We recently connected with Eric Wu and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Eric, thanks for joining us today. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?

The biggest trend is definitely AI. AI has both shaped how designers work and changed how design will be in the future. There’re some who are pessimistic about the future of user interface design due to both the rise of visual AI and the predominance of chatbot interfaces. However, I think that design as a discipline of systemic thinking will always have its place. On the topic of whether AI interfaces will converge in one direction, I’d like to point out that analog note-taking apps still prosper today even though more efficient input methods like dictation and typing exist in the digital era. I think that design will always be about not just what’s objectively more efficient but also what caters to our subconscious pathways, and that will offer unforeseen opportunities. The future of design will expand with the introduction of new technologies.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m an interdisciplinary designer who specializes in end-to-end product design. Currently, I work at Seek AI, an AI company whose platform empowers knowledge workers and data analysts to query their data more efficiently. I graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in 2022 with a BFA in Industrial Design and a minor in creative coding.

As a lead designer at Seek, I have taken charge of multiple redesigns of the company product and the website. My goal is to find a delicate balance between the accessibility of a chat AI interface and the precision of a data-driven workflow. My designs have been significant in Seek’s customer satisfaction and successfully raising a seed round. At Seek, my focus is to build a scalable design system that allows us to perform rapid iterations. My design at Seek has won critical acclaim such as receiving UX Design Award in Spring 2025.

My philosophy as a product designer centers around functional and user-centered design. I believe that good design is atomic and stems from first principles. Product design is about addressing real problems at its core, and we leverage tools like UI components to achieve that goal. My background in industrial design taught me to look at UI/UX in the lens of physical products. While UI surfaces are virtual, a button has the same effect on users as a physical affordance like a door handle. In industrial design, we also have to consider things like how efficient it is to manufacture a design with the processes available, and that’s also common for UI/UX. With my background in coding, I always keep engineering limitations in mind and strive for designs that achieve the balance among aesthetics, usability, and ease of implementation.

In my own practice, I’ve worked as a researcher at RISD & Hyundai Research Collaborative where I developed designs investigating soft robotics and plant-human relationship. I’ve also worked on product designs for my own studio, such as Cobble, an interactive speaker that tackles mindfulness. Cobble has won A’ Design Award and Silver French Design Award. Cobble is inspired by my research into mindfulness as well as my childhood experience with the Asian board game Go. It investigates the idea that mindfulness does not have to be deliberate, and even simple actions like focusing on your body movement can have similar effects as meditation.

In short, I believe that good designs drive powerful narratives and serve as vehicles for problem-solving. I navigate among different stakeholders and teams to realize that design vision.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I think the most rewarding aspect is being able to shape something without getting burdened too much by stakeholder or commercial needs. While product designers do have to consider stakeholders like company management, they have a lot more creative freedom when compared with roles like product managers. When empowered, I have the freedom to probe the boundary of what has been attempted and gauge people’s reception of it. Boundary-breaking is the most fun part of the creative process.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think something non-creatives may not know is how diverse creatives are when it comes to their creative approaches. Some of us are highly driven by intuition and passion, while others may be systemic and logical like engineers. The biggest challenge in the creative journey is finding your own approach without losing your creative impulse. As I created more designs and art, I came to become more and more assured in what works best for me, and that has been one of the biggest takeaways from my endeavor so far.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ericwu.design
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eeeeeericw/#
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-zheng-wu/