I work from 1 to 0 — the gaps others miss.
Product designer in San Francisco.
Studying interior architecture in Korea and branding strategy in the UK — then living across Seoul, London, and San Francisco — taught me that the same problem reads differently depending on where you're standing — different cultures make different assumptions about space, hierarchy, and how products should behave. That experience widened how I interpret design problems, and made me more skeptical of solutions that only work for one kind of user.
Combined with a background across multiple disciplines, I've come to see design as more than what happens on a screen — the physical context, the systems underneath, the identity a product builds over time. A screen is just where the experience surfaces.
What each discipline gave me
INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE
System thinking
Space design is never about a single element — it's about how everything connects: flow, structure, hierarchy, context. I learned to map a system before touching its parts, and to ask how a change in one place ripples through the whole.
BRANDING STRATEGY
Building a product's identity over time
Branding isn't a moment — it's what accumulates across every interaction. I learned how products develop a recognizable character: through consistent decisions in tone, visual language, and the way they treat the people using them.
Questioning what "normal use" assumes
Two projects — a shelter for abused children, a scent experience for people with olfactory disabilities — taught me to ask who gets left out when we design for the average user.
What I'm good at
BUILD
AI-assisted Design
Agent System Design
Vibe Coding
DESIGN
User Research
Wireframing
Prototyping
Brand Strategy
Visual Design
OUTSIDE THE SCREEN
Exploring cities and cultures
Photography
Video & Editing
I design for the gaps —
the systems, the people, the experience.
Sound familiar?
hyok911@gmail.com
San Francisco, CA
© 2026 by Hyokyung Ma. Built on Wix Studio