Howard
Hsing
San Francisco, CA
(408)368-4679
howardhsing311@gmail.com
Professional Summary
I am both a UX/product designer and an art director. I spent the last 16 years creating products engaging to the users and profitable for the business. I establish replicable and scalable styles, rules, and processes in the enigmatic visual space, and have a good track record of making the right decisions for the products and the team. More importantly I enjoy fostering a loving, supportive work environment, and empowering everyone to grow and succeed.
Experience
UX/UI Design & Research Fellow, Product Owner
General Assembly | 02/2022 ~ 06/2022
- Last Minute Gear: Redesigned the E-commerce site’s rental flow. Based on interviews and researches, I added single-page filters PLP, restructured info and nav architectures, embedded TikTok-format instructional videos, and combined rental and purchase into a 2-in-1 checkout flow.
- FiveThirtyEight/ABC News – VoteSmart app: Led team on research, design, and prototypes, created a full app design that serves engaging, digestible knowledge for users on ballot measures, candidates, and current issues, eventually assisting users to vote with an informed perspective.
- Get Motivated Buddies: Led another team and stakeholder relationships as the product owner. Arranged 40+ unique onboarding screens with branching segments of empathized questionnaires, interactive overviews, and buddy-finders. Then followed up with gamified in-app beginner checklist.
- Lustrous: Designed core flows of a smart-lighting app, which prioritize intuitive usability over marquee features and streamlines routine presets seamlessly together with one-time presets.
Art Director
Pixelberry Studios | 07/2015~01/2022
- Established production pipeline and art-directed the high-grossing game, Choices.
- Scaled up and maintained the fast-paced, high-volume, live-release content productions for 6+ years.
- Supervised adaptations of many genres and styles that captivated and monetized over our audiences.
- Built up a team of artists with effective training and mentoring, fostered a warm work environment.
- Installed wellness programs into regular pipelines, increased fulfillments, which were adopted by all departments.
Senior Game Artist
Electronic Arts | 2013~2015
- Both developed art styles for new games, and worked within style constraints for existing brands.
- Created production art contents, UI, feature illustrations, 3D modeling and texturing.
- Led and trained outsource vendors on various projects to achieve consistent qualities.
Senior Game Artist
Playfish, Electronic Arts | 2011~2013
- Created and animated fully in vector art on MM. Built world and environment art in 3D on JSS.
- Led content production, drafted the entire art asset list, and maintained the production schedules.
- Oversaw the outsourcing vendor productions.
Junior ~ Game Artist III
Pogo, Electronic Arts | 2007~2011
- One artist to one game, given full autonomy creating all art assets, animations, UI, and feature arts.
- Co-directed vis-dev with designer to create player experiences that yielded the top performing games.
Game Artist
GenPlay Games | 2005~2007
- A generalist creating key game art, cover images, UI, marketing video, etc.
- Pushed creative boundaries making sprite assets for pre-smartphone devices under limited pixel-count.
Strengths
& Skills
- Convert users’ needs and business goals into visual experiences that yields retentions and revenues.
- User-Centered Design Methods: Information Architecture, Navigation Systems, Wireframing & Prototyping, Usability Testing, User Interview, Affinity Mapping & Synthesis, Competitive & Comparative Analysis, Personas & User Journeys, etc.
- Can switch between realistic illustrations to vector UI to 3D rendering styles and remain on trend.
- Modulate artistic processes into replicable steps for mass production with consistent quality.
- Allocate resources, recruit talents, and adjust individual roles to run an efficient team project.
- Effective at mentoring and improving artists, constantly finding opportunities to empower them.
- Produce instructive style guides, hold training and exercise to improve team strengths.
- Create supportive team culture. Establish wellness programs and constructive team bonding customs.
- User-Centered Design Methods: Information Architecture, Navigation Systems, Wireframing & Prototyping, Usability Testing, User Interview, Affinity Mapping & Synthesis, Competitive & Comparative Analysis, Personas & User Journeys, etc.
Languages
English ◆◆◆◆◆
Chinese Mandarin ◆◆◆◆◆
Japanese ◆◆
German ◆
Educations
General Assembly | Remote | 02/2022~06/2022
Certification of Completion: User Experience Design Immersive
- Full time immersive User Experience Design program that included over 500 hours of professional training over twelve weeks. Utilized a hands-on approach to practice user-centered design methods, design thinking skills, team collaboration, and client relations.
Scrum Alliance | Remote | 2020
Certified Product Owner
- A strengthening curriculum on scrum values, principles, technique as a product owner. Learned to adjust scrum framework appropriately, molding to fit the team and project.
Management Blox | Redwood Shores, CA | 2011
- Team management training courses
University of Silicon Valley | San Jose, CA | 1999~2003
Bachelor of Art
- Formerly known as Cogswell Polytechnical College.
- Bachelor of Art in Computer and Video Imaging. Focused on digital illustrations, modeling and animation.
- Also included traditional painting, digital illustration, video editing, motion capture, and web design.
- Awarded Dean Honor 2003.
Foothill College | Los Alto Hills, CA | 2001~2003
Associate Certificate
- Associate Certification in Japanese Language and Culture.
- Awarded 2001 Foothill College Language Arts Division Outstanding Achievement in Japanese.
Monta Vista High School | Cupertino, CA | 2001~2003
Diploma
- Awarded 1999 North County Regional Occupational Program Director’s Award (1st place in Arts).
- Awarded 1999 Monta Vista High School Matador Recognition Award in Arts.