{"id":26348,"date":"2024-05-23T08:10:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T08:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/muse.international\/?p=26348"},"modified":"2024-06-12T06:27:11","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T06:27:11","slug":"interview-with-junru-jennie-xu-and-xiaobi-iris-pan-from-the-united-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/interview-with-junru-jennie-xu-and-xiaobi-iris-pan-from-the-united-states\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Junru (Jennie) Xu and Xiaobi (Iris) Pan from the United States"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The two designers, Junru (Jennie) Xu and Xiaobi (Iris) Pan have extensive experience in product design, user experience, HCI, and interdisciplinary design. They co-founded How Might We, a studio dedicated to using technology and design to create positive social change. They have worked on various social challenges such as climate change, poverty, and women’s health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q1. Please give us a brief bio of yourself and your creative background.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jennie: Hi, my name is Junru (Jennie) Xu. I’m currently a senior product designer at DirecTV. I was a founding designer at Cayaba Care and the founder+ CEO of TA Designer Studio and founder with eight years of experience in product design, user experience, and HCI. I have a Bachelor in Architecture degree from IIT and an MArch degree from Columbia University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iris: Hi, my name is Xiaobi (Iris) Pan. I am an interdisciplinary designer with 15+ years of experience, ranging from UX design to Product Design, Interactive Installation Design, and Emerging Technology Design. I received my Bachelor\u2019s in Industrial Design from Zhejiang University and my Master\u2019s in Design Studies degree with a focus on new technology from Harvard Graduate School of Design. I have worked at the world’s largest IT companies (Amazon, Mastercard, IBM, etc.) as Sr. and Lead Designer on various industry-leading projects, and I’m known for my digital + physical creative design work, including my interactive installation and pioneering XR interactive experience design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q2. What made you become\/why did you choose to become a creative?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We both chose to study design\/architecture and enter the field of creative design because we love both creative self-expression and problem-solving. And design becomes the perfect subject that allows us to do both. After exploring various design disciplines, we discovered that there are no real boundaries between domains and design areas, and creating innovative products, experiences, and even “beings” that can help connect and delight people is our true mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q3. Tell us more about your business\/company, job profile, and what you do.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We co-founded our design studio, How Might We (HMW), in 2024, where we use technology and interdisciplinary design to investigate social issues and create positive social change through our design. We are interested in addressing social challenges such as climate change, poverty, women’s health, disability, children’s developmental health, etc. It can be seen from our work (https:\/\/hmwdesign.studio\/work) that we are interested in the social challenge area and strive to use design to create solutions that can be both technically feasible, commercially viable, and aesthetically desirable. In addition to creating design solutions and conceptual designs, we also provide design workshops and mentorship services for both design professionals and industry clients to help them build their “design muscle.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q4. What does \u201ccreativity\u201d mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We believe creativity can be a form of expression of the higher self, as Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way states. As Julia puts it, creativity is the underlying purpose of life’s higher energies. And there is an in-dwelling creative force infusing all life, including ourselves. We are ourselves, creations. And we, in turn, are meant to continue creativity by being creative ourselves. Interestingly, most of our designs or creative works are created mostly by chance. And our personal creative experiences also attest to the above theory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q5. To you, what makes a \u201ccreative\u201d idea and\/or design?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For us, a creative idea or design is something that seems a bit surprising at first glance, but as one looks deeper, it should make perfect sense. It is something that’s both intuitive and counterintuitive, simple and complex, personal and universal. It is not created by some arbitrary combination of two completely unrelated elements. Instead, everything needs to be carefully thought through, yet it seems effortless in its deliverability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HEAR ME is an app that leverages AI technology to empower people with hearing loss in all aspects of life. Users can have their selected avatar interpreters translate between … (Read more at MUSE Creative Awards<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about this interview<\/a> with Yutong Xie from the United States, the Silver Winner of the 2024 MUSE Creative Awards.<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The two designers, Junru (Jennie) Xu and Xiaobi (Iris) Pan have extensive experience in product design, user experience, HCI, and interdisciplinary design. 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