Hi