{"id":38196,"date":"2025-04-28T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T10:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/muse.international\/?p=38196"},"modified":"2025-04-28T02:31:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T02:31:09","slug":"designing-for-human-connection-the-impact-of-xi-zhou-on-virtu-ai-and-seedlings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/designing-for-human-connection-the-impact-of-xi-zhou-on-virtu-ai-and-seedlings\/","title":{"rendered":"Designing for Human Connection: The Impact of Xi Zhou on Virtu AI and Seedlings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Xi Zhou is a UX Designer at PlayStation, specializing in Monetization and Commerce across console and off-console platforms. She has led key projects for the PlayStation e-commerce site, impacting 70 countries and 118 million users. Her drive for design and technology led her to further studies at the University of Michigan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

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

My design journey began with a childhood love for the innovative and imaginative world of Doraemon. As a young artist, I explored various mediums including traditional Chinese painting and watercolor. This artistic foundation led me to study Industrial Design at Jiangnan University during my freshman year of college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I delved deeper into industrial design, I discovered my main interest lay in the Internet of Things (IoT). This realization prompted me to seek transfer opportunities to U.S. universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After two years of dedicated effort, I moved to California College of the Arts in 2017 to focus on UX design and research. Following graduation, I worked as a UX researcher at Netgear, where I gained valuable insights into product development. My passion for design and technology drove me to pursue further studies at the University of Michigan, exploring the intersection of software development and design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A pivotal moment in my career came during graduate school when I secured both an internship and a full-time offer with PlayStation. This experience not only solidified my commitment to design but also provided excellent opportunities for growth and development as a UX Designer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

My design journey began in childhood with a fascination for Doraemon’s innovative and imaginative world. Growing up, I explored traditional Chinese painting and watercolor, which nurtured my creativity and shaped my artistic foundation. This passion led me to pursue Industrial Design at Jiangnan University in my freshman year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While studying industrial design, I discovered a passion for the Internet of Things (IoT). Seeking academic growth, I dedicated two years to transferring to California College of the Arts in 2017, where I focused on UX design and research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduation, I joined Netgear as a UX Researcher, gaining valuable experience in product development and user research. My drive to combine design and technology led me to pursue further studies at the University of Michigan, where I explored the intersection of software development and design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During graduate school, I landed an internship at PlayStation that evolved into a full-time role\u2014a pivotal moment in my career. This experience deepened my commitment to UX design and offered remarkable opportunities for both personal and professional growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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

I am currently a UX Designer at PlayStation (Sony Interactive Entertainment), working on the Monetization and Commerce team, focusing on both console and off-console experiences. I have led and delivered multiple projects for the PlayStation e-commerce website and subscriptions worldwide, reaching 70 countries and serving 118 million users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q4. What does \u201cdesign\u201d mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Design is about creating new things and improving existing ones. It’s when we turn creative ideas into real solutions that help people. Good design combines three key elements: functionality, aesthetics, and usability. At its core, design is about using creativity to solve problems and make a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q5. What\u2019s your favorite kind of design and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n


