About

👋 Hi, I'm Max!

When I was a kid, I learned how to use photoshop so I could edit my face onto Hannah Montana's body. I've been designing ever since, and it has empowered me to find solutions to challenging problems faced by everyday users.

Today, I'm a multidisciplinary designer & product leader who has worked on B2B and B2C experiences. I love creating experiences that help people do more – whether that means optimizing a flow so they get to where they need to be faster, or just working on an impactful product that helps people get things done.
‍
I've designed digital experiences at Apple , shaped creator economy products at at Beacons 🤓, and have designed systems for LA Hacks, Southern California's biggest hackathon.
‍‍
I was born in Saipan 🏖 (bonus points if you know where that is!), and raised in Shanghai and Manila. Currently I'm in LA studying Cognitive Science & Economics at UCLA.

Resume Let's Connect

My Philosophies ⚖️

🏎 Fail fast

Designing, getting feedback, and iterating quickly helps me get the feedback I need to create designs that align with user & stakeholder goals in the shortest possible amount of time. Failing early on and iterating based off of my new learnings is better than spending weeks toiling over tiny details, only for the whole thing to miss the mark.

🏔 Going the extra mile

Good products and good design go beyond being functional – they bring delight into people's lives. I develop a deep understanding of the users I build for, and strive to personalize solutions to the unique challenges they have.

🧠 Business goals matter

While I aim to solve user problems deeply, every company is a business. My background in Economics allows me to understand the business impact of products on a deep level, and I take pride in putting in the work to gain business context and understand the big picture for the product.

💬 Overcommunication is key

So many problems arise when people don't communicate, and so I choose to overcommunicate. If it was something small that I didn't have to convey, then it only wasted a minute or two of time. If it turns out I should have communicated something but didn't, more time will be lost realigning and redesigning.