VIVA is about. We encourage people to pause for a moment from their busy lives, ponder on this very essential question, and define their own meaning.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I started design from my college study of urban planning, which has design as a key domain. Later through a year of study at Harvard University as an exchange student, I took courses in computational design, product design and creative thinking, then decided that Human Machine Interface is what I love to contribute to. After graduting from college, I got into Harvard University Graduate School of Design focusing on Design Studies. I was able to cross-register at MIT studying ARVR, dream engineering, accessibility design and so many areas that are very cutting edge and even not applied to industry yet. I was more than sure that I want to spend my life on designing experiences for all people to enable everyone to interact with and enjoy technology, access information and reach their goals.

I worked across multiple product areas, from business-focused projects like YouTube’s creator economy platform design to highly technical ones like Google Cloud’s data processing platform, and gamification of short video products at TikTok. Simultaneously, I continued to contribute to VIVA as a volunteer designer and design consultant. The more areas I explored, the more I realized that cross-disciplinary design can help deepen expertise in any given field of human machine interaction. It offers diverse perspectives and equips me with new skills to continue pursuing advancements in HMI.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The goal is to design for everyone, not just the dominant or majority group. Initially, my understanding of inclusive and accessibility design was limited to urban planning, where we were taught to prioritize ramps for wheelchair access. That was the extent of my knowledge about accessibility design.

As I delved into the field of human-machine interaction, I realized that many designs, devices, services, and products are primarily created for individuals who can read, write, run, speak, recognize, and move freely. However, 15% of the global population has at least one type of impairment, including visual, language, hearing, and mobility impairments. While human-machine interaction has evolved significantly—from command-line inputs to exploring AR/VR, voice interaction, and even EEG brain interfaces—technology still needs time to develop mature products that cater to everyone. For instance, people who use screen readers often take much longer to complete tasks on devices designed for those who receive visual signals, such as laptops or mobile phones.

Until technology advances to a point where it can universally accommodate all users, what can designers do to make information more accessible?

I believe that human-computer interaction encompasses various domains, but they all share a common goal: facilitating interaction between people and their environments to help them access information and achieve their goals. Information accessibility is the cornerstone of equity in education, employment, and lifelong development. Through my work, I hope to make a meaningful difference.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I believe being a designer gives me a fresh perspective. My dad studied law and dislikes reading lengthy, tedious articles outside of work. My mom studied economics and avoids data analysis beyond her 8-hour routine. However, as a designer, my experience is quite the opposite. Instead of distancing myself from my job, I approach anything design-related with enthusiasm and curiosity, constantly building new perspectives.

When I encounter an interactive installation, I connect it to something I’ve read, and these ideas merge in my mind, enhancing my understanding and appreciation. When I use an app that I love, I can pinpoint what makes it enjoyable . Conversely, when I find something user-unfriendly, I empathize, understand the issues more instead of complaining. This continuous engagement with design allows me to see the world through different lenses and enriches my approach to both my work and life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.chenluwang.me
• Instagram: chenlu_blu51
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chenluwang51/

Image Credits

Jiafeng Li, Guiqiang Yao, Jiebei Yang, Lushan Ao, Xiaoqi Chen, Jiawen Li, Meichun Cai, Kaihong Gao, Veronica Peitong Chen, Xiaoning Lyu, Shuran Li