JESSIE LIAN

ux designer & poet

I am making
meaning
in the mystery

& whether I’m drawing up digital spaces or mingling with words on a page, I am often playing inside the unknown, because I believe this is where the miraculous is born, and where meaning– that slippery but necessary thing– begins to take shape. . . until it can be held in our hands.

When I am with my work, I center around:

Curiosity

Curiosity is a door that leads to more doors. I am amongst perpetual possibility because of it. Humility has proven to be a helpful guide here, and wonder a frequent output.

Clarity

Clarity is essential when creation is messy. I believe that the practices of research & listening are precursors to a clarified vision. And vision is what casts light into chaos.

Conviction

Conviction is the voice of my gut and my heart. I use it as a data point, a single northward star, to help me determine if I’m moving in a meaningful direction.

DESIGN SERVICES

User Research & Synthesis
Data Analysis & Visualization
Storytelling & Content Strategy
Workshop Facilitation
Personas & Mindsets
Service Blueprints & User Journeys
Information Architecture
High-Fidelity Mockups
Prototyping & Usability Testing


My aim is to grow gardens inside our digital neighborhood. The Internet & apps are places we properly inhabit- so let us make it all lovely.

❈ more about me ❈

Digital Projects >

Easing the
burden of nurse
managers
‍

Building musical fluency through flow state

Empowering
a sales team
to self-evaluate
‍

Visualizing a city's emissions to get to carbon neutrality

❈ see more ❈

Community & Personal Projects >

Time Studies Series

I am currently conducting a self-study on time, to understand what temporal alternatives there are to linear, measured, optimized time. You can read my recent posts on my Substack.

Pezestrians Poetry Group

A community of poet-friends in Atlanta. We met every week for two years to workshop each other’s work. We also hosted free monthly open mic nights in the city and published the occasional chapbook under Sidewalk Poetry Press, distributing them in Little Free Libraries around the neighborhood. See more at my co-founder Emma's website.

‍

Speaking & Teaching

⊛ Mentor at DesignLab
⊛ After-School Tutor at 826LA
⊛ Poet at the Golden Standard, a curated spoken word show in LA
⊛ Poet at Worldwide Vigil for the Victims of the Atlanta Shooting
⊛ Inaugural poet at the 2021 UX Hustle Summit
⊛ Guest on UX Hustle Podcast
⊛ Featured as UX Designer in Voyage LA
‍⊛ Facilitator/Creator of a Spoken Word Poetry Workshop, a workshop for high schoolers to start writing and performing their own spoken word poetry, and for teachers to use spoken word poetry as a tool for authenticity & freedom.
‍
‍

Published Works

⊛ Star82 Review: "Wintering Sun" and "The faucet is leaking dear"
⊛ Hot Pot Magazine: "How to make dumplings"
⊛ The Los Angeles Press: "Heaven Now", "Excessive Heat Warning"
⊛ Curio Cabinet Magazine: "Breadcrumbs"
⊛ Wildroof Journal: "Love, a Shapeshifter"
⊛ ABC's of AAPI Coloring Book: A coloring book made in partnership with the Asian American Advocacy Fund, featuring beautiful illustrations & stories about historical & present-day AAPI legends. Read more.
⊛ Writings on Design x Data Viz, including: Data in New Ways: 3 New Charts You've Never Seen Before

Order my book!

GIVING IN is a short collection of poems accompanied by my drawings. It wanders through seasons of wanting, dreaming, resting, and knowing. It is a tender celebration of life’s contradictions. Laughter is placed next to grief, love next to doubt, growth next to a nap. I try to answer the question of what happens when we decide to finally give in to these mysteries, and what seems to give back in return.

Buy on Amazon
Buy on Barnes & Noble
Buy on Bookshop.org

JESSIE LIAN

Let's make meaning together.
jessiexlian@gmail.com
LinkedIn / Instagram
‍
Download Resume