{"id":40667,"date":"2025-07-01T09:45:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T09:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/muse.international\/?p=40667"},"modified":"2025-07-04T04:23:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T04:23:12","slug":"inside-the-ux-journey-of-yuwei-li-unsweetened-and-pengubuddy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/inside-the-ux-journey-of-yuwei-li-unsweetened-and-pengubuddy\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the UX Journey of Yuwei Li | Unsweetened and PenguBuddy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>Yuwei Li is a UX designer at a major Seattle tech company, specializing in AI-powered internal tools. She\u2019s passionate about making design more adaptive, accessible, and efficient\u2014demonstrated by her award-winning projects, Unsweetened and PenguBuddy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>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>Hi, I&#8217;m Yuwei Li. I started with a background in Visual Communication Design during my undergraduate studies, where I learned how to craft visual narratives and communicate clearly. Later, I pursued a master\u2019s degree in Human-Computer Interaction, which shaped how I think about user experience, systems, and inclusive design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Currently, I\u2019m working as a UX designer at a major tech company in Seattle, focusing on internal tools and AI-powered solutions. I\u2019m especially passionate about how AI can enhance design\u2014whether by making experiences more adaptive, accessible, or efficient.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q2. What does being recognized in the MUSE Design Awards mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Being recognized by the MUSE Design Awards is both an honor and a meaningful validation. As a designer, I strive to create work that bridges disciplines, addresses real-world problems, and speaks to both function and emotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This recognition affirms that the effort to push boundaries\u2014whether in inclusive design, AI-driven experiences, or socially responsible projects\u2014is seen and appreciated by a global community. It also motivates me to keep learning, collaborating, and designing for impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>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<p>This recognition has brought a great sense of encouragement\u2014not just to me personally, but to my team as well. It validated our shared belief in user-centered, socially responsible design and opened up new conversations with collaborators, clients, and even researchers from other disciplines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For me, it has helped build credibility in both professional and academic circles, leading to invitations for speaking engagements, cross-functional projects, and opportunities to serve as a jury member for other design competitions. It\u2019s been a catalyst for growth and visibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q4. What role does experimentation play in your creative process? Can you share an example?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cross-collaboration is at the heart of how I work\u2014especially when leading a team. I see it as a mindset that encourages curiosity, cross-disciplinary thinking, and the courage to try something unconventional before it\u2019s proven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One example is PenguBuddy, a project where I led a team of designers, engineers, and biologists to create an AI-enhanced underwater robot that improves penguin engagement and welfare in zoos. Instead of following a traditional app-first approach, we began by experimenting with real-world interactions\u2014testing physical prototypes in water and observing penguin behavior to inform our interface design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We also explored sound frequencies, gamified tasks, and various modes of AI-driven monitoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Q5. What&#8217;s the most unusual source of inspiration you&#8217;ve ever drawn from for a project?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the most unusual\u2014but ultimately powerful\u2014sources of inspiration came from observing animal behavior documentaries, especially those focused on how penguins interact with their environment and each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the PenguBuddy project, we weren\u2019t just designing for humans\u2014we were designing with animals in mind. That shifted our perspective entirely. I was inspired by how penguins use play as a form of communication and stress relief. This led us to explore gamification as a tool\u2014not for humans, but for penguins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We ended up designing physical interactions that mimicked elements of natural enrichment, while using AI to adapt tasks based on individual behavior patterns. That initial spark\u2014from something as simple as a wildlife video\u2014reshaped our approach to both product design and empathy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/design.museaward.com\/winner-info.php?id=28645\" class=\"external\">Unsweetened<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/design.museaward.com\/winner-info.php?id=28807\" class=\"external\">PenguBuddy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Explore the journey of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/muse.international\/?p=40646\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Shan Zhijiang<\/a>, the Platinum Winner of the 2025 MUSE Design Awards.&nbsp;<\/em>He brings 30 years of drawing passion to interior design for luxury residences, hospitality, and real estate, crafting meaningful spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yuwei Li is a UX designer at a major Seattle tech company, specializing in AI-powered internal tools. She\u2019s passionate about making design more adaptive, accessible, and<span class=\"excerpt-hellip\"> [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":40669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[405,372,553],"tags":[360,12,382],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Inside the UX Journey of Yuwei Li | Unsweetened and PenguBuddy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Winner interview with Yuwei Li of HERE Design Studio, the Gold and 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\/inside-the-ux-journey-of-yuwei-li-unsweetened-and-pengubuddy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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