My favorite part of the design process is brainstorming, which typically involves input from the entire team. People with different backgrounds bring ideas you might never have considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, those with animation experience might offer more unconventional ideas, while those with graphic design backgrounds might suggest more visually appealing approaches. When we come together for ideation, we have inspiring conversations and generate bold, creative ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Seedlings<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virtu AI<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explore the journey of Dave Amantea<\/a>, the Product Design of the Year Winner in the 2024 NY Product Design Awards. He began his journey in 2000 as a painter and modeler in Turin, rising through roles at Fiat, Maserati, Bentley, and Jaguar Land Rover. Now Chief Design Officer at Automobili Pininfarina, he leads bold innovations like the Battista and B95, redefining luxury in the electric era.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Xi Zhou is a UX Designer at PlayStation, specializing in Monetization and Commerce across console and off-console platforms. She has led key projects for the PlayStation [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":38359,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[372,540],"tags":[360,492,488,382],"yoast_head":"\nDesigning for Human Connection: The Impact of Xi Zhou on Virtu AI and Seedlings<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Winner interview with Xi Zhou from the United States, the Silver Winner of the 2024 NY Product Design Awards.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/designing-for-human-connection-the-impact-of-xi-zhou-on-virtu-ai-and-seedlings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Designing for Human Connection: The Impact of Xi Zhou on Virtu AI and Seedlings\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Winner interview with Xi Zhou from the United States, the Silver Winner of the 2024 NY Product Design Awards.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/designing-for-human-connection-the-impact-of-xi-zhou-on-virtu-ai-and-seedlings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Muse.World\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/musedotworld\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-28T10:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-28T02:31:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/muse.international\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/NYA-xi-zhou-thumb.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Maizura\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@musedotworld\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@musedotworld\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Maizura\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/designing-for-human-connection-the-impact-of-xi-zhou-on-virtu-ai-and-seedlings\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/designing-for-human-connection-the-impact-of-xi-zhou-on-virtu-ai-and-seedlings\/\",\"name\":\"Designing for Human Connection: The Impact of Xi Zhou on Virtu AI and Seedlings\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-28T10:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-28T02:31:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/#\/schema\/person\/6c06d27dec72f8caef69a58de7057d86\"},\"description\":\"Winner interview with Xi Zhou from the United States, the Silver Winner of the 2024 NY Product Design Awards.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/designing-for-human-connection-the-impact-of-xi-zhou-on-virtu-ai-and-seedlings\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/designing-for-human-connection-the-impact-of-xi-zhou-on-virtu-ai-and-seedlings\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/designing-for-human-connection-the-impact-of-xi-zhou-on-virtu-ai-and-seedlings\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Designing for Human Connection: The Impact of Xi Zhou on Virtu AI and Seedlings\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/\",\"name\":\"Muse.World\",\"description\":\"MUSE Creative Awards | Vega Digital Awards | TITAN Awards\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/#\/schema\/person\/6c06d27dec72f8caef69a58de7057d86\",\"name\":\"Maizura\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a7ec2dc5487c561c4b56a152817a6c14?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a7ec2dc5487c561c4b56a152817a6c14?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Maizura\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/author\/maizura\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Designing for Human Connection: The Impact of Xi Zhou on Virtu AI and Seedlings","description":"Winner interview with Xi Zhou from the United States, the Silver Winner of the 2024 NY Product Design Awards.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/designing-for-human-connection-the-impact-of-xi-zhou-on-virtu-ai-and-seedlings\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Designing for Human Connection: The Impact of Xi Zhou on Virtu AI and Seedlings","og_description":"Winner interview with Xi Zhou from the United States, the Silver Winner of the 2024 NY Product Design Awards.","og_url":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/designing-for-human-connection-the-impact-of-xi-zhou-on-virtu-ai-and-seedlings\/","og_site_name":"Muse.World","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/musedotworld","article_published_time":"2025-04-28T10:30:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-28T02:31:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/muse.international\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/NYA-xi-zhou-thumb.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Maizura","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@musedotworld","twitter_site":"@musedotworld","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Maizura","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/designing-for-human-connection-the-impact-of-xi-zhou-on-virtu-ai-and-seedlings\/","url":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/designing-for-human-connection-the-impact-of-xi-zhou-on-virtu-ai-and-seedlings\/","name":"Designing for Human Connection: The Impact of Xi Zhou on Virtu AI and Seedlings","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-04-28T10:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-28T02:31:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/#\/schema\/person\/6c06d27dec72f8caef69a58de7057d86"},"description":"Winner interview with Xi Zhou from the United States, the Silver Winner of the 2024 NY Product Design Awards.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/designing-for-human-connection-the-impact-of-xi-zhou-on-virtu-ai-and-seedlings\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/designing-for-human-connection-the-impact-of-xi-zhou-on-virtu-ai-and-seedlings\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/designing-for-human-connection-the-impact-of-xi-zhou-on-virtu-ai-and-seedlings\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Designing for Human Connection: The Impact of Xi Zhou on Virtu AI and Seedlings"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/#website","url":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/","name":"Muse.World","description":"MUSE Creative Awards | Vega Digital Awards | TITAN Awards","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/#\/schema\/person\/6c06d27dec72f8caef69a58de7057d86","name":"Maizura","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a7ec2dc5487c561c4b56a152817a6c14?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a7ec2dc5487c561c4b56a152817a6c14?s=96&r=g","caption":"Maizura"},"url":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/author\/maizura\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38196"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38196"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38229,"href":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38196\/revisions\/38229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}