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

Qihang, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project I’ve worked on is Memory Land, a platform I co-founded to help people process grief through personalized digital memorials. The idea for Memory Land is deeply rooted in personal loss. In 2022, I lost my grandmother, a constant source of love and wisdom in my life. Just a year later, the passing of my idol, CoCo Lee, in 2023 deeply affected me. These experiences underscored the universal yet profoundly personal nature of grief and the challenges of finding meaningful ways to honor loved ones.

Memory Land was born from a desire to create a compassionate space where memories could live on, offering comfort and connection even after loss. By leveraging AI and 3D scanning, the platform enables users to preserve items, photos, and audio tied to their loved ones. For instance, a user can scan a treasured keepsake or recreate a virtual space that reflects cherished memories. It’s more than a digital archive—it transforms painful reminders into opportunities for healing and reflection.

This project is particularly meaningful to me because it channels my grief into something constructive and impactful. It has allowed me to merge my skills in design and technology with my passion for creating social good. While grief is universal, each journey is unique. Memory Land honors that individuality by offering tools tailored to each user’s experience, grounded in empathy and innovation.

Working on Memory Land has shown me the power of design to address not only practical challenges but also deeply human emotions. This project honors the memories of my grandmother and CoCo Lee while helping others find light in their darkest moments. Through Memory Land, I hope to remind people that even in loss, there is an opportunity for healing, connection, and growth.

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 Qihang, a designer and innovator dedicated to using creativity and technology to address complex human challenges. My journey into design began during my undergraduate studies in communications and history at UCLA, where I developed a fascination with the intersection of storytelling, user experience, and technology. This curiosity laid the foundation for my pursuit of human-centered design, which I further explored through graduate studies at Harvard and Stanford. These experiences helped me refine my ability to create impactful solutions that blend empathy and innovation.

In my current role as a Senior Product Designer at Chartmetric, I lead the design of flagship products, mentor a talented team, and work closely with leadership to develop tools that foster equity and innovation within the music industry. One of the initiatives I’m most proud of involves creating talent discovery features that empower minority artists, helping to lower barriers and ensure broader representation in the industry. These efforts have driven business success while aligning with my commitment to leveraging design for social good.

A particularly meaningful project I’ve worked on is Memory Land, a platform I co-founded to help individuals process grief through personalized digital memorials. This initiative was inspired by personal experiences—the loss of my grandmother in 2022 and my idol CoCo Lee in 2023—which brought home the universal yet profoundly personal nature of grief. By combining AI and 3D scanning, Memory Land enables users to create immersive, interactive spaces where memories can live on. The project exemplifies my dedication to crafting tools that transform deeply personal challenges into opportunities for healing, connection, and reflection.

Through projects like Blueline, which builds trust between citizens and law enforcement, and Memory Land, I aim to create experiences that balance technological innovation with empathy. My work is grounded in the belief that design has the power to build meaningful connections, address inequities, and inspire growth. I take pride in contributing to initiatives that foster mental wellness, amplify underrepresented voices, and create bridges between people and technology.

In recognition of my work, I was honored with a Gold award at the London Design Awards and Silver awards at both the Muse Creative Awards and the NY Product Design Awards in 2024. Looking ahead, I am thrilled to be nominated for the prestigious IF Design Award and UX Design Awards in 2025. These accolades reflect the impact of my projects and inspire me to continue pushing the boundaries of what design can achieve.

For me, design is not just a profession—it’s a responsibility and an opportunity to make a lasting, positive impact on the world.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The driving force behind my creative journey is a deep commitment to using design and technology to address universal human challenges and foster meaningful connections. At the heart of my work is a belief that creativity is not just a tool for innovation but a medium for empathy and understanding. My mission is to craft tools and experiences that empower individuals, particularly in moments of vulnerability, while bridging gaps in equity, access, and connection.

This philosophy is reflected in projects like Memory Land, a platform designed to help people navigate grief by preserving cherished memories in personalized digital spaces. Memory Land goes beyond being a product—it’s a deeply human-centered initiative inspired by my personal experiences with loss. By combining advanced AI, 3D scanning, and thoughtful design, it offers individuals a way to transform painful reminders into meaningful opportunities for healing and reflection. It is a testament to how technology, when used with compassion, can touch lives in profound ways.

Similarly, my role as a Senior Product Designer at Chartmetric allows me to tackle equity and representation in the music industry. Designing tools to support underrepresented artists, I aim to lower barriers and create opportunities for those whose voices often go unheard. Whether it’s developing talent discovery features or improving the usability of data analytics platforms, my work here is driven by the same commitment to addressing systemic challenges through thoughtful, impactful design.

For me, design is more than solving problems—it’s about envisioning and realizing opportunities for growth, healing, and understanding. Each project I take on reflects this ethos, whether it’s helping individuals process grief, promoting equitable access in creative industries, or fostering trust and transparency in broader societal systems. I see design as a bridge between what is and what could be, enabling people to connect with themselves and others in meaningful ways.

Ultimately, my goal is to harness the transformative power of creativity to make a lasting impact on the world. I want to contribute to a future where technology and design work hand in hand to build emotional resilience, promote equity, and inspire deeper understanding across diverse communities. This mission is what drives me to continually learn, innovate, and create with purpose, ensuring that every project I undertake not only meets functional needs but also resonates on a deeply human level.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is the ability to transform ideas into something tangible that resonates with people on a deeply personal level. There is something profoundly fulfilling about seeing a design or project evolve from a concept into a meaningful experience that can solve a problem, evoke emotions, inspire action, or bring comfort during difficult times. It’s this ability to create and connect that continually drives my passion for design.

One of the most memorable experiences in my journey has been working on Memory Land, a platform designed to help people process grief through personalized digital memorials. Users have shared how the platform has enabled them to preserve cherished memories and find solace in moments of loss. Hearing their stories and knowing that something I’ve contributed to has brought comfort or healing is both humbling and deeply motivating. It reminds me of the potential that thoughtful design has to make a lasting impact on individual lives.

Beyond individual projects, I find immense satisfaction in the creative process itself. Collaborating with others, exploring innovative ways to merge empathy and technology, and continuously learning how to better serve communities are some of the aspects I cherish most. Each challenge presents an opportunity to think differently, adapt, and refine my approach to meet diverse needs.

What I find most rewarding is contributing to solutions that go beyond functionality to foster connection, equity, and understanding. Whether it’s empowering underrepresented voices, addressing systemic inequities, or simply creating something that brightens someone’s day, I am inspired by the potential of creativity to drive positive change. For me, being a creative is not just about crafting solutions—it’s about creating opportunities for growth, healing, and deeper connection with the world around us.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.zhangqihang.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gemikezhang/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006093571471
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/qihang-zhang-mike/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MikeZhang-gz9dv

Image Credits

Qihang Zhang