“She went from lab experiments to designing experiences for millions and now, she’s turning her lessons into content that makes design feel human.”
Q. You've built a career across big tech companies and are now thriving as a content creator. If someone asked for the story behind how you became Heigi Jeong, the designer and creator, how would you tell it?
I spent most of my childhood making decisions based on what others told me to do and my early twenties regretting those choices. Eventually, I realized that I needed to start making decisions purely for myself and by myself. That mindset shift changed everything. It meant I could no longer blame anyone else or hide behind excuses. I had to fully own my life and every decision I made. That’s when I began transitioning from biochemistry to UX design and started putting myself out there to share my story. That one shift from living for others to living for myself is what led me to build both my design career and my creative identity online.
Q. When you’re designing for massive platforms, what’s the hidden challenge people don’t see behind creating something that feels effortless for millions of users?
Experiments and failures—that’s the real story behind every clean interface you see. Before launching any feature, my teams go through countless rounds of testing and learning from what didn’t work.Interestingly, my background in biochemistry helps here. The design process and the scientific method share the same DNA: You form hypotheses based on existing insights, test them, and rule out what doesn’t hold up. Every smooth interaction that users experience today is built on layers of experiments, discarded ideas, and lessons learned the hard way. That’s the invisible grind behind “effortless” design.
Q. You're known for rallying cross-functional teams in design, product, and engineering. What's one real moment when you had to convince everyone to see design differently, and how did you pull it off?
I often remind teams that just because we know how something works doesn’t mean users will. If it takes us a minute to explain a feature, there’s almost no chance users will spend that same minute figuring it out themselves.Similarly, most users won’t read text longer than two lines on a screen. I repeat that often. It helps everyone focus on clarity, simplicity, and empathy. One of my favorite principles is that great design should be invisible. Users shouldn’t have to think about it or even notice it, they should just feel that it works.
Q. On Instagram, you make design feel approachable and human. What inspired you to start sharing career advice online, and how has it changed the way you see your own work?
I started because I wanted to be the person I needed when I was just starting out. As a junior designer navigating cultural differences between Korea and Canada, everything felt like a mystery, from how to speak up in meetings to what really mattered in interviews or performance reviews. I learned it all through trial and error, and I wanted to save others from that same confusion.Sharing online became a way to give back, but it also changed how I see my own work. Now I notice lessons everywhere in design challenges, workplace conversations, or small moments from daily life. Everything can become a story or a piece of advice if you look at it from the right angle.
Q. You’ve described yourself as a designer fueled by “endless curiosity” (and blueberry matcha smoothies). What keeps that curiosity alive, and what would you tell someone who’s trying to find their creative voice in design today?
I stay curious because people are endlessly fascinating. Most problems can be solved when we understand what’s going on in someone’s mind — their needs, frustrations, and motivations. That’s why I love applying UX principles beyond product design.You can’t create a great product without understanding your users, just like you can’t create meaningful content without knowing what your audience needs to hear. Creativity, to me, starts with empathy. Once you understand people, there are infinite ways to connect, design, and tell stories that matter.
Bio
Heigi Jeong is a UX Designer at a big tech company based in Toronto. She’s previously worked at Capital One and Neo Financial, where she led design initiatives that shaped products for millions of users.
Beyond her design career, Heigi has built a fast-growing digital presence by sharing honest, actionable advice about design, career growth, and creativity. In just four months, she grew an online community of over 150,000 followers, proving that thoughtful storytelling can make complex ideas in tech and design feel deeply human.
At her core, Heigi is a curious creator blending logic, empathy, and aesthetics to build experiences that make life a little easier and a lot more intentional.
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