About | A Grain Of Yiningm

Hey! I'm Yining Mao.

As an architectural designer turned Product Designer, I bring a delightful mix of experience and fresh perspective to the table.

I love to hear from others, and I believe that the diversity of people and life experiences brings the infinite potential of design.

Beyond design, I enjoy camping under the stars, experimenting in the kitchen, sketching people in their lovable motions and singing my heart out. My interests spark my creativity and infuse my work with a vibrant energy.

“I knew it when I was a child."

I was born in a loving and supportive family. As I grew older and met more people with different attitudes toward life, I became increasingly grateful for having the best family I could imagine. Their love and care have shaped my character, making me optimistic, resilient, and empathetic. They always provided me with enough independence, supporting my ideas and decisions. So, when it came time to choose a college major, I knew exactly what I liked and told them I wanted to study design. I knew I love design even when I was a child.

''I want to see a bigger world.''

I enrolled in a prestigious college to study design. This university was far from my hometown, which allowed me to meet many friends from diverse backgrounds. Different people, different temperaments, different habits, and different design styles. Maybe it's because I'm a Sagittarius that I love the constant influx of new things. In design, every detail can create its uniqueness, reinforcing my belief that this is something I will always pursue.

In my final year of college, I decided to go abroad for my master's degree. I wanted to see a bigger world, meet more people, and listen to their stories. I believe that the broader a designer's heart and vision, the more they can create designs that people truly need.

''Design is about people. Not only users, but also collaborators."

I chose to pursue my graduate studies at UCLA. Here, I learned many new forms of design expression: filmmaking, photography, visual design, 3D modeling, and more. This made me realize that the depth of design does not exist in a single form. After graduation, I worked as a designer at a world-renowned architectural firm, where I also learned about collaboration and the exchange of ideas among top design minds.

I understand that design is about people, and human-centered design is good design. A great designer knows how to balance the opinions of people from different backgrounds and innovate upon them.

''Why don't I design more?''

One night, before bed, I watched a video by a favorite blogger who shared that she had switched careers to UX. After watching her introduction to UX, I, someone who usually sleeps well, couldn't sleep at all that night. All I could hear was the sound of my heart pounding in the quiet of the night.

Understanding people, recognizing their needs, and creating designs that suit and are feasible for them felt like a reflection of my journey. I had done a lot of architectural design, so why not explore the breadth of design? I decided that I wanted to become a UX designer.

''Design with constraints makes it more exhailating.''

Unfortunately, the job market was tough, but a friend of mine offered me this amazing opportunity to help her redesign a project for a logistics platform. Then I became the lead designer for a digital wallet feature and shipper's portal. Similar to architecture, UX design is not just about bold ideas beyond imagination，I found using accessibility standards to frame design make the process more ''charming'' as it gets more mature and usable.

I'm still on my way, a long long way, to expore the unlimited possibilities of design, and I'm so happy that I found it.

Skill Sets

Tools

Figma | Adobe XD | Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects)

3D modeling

Rhino | SketchUp | Enscape ( for scene and model rendering )

Experience

UX Designer @ Windpeak

Jan 2024 - present

Architectural Designer @ NBBJ

Aug 2019 - Sept 2023

Education

Google UX Professional

2022

Master of Architectural Design @ UCLA

Aug 2018 - Jun 2019

Licensure

LEED AP BD+C

Since 2021