jenny.world
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Curriculum Vitae

Design

Technology

Product

Strong communicator, especially in writing, visuals, and presentations. Leads by cultivating “same-pageness”Being in sync, like a choir singing from the same sheet in creative relationships. Most excited about early-to-mid stage project challenges.

One-Page Résumé↗Testimonials
SkillsEducationProfessional ExperienceAwarded GrantsAwarded Residencies & FellowshipsAwarded HonorsPublished WritingPresentations & ExhibitionsTeaching ExperienceOther Projects & Volunteer Service

Skills

Specialty Tools & Software

Expert: Photoshop, Figma, HTML, CSS, Illustrator, InDesign, Notion

Advanced: JavaScript (jQuery, React, Next.js), Framer, After Effects, Webflow, WordPress, Shopify, MailChimp, Braze

Proficient: Python, MySQL, command line, Linear, Google Analytics, ProtoPie, Audacity, Logic

Intermediate: Rive, spaCy, TextaCy

Metholodogies & Frameworks

Expert: Design thinking (d.school, IDEO, Double Diamond), mind mapping, affinity diagramming, moodboarding, storyboarding, rapid ethnography, interview design, survey design, user journey mapping, empathy mapping, wireframing, responsive design

Advanced: Participatory design, strategic foresight (scenario planning, signals and trends mapping, backcasting, Three Horizons), causal layered analysis (CLA), competitive analysis, SWOT Analysis, Business Model Canvas, Lean Canvas, RACI matrix, agile development, kanban, Gantt charts, heuristic evaluation

Proficient: Usability testing, functional programming, Root Cause Analysis (RCA), Eisenhower Matrix, Internal Press Release

Intermediate: Benchmarking, OKR, PEST Analysis, object-oriented programming

Education

Master of Science in Narrative Futures: Art, Data, SocietyUniversity of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Futures Institute2022–2025
Bachelor of Science in Arts, Technology and the Business of InnovationUniversity of Southern California, Iovine and Young Academy2015–2019, Trustee Scholar (full-tuition merit scholarship), magna cum laude
  • One of 22 students selected for the 2nd cohort of the Iovine and Young Academy for integrated studies in art, technology and entrepreneurship.
  • Capstone: “Plot Twisters: Personal storytelling interfaces for students in the 21st century.”
  • Personalized concentrations in Interface Design and Narrative Research Methods
  • Minor in Narrative Structure, Department of English

Professional Experience

Senior DesignerDorsia2022–2024
  • One of 3 cross-functional designers creating and scaling the flagship mobile booking platform (60K+ users), the restaurant and concierge-facing web apps, and the multi-channel editorial and brand presence.
  • Designed end-to-end UX/UI and worked with engineers to launch over 36 app features in 2 years, including Dorsia Payments, Split Pay, the Dorsia OS for restaurants, and the Book on Behalf concierge dashboard.
  • Managed and operated marketing design strategy for 8 markets, including New York, Miami, London, and the French Riviera.
  • Led speculative product and pitch deck design to enable strategic partnerships with Dom Pérignon and TAO Group Hospitality.
  • Worked closely with the CEO, leadership, and business development on a variety of presentations, supporting 4 key brand partnerships and a successful fundraising round led by Index Ventures.
Founder, Managing DirectorPlot Twisters2019–present, grant funded by IDEO and Riot Games as of 2023
  • Leading a design organization of 8 artists, researchers, designers, and technologists to create an online game world for nurturing personal narrative building in youth.
  • Winner of $50,000 top grant prize for OpenIDEO Designing for Digital Thriving.
  • Spearheaded presentations and exhibitions at 4 conferences hosted by the Oxford Internet Institute, Cambridge Digital Humanities, and the Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute at St. Andrews.
  • Established 8 multi-year partnerships with educators, civic nonprofits, and psychology labs.
  • Facilitating small teams to conduct mixed-methods research and design, based on a literature review of 34 key works across the humanities and developmental sciences.
  • Collaboratively designing, illustrating, and engineering all gameplay prototypes and websites.
Freelance DesignerSelf-employed2020–2022
  • Specialized in digital UX/UI design, product strategy, graphic design, and front-end web development for 12+ clients.
  • Designed and developed a custom eCommerce storefront for SOSHE Beauty, a sustainable makeup company.
  • Designed and developed pitch decks, media assets, and website for Wright Electric, a zero-emissions aviation startup.
  • Designed user interfaces, brand strategy, and navigation logic for HAGS, a social app for high school students. Licensed bespoke handwritten font.
Creative Strategistverynice2019–2020
  • Led product strategy, brand audits, organizational ethnography, and design research and design for clients of a design strategy studio serving nonprofits and social enterprises. Published methods as pro bono toolkits.
  • Led UX/UI for Keep A Breast Foundation’s breast cancer self-screening mobile app.
  • Strategized and designed a culturally-sensitive health education website for Lebanese and Iraqi women with UNICEF and Women’s Refugee Commission.
  • Other notable clients: Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, Celebration Theatre, and Children’s Hospital.
  • Led website redesigns for verynice and its publishing arm, Reginald.
  • Facilitated design strategy workshops in the U.S., Mexico, and Colombia.
Co-founder, PartnerGridflower2018–2019
  • Led a creative partnership focused on UX/UI design, branding, and presentation design for 11 clients, including entrepreneurs and corporations.
  • Created pitch decks used to close $1M+ funding for 3 early-stage startups.
  • Strategized and designed the mobile and web app for Viasat’s first international expansion into Brazilian and Mexican markets.
Product Management InternAdobe2018
  • Collaborated with a new team to conceive Creative Cloud Education, a platform for potentially 45M U.S. students to explore creative tools in math, english, and science.
  • Conducted and analyzed 17 in-depth research interviews with stakeholders.
  • Led market landscape analysis of EdTech competitors.
User Experience Design InternAdobe2018
  • Strategized user navigation logic and page design for consumer and business users of the Adobe.com website.
  • Designed interface variants and conducted A/B usability tests to validate layouts.
Immersive Media Design AssistantAl Jazeera2018
  • Created website design and media assets for immersive 360° videos reporting news stories from the Global South.
  • Designed graphics for “Yemen’s Skies of Terror,” winner of the 2018 Online Journalism Awards.
Market Research ConsultantAdobe2017–2018
  • Conducted and analyzed 40+ surveys and qualitative interviews with young digital creators to inform the design of student-facing portals on Adobe’s Behance.
Product Innovation InternViasat2017
  • Conducted user research, UX strategy, and UI design for a mobile app used by North Americans age 65+ to purchase and manage their residential internet services.
Design ContractorStanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence2017
  • Created the data visualizations, brand identity, cover illustration, and print layout for the inaugural AI Index Report.

Awarded Grants

$50,000 Grand Prize WinnerFunded by IDEO, Riot Games, Hopelab, and Susan Crown Exchange2023
  • Plot Twisters was the Top Proposal Winner out of nearly 200 applicants for the Designing for Digital Thriving challenge.

Awarded Residencies & Fellowships

Storytelling FellowDiverse Intelligences Summer Institute2022
  • Participated in a 3-week transdisciplinary intensive consisting of lectures and salons about the origins, nature, and future of intelligences with 60 other artists, scientists, and academics.
  • Delivered Plot Twisters workshops and presentations for other attendees.
  • Funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation.
Governance Archaeology ResidentMedia Economies Design Lab, University of Colorado Boulder2021
  • Created a framework for consensual online community governance in Plot Twisters through a co-creative media archaeology excavation and research-action model.
  • Collaborated with a cohort of 17 artists, researchers, and technologists producing creative artifacts to advance digital democracy.
  • Exhibited at the 2021 United Nations Internet Governance Forum.
  • Funded by the Eutopia Foundation.
Research ResidentCentre for Enabling Effective Altruism Learning and Research (CEEALAR)2021
  • Granted a 6-month funded residency at the co-living research center in Blackpool, UK with 25 other research residents.
  • Studied how homeostasis and allostasis enable wellbeing through lenses of social emotions and embodied cognition.
  • Supported community building through group dinners, game events, and writing inclusion-promoting policy.
FellowInteract Fellowship2020
  • Selected for the 2020 cohort of the community of mission-driven technologists.

Awarded Honors

Top Proposal WinnerOpenIDEO Designing for Digital Thriving Challenge2023
Webby Award in Advertising, Media, & PR (Student)The Webby Awards2019
Renaissance ScholarUniversity of Southern California2019
Award of Excellence (Short Form)World Journalism Education2019
Student Print/Digital Journalism WinnerNational Association of Hispanic Journalists2019
Minority/Immigration Reporting WinnerLos Angeles Press Club2019
Mars City Design Challenge WinnerMars City Design2018
Trustee Scholar (full-tuition merit scholarship)University of Southern California2015–2019
Dean’s ListUniversity of Southern California2015–2019

Published Writing

Cranmer, R. & Zhang, JL. The Seeds of Futures Engagement: Oslo’s Future Library and Mortality Awareness on TikTok.Upcoming article in the Journal of Future Studies.Upcoming 2024

Presentations & Exhibitions

Zhang, JL., Kim, YK., Parent, J., Chang, C., & Bogatean, H. Twisterland by Plot Twisters: Interactive online game world for fostering diverse personal narrative building.Presentation at Inclusive Gaming Conference hosted by University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom2024, May 1
Zhang, JL., Kim, YK., & Parent, J. Plot Twisters: Designing Twisterland: An online game nurturing agency through self-reflection.Presentation at Hyperdigital Designs Workshop hosted by University of Cambridge in Cambridge, United Kingdom2023, June 14
Zhang, JL., Bogatean, H., Chang, C., Lim, A., & Parent, J. Plot Twisters: Creating an online game world for practicing self-regulation.Exhibition at Connected Life Conference hosted by University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom2022, June 17
Zhang, JL. & Chang, C. Excavations: Designing for DialogueOnline Exibition at United Nations Internet Governance Forum hosted by the International Congress Center in Katowice, Poland2021, December 6–10
Parent, J., Lim, A., & Zhang, JL. Allostatic Types: Towards a Taxonomy of Relational QualiaFlash Talk at Neuromatch Conference 4.0 hosted by Neuromatch (online)2021, December 1–2

Teaching Experience

Teaching AssistantUniversity of Southern California2018
  • Supported 31 students in a course for the fundamentals of web, scripting, and interactivity (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript). Assisted lectures, led office hours, and facilitated exam reviews.
  • Mentored students to achieve the highest final exam average in two years (88%).
Teaching AssistantUniversity of Southern California2017
  • Supported 31 students in a course for server-side scripting (PHP), relational database design (MySQL), and data visualization. Assisted lectures, led office hours, and facilitated exam reviews.

Other Projects & Service Work

Founding MemberHow to Play With Fire2022–present
  • Co-organized and selected presenters for the in-person 2023 Hyperdigital Designs Workshop, hosted at the University of Cambridge’s Cambridge Digital Humanities.
Contributorboom saloon2022–present
  • Writing reading recommendations and reviews for the creative magazine’s monthly digital features.
Design TechnologistGeorgia State University2022–present
  • Collaborating with The EMPOWER Lab, a clinical doctoral lab led by Dr. Isha Metzger, to design and validate digital trauma-informed cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) interfaces for African-American youth.
Policy WriterCentre for Enabling Effective Altruism Learning and Research (CEEALAR)2021
  • Developed and successfully sought approval for a 20-page policy document reforming the center’s granting process for applicant equity and process transparency.
Team LeadChangeist2019–20
  • Facilitated discussions with middle and high school students about identity and social issues. Supported their relationships with social justice organizations in the Los Angeles area.
Virtual Reality JournalistJOVRNALISM2018–19
  • Produced “The Deported: Life Beyond the Border,” a four-episode VR series about deportees in Tijuana, Mexico with a team of 12. Led interviews in Spanish, filmed with 360° cameras, developed scripts and storyboards, and conducted user testing.
  • 2019 Webby Award winner in Advertising, Media, & PR (Student).