How I approach design
My process isn't linear. I don't run a double diamond, and I don't strictly follow a fixed playbook. Most projects start with discovery and problem-space analysis. I look at what's actually happening, what people are doing, where the friction sits. If user research helps clarify the picture, I do it or pull from existing studies. If it doesn't, I skip it.
From there, I move into design exploration earlier than the textbook would suggest. I trust intuition as a working tool. Intuition isn't guessing. It's the result of years of paying attention to products, users, and patterns. When the problem is well-understood, I'd rather draft a real design and test the thinking against it than write another problem statement.
Craft matters to me. When the situation allows, I'll take the time to get things right. When it doesn't, I'm comfortable shipping at 70 percent and iterating to 95 after launch. Startups taught me that craft is iterative. The real craft often shows up in the long tail of small refinements after launch, the ones nobody assigns and everybody notices.
Find me at:
Email: zhiliang.work@gmail.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/czhiliang
I believe the future of brands belongs to those who deliver the best design experience.
Designing Design by Kenya Hara has been one of my favourite reads for rethinking how familiar things can be used and approached in different contexts.
How I work
I work best in small, cross-functional teams where designers, engineers, and PMs sit close enough to disagree usefully. I write a lot. Most of my better decisions came from forcing myself to put them in a doc before I made them. I prototype early. I'd rather build the rough thing and feel it than argue about a spec.
I move between product, brand, and build. My background doing Webflow work means I'm comfortable closing the loop end-to-end on small things, and I bring that same instinct to bigger product work.
I'm not precious about my own ideas. Show me a better one and I'll drop mine.
A bit about me
I'm based in Singapore. Outside of design work I'm building small tools with Claude and Codex, which is the most fun I've had with software since I started designing.
Elsewhere, I've spoken and been featured in a few places over the years.
Friends of Figma Singapore #26: Start
Working with me
A few words from people I've worked with on product, design, and shipping.
Zhiliang is great to work with, he understands our ideas and has helped us explore ways to achieve our goals. The process has been smooth and changes have been efficient. He's super helpful and accommodating to our various needs as we test out various ideas/services for our startup.
Tee-Ming Chew
Ex Co-Founder, Mito Health
Working with Zhiliang has been extremely valuable to my growth in
UI/UX design. He is always able to condense complex client needs into
a clear brief, by asking meaningful questions that get to the core
issue and bringing the focus back to user experience.
I truly appreciate and look up to the way he leads, as both a founder and
designer. He provides clear direction while still giving me the space to
explore as a designer, and his feedback always comes from a place of reflection
and intention behind every design detail. While working together on a large-scale
project like Creatz3D, he taught me the importance of considering all the
possible user scenarios and designing with the user journey in mind.
He is always open to collaboration and stays calm under pressure, especially
when navigating client feedback while keeping projects aligned to the project
goals and timelines. I'm genuinely grateful for everything | learnt from
him, and any team would be incredibly fortunate to have him.
Joan Tay
Product Designer
Zhiliang is knowledgeable in product design, as well as Webflow development. His advice and expertise has helped us develop and launch our website with excellent quality, taking into consideration both design elements and the hidden technical elements. He is responsive and supportive.
Zelia Leong
Ex Co-founder, PraisePal
Zhiliang is one of the best product designers / UX professionals I
have ever worked with in my entire engineering career. He is the go-to
person whenever there are any UI/UX-related problems or
implementations.
He has a really deep understanding of product design, which made him a key
person back in the day at Seedly / MoneyHero Group. It was a really pleasant
experience working with Zhiliang. Our discussions on product design were
always very productive. He takes accountability for every product design
he creates and makes sure everything is implemented perfectly.
Sheng-Hong Gan
Senior Software Engineer, Stealth Startup
