Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Iting Chen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Iting, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I want to share with you my virtual McDonald’s OTP conference project that I worked on in 2021 and 2022. I was grateful to serve as the main UI/UX Designer for this project, which marked one of the larger endeavors I undertook after transitioning from a visual graphic designer to a UX designer.

In 2021, this project involved collaboration with a 3D artist, a producer, an AV live streaming team, engineers, and the McDonald’s team. I designed AR Photobooth and Trivia game features, primarily focusing on key visual design and user experience to maintain an engaging virtual experience. The most significant lesson I learned was that smooth collaboration is always key to advancing projects. Overall, in my first year on the project, I recognized the value of my skills in UX. I saw how my visual and website design expertise enabled me to find solutions efficiently while effectively communicating with others in their language.

In 2022, the client returned to us. In my second year, I didn’t serve as the direct designer for the project; instead, I collaborated with a junior designer. This experience provided a different perspective, and sharing my past experiences with others made me feel truly special and helpful for the team.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a UX and Visual designer at a New York City-based marketing agency with over 5 years of experience in branding and graphic design. My passion lies in creating digital and physical experiences that drive success for my clients. My clientele includes Capital One, McDonald’s, Kohl’s, and Sephora.

My journey starting out in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, I got a taste of design inspiration through my dad’s work in Japan. That spark led me to pack my bags, study at Seoul National University of Science and Technology, and dive into the visual design scene in South Korea. Working with Taiwan’s Youth Salon was a blast, using design to open up career paths for the next generation.

In 2018, I hit pause on my gig as a brand designer in Taiwan and embarked on an adventure across South Korea, Japan, Mexico, Cuba, and the USA. During my trip in USA, I crossed paths with an engineer, a product manager from Seattle, and a product designer from San Francisco. That’s when it hit me—I wanted to level up my design game, diving into digital UX design to connect with folks around the world.

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

I am a UX & Visual Designer, most of my time I played a role in the digital world. The most rewarding aspect of being a designer for a digital project is I can see my projects reach audiences worldwide. For example, I designed a user interface for the 2023 Kiss Beauty Masterclass live event simulcasting on Tiktok, Facebook, Instagram and Youtube. The online views approached 2.5 million.

I am particularly fascinated by digital design. Especially after the outbreak of the 2020 global pandemic, I feel the power of digital design. Our life is limited but we need to learn how to play under limitation. Digital user experience design allows us to achieve the maximum in a restricted living environment. I have a good example that I designed for Sephora x Kohl’s event in 2021. I designed a touchless mobile experience that created a compelling user experience for a total of 1,711 attendees from 44% of Sephora x KOHL’s popup. The goal for this project is to reduce the physical contact but keep attendees engaged in the event. I designed that app with my team. We figured out the way that we can use apps to navigate people to walk through the event. So we can reduce doubts about direction or activity. Eventually my design for Sephora won the prestigious “LIVE EVENTS & EXPERIENCES: Best Use of Event Technology” at the BizBash Award.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Many people may think that the learning stops after you get a design degree, but I can tell you it continues throughout your career. I have been in the design field for more than ten years, and I have learned to never stop learning and always remain curious. Having creativity is vital, but it is alway important to stay on top of the latest software and technology in order to express your creativity most effectively.

You also have to learn to work within limitations, whether it is time, technology, budget, or even a global pandemic. For example, after the COVID-19 outbreak, I was tasked with designing part of an event for Sephora and Kohl’s that included sanitation and distancing measures that were in place at the time. I designed a touchless mobile experience that received engagement from about 750 attendees, representing 44% of total people attending the event. The goal for this project was to keep attendees engaged in the event while minimizing physical contact. We used the app to guide people as they walked through the event and keep them engaged while making sure they get the full event experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://itingchen.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uxdesignplayground/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iting-chen-87b057ab/