About
Duo Xu
I'm a product designer with an MFA in HCI from Parsons and 5+ years working across AI products, enterprise platforms, and large-scale public systems. I'm drawn to the problems that sit at the intersection of structure and human messiness. I've worked at fast-moving startups where I owned everything from research to handoff, as well as on compliance-critical platforms used by people I'd never meet. That combination pushed me to think in systems without losing sight of who's actually using the thing.
Outside of work I paint in oils, play video games, and spend a lot of time with my puppy Charlie.
How I Work
A few things that are true about how I approach design, drawn from real projects rather than principles I aspire to.
Systems before screens
I start by understanding the underlying data model and user workflow before drawing anything. The component comes last, not first.
Research as a design tool
I run my own discovery when I can. Talking directly to users changes what I build in ways that secondhand synthesis cannot.
Constraints are the brief
Engineering constraints, compliance requirements, legacy systems: these are not obstacles. They are the actual problem to design within.
Cross-functional from day one
I bring PMs and engineers into the design process early. Alignment at the problem stage is cheaper than realignment at the spec stage.
Decisions over deliverables
A Figma file is not the output. A shared understanding of what to build and why is the output. Documentation follows from that.
Clarity over cleverness
If a user has to think about how to use something, the design has not done its job yet. Intuitive is a result, not a feature.
Tools and Methods
Design
Figma Figma Variables Prototyping
Design Systems Token Architecture
Interaction Design Wireframing
Research
User Interviews Usability Testing
Research Synthesis Journey Mapping
Competitive Analysis
Collaboration
Jira Notion Confluence
Miro FigJam GitHub
Agile Design Reviews