I was raised in Hanoi, Vietnam. I attend the University of Rochester in upstate New York, studying Digital Media, Human-Computer Interaction (Computer Science), and Visual & Cultural Studies.

Most recently, I was a UX Design Intern at Appian, focusing on making machine learning accessible to non-expert enterprise users.

Broadly, I am interested in the “idea delivery” problem – how humans communicate with other humans and with software, and why. 

I believe that technologies help us become more human. Software and digital media should encourage users to be kinder towards themselves, empathetic towards other humans, and empowered to do good in their communities. That is my philosophy as a designer. I aim to create thoughtful, scalable designs that communicate complexities and ensure equal access to information for users of all backgrounds.

Beyond product design, I am interested in exploring visualized information at large scales: television, vernacular photography, social media (and in general consumer-facing technologies). I focus on examining how viewers/users interpret visualized information and co-create meaning through personal associations and individual ways of seeing. As these systems of visual information contribute to how we understand, evaluate, and orient ourselves in the world, I am particularly interested in how they document and construct historically flux/marginalized identities.

Current book shelf: Each One Another (Rachel Haidu), Snapshot Photography (Catherine Zuromskis), User Friendly (Cliff Kuang, Robert Fabricant).

Growing up, I played in a band with my friends in Hanoi. We got to play Hanoi Rock City a few times; I was on keyboard. I don't play anymore, but I retain the useless ability to tell whether a V-shaped electric guitar is the ESP Alexi Laiho or not.