{"id":39223,"date":"2025-05-27T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/muse.international\/?p=39223"},"modified":"2025-05-29T08:55:21","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T08:55:21","slug":"ariana-ziying-zhu-talks-designing-the-future-of-safari-tours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/ariana-ziying-zhu-talks-designing-the-future-of-safari-tours\/","title":{"rendered":"Ariana Ziying Zhu Talks Designing the Future of Safari Tours"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ariana Ziying Zhu is a product designer fascinated by how people think, feel, and connect with the world. Drawing from her background in cognitive science and visual arts, she skillfully weaves logic, empathy, and creativity to design digital experiences that truly resonate and solve meaningful problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q1. Congratulations on winning the MUSE Design Awards! Can you introduce yourself and share about what inspired you to pursue design as a career?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Hi, I\u2019m Ariana Zhu, a product designer passionate about creating thoughtful, user-centered digital experiences. My journey into design began with a fascination for how people think, feel, and interact with the world, which led me to study cognitive science and visual arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was especially drawn to UX when I realized it offered a unique way to blend logic, empathy, and creativity to solve meaningful problems. For me, design is more than aesthetics\u2014it\u2019s about improving lives through intentional and inclusive solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Q2. What does being recognized in the MUSE Design Awards mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This recognition is deeply meaningful \u2014 it not only validates the hard work and thinking behind the project but also energizes me to keep pushing boundaries. Being part of a global community of innovative designers is incredibly motivating and affirms that thoughtful design truly resonates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Q3. How has this achievement impacted your career, team, or agency, and what opportunities has it brought so far?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winning this award has strengthened my confidence and visibility as a designer. It\u2019s opened up conversations with other creatives and product design professionals and served as a milestone for my team, who supported and inspired me throughout the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Q4. What role does experimentation play in your creative process? Can you share an example?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experimentation is fundamental to my creative process \u2014 especially when designing for complex or emerging technologies where conventions aren\u2019t well-established. A great example is when I worked on the navigation bar for a rider-focused auto HMI system used in self-driving tours at safari parks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike traditional mobile or desktop interfaces, HMI systems \u2014 especially those meant for passengers rather than drivers \u2014 lack standardized design patterns. Our initial competitive analysis revealed that navigation bars varied widely across companies, and none quite fit our unique use case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During early design critiques, each teammate brought strong yet differing ideas to the table, and we found ourselves stuck \u2014 all with valid reasoning but no clear alignment. To resolve this, I quickly recruited 20+ participants and ran a card sorting study within a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This allowed us to understand users\u2019 mental models and expectations around key features like tour progress, animal spotlights, and media controls. The results directly influenced the final information architecture and interaction flow of the nav bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Q5. What’s the most unusual source of inspiration you’ve ever drawn from for a project?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Managing a rock band was surprisingly one of the most formative design experiences I\u2019ve had \u2014 even before I knew what UX design was. From coordinating rehearsals and arranging setlists to handling last-minute tech issues before a performance, I had to constantly think in systems: how every small part contributes to the whole, how timing affects flow, and how to keep everyone aligned toward a shared goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That experience gave me a deep appreciation for complexity \u2014 and now, I bring that mindset into every project I work on. Whether I\u2019m structuring a design system, mapping a user journey, or facilitating team collaboration, I\u2019m always thinking about how the pieces fit together. Design isn\u2019t just about making things look good \u2014 it\u2019s about making things work well across moving parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Winning Entry <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SafariRoam Guide<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explore another journey of Maomao Ding<\/a>, the Silver Winner of the 2025 MUSE Design Awards. She blends human-centered design, engineering, and storytelling to craft intuitive, meaningful experiences across tech, startups, and NGOs, while her passion for branding adds clarity and emotion to every project.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ariana Ziying Zhu is a product designer fascinated by how people think, feel, and connect with the world. Drawing from her background in cognitive science and [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":39311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[405,372,553],"tags":[360,12,382],"yoast_head":"\nAriana Ziying Zhu Talks Designing the Future of Safari Tours<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Winner interview with Ariana Ziying Zhu from the United States, the Silver Winner of the 2025 MUSE 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\/ariana-ziying-zhu-talks-designing-the-future-of-safari-tours\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ariana Ziying Zhu Talks Designing the Future of Safari Tours\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Winner interview with Ariana Ziying Zhu from the United States, the Silver Winner of the 2025 MUSE Design Awards.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/ariana-ziying-zhu-talks-designing-the-future-of-safari-tours\/\" \/>\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=\"2025-05-27T09:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-29T08:55:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/muse.international\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/MDA-ariana-ziying-zhu-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=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/ariana-ziying-zhu-talks-designing-the-future-of-safari-tours\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/ariana-ziying-zhu-talks-designing-the-future-of-safari-tours\/\",\"name\":\"Ariana Ziying Zhu Talks Designing the Future of Safari Tours\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-27T09:30:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-29T08:55:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/#\/schema\/person\/6c06d27dec72f8caef69a58de7057d86\"},\"description\":\"Winner interview with Ariana Ziying Zhu from the United States, the Silver Winner of the 2025 MUSE Design Awards.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/ariana-ziying-zhu-talks-designing-the-future-of-safari-tours\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/ariana-ziying-zhu-talks-designing-the-future-of-safari-tours\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/ariana-ziying-zhu-talks-designing-the-future-of-safari-tours\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ariana Ziying Zhu Talks Designing the Future of Safari Tours\"}]},{\"@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":"Ariana Ziying Zhu Talks Designing the Future of Safari Tours","description":"Winner interview with Ariana Ziying Zhu from the United States, the Silver Winner of the 2025 MUSE 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\/ariana-ziying-zhu-talks-designing-the-future-of-safari-tours\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ariana Ziying Zhu Talks Designing the Future of Safari Tours","og_description":"Winner interview with Ariana Ziying Zhu from the United States, the Silver Winner of the 2025 MUSE Design Awards.","og_url":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/ariana-ziying-zhu-talks-designing-the-future-of-safari-tours\/","og_site_name":"Muse.World","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/musedotworld","article_published_time":"2025-05-27T09:30:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-29T08:55:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/muse.international\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/MDA-ariana-ziying-zhu-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":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/ariana-ziying-zhu-talks-designing-the-future-of-safari-tours\/","url":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/ariana-ziying-zhu-talks-designing-the-future-of-safari-tours\/","name":"Ariana Ziying Zhu Talks Designing the Future of Safari Tours","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-05-27T09:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-29T08:55:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/#\/schema\/person\/6c06d27dec72f8caef69a58de7057d86"},"description":"Winner interview with Ariana Ziying Zhu from the United States, the Silver Winner of the 2025 MUSE Design Awards.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/ariana-ziying-zhu-talks-designing-the-future-of-safari-tours\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/ariana-ziying-zhu-talks-designing-the-future-of-safari-tours\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/ariana-ziying-zhu-talks-designing-the-future-of-safari-tours\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ariana Ziying Zhu Talks Designing the Future of Safari Tours"}]},{"@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\/39223"}],"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=39223"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39230,"href":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39223\/revisions\/39230"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}