Hi there! Welcome to this site that’s mostly about my professional life. My name is Shan Liu. I am a product designer, though I consider myself one of those jack-of-all-trades people that have a hard time with having just one title. A problem is a problem, you know? Solutions can come in the form of objects, or diagrams, or acts. Well, I happen to be living in an era where people use computers and smartphones to navigate the world, so I chose to work in digital product.
I like studying systems (marketplace, ant colony, or even sewage system) and how things interact within them. This passion came from observing my mother, who was an electrical engineer that designed power grids for the city. From an early age, I doodled on the back of blueprints and eavesdropped on negotiations with contractors. I rode in land surveying cars and made mini labyrinths in CAD software. I noticed that what my mother worked on - the distribution of electricity - was both invisible and ever-present. I discovered that things in life were interconnected, and people, too. It only became clear to me later in life that these experiences laid the foundation for my design education.
Throughout the years, I did many things at many places. I’m most fond of: making muppets at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop; casting Pharrell in plaster at Daniel Arsham Studio; going to all kinds of hackathons and made a lot of friends; joining Rah Rah when it was just a prototype and helped it launch at four campuses across the country.
In 2023, I became a mother. It was the most exhilarating thing I’ve ever experienced, and the most challenging. I put on my researcher hat and dived head first in everything parenting. It’s humbling, because I feel like my baby is my most honest audience, and he grows and changes so fast right in front of me.
I constantly seek out people and teams with a strong sense of purpose. If what you've seen here made you smile, don’t hesitate to drop me a line at oranliu@gmail.com.
