Charlie(Yi) Xu

Being from an engineering background, I have been intrigued by how things work. Also being a designer, I always care about how people feel when they are interacting with an object. These are the two approaches to product design. These years of study in design leads me to think about the purpose of design. Why design?



Design, as a creative problem solving process is really fascinating to me in two ways. On the one hand, designer usually start from a research into understanding others. Designers should always have a sense of empathy to really understand what the problem is and why that happens. On the other hand, designers then bring their imagination and vision to the final solutions based on their own experience and philosophy. It is an exciting moment when designers’ vision meets the real world problems. In this way, design is an art of problem solving.



I am interested in everyday objects. Everyday objects reach far beyond their practical functions, which, though, they are made primarily for.The power of objects lies in making people attentive into something, and lead people to think and learn about themselves. By understanding people’s behavior in a certain environment, I use design to respond to a specific situation or problem that inspires people to think and reflect on themselves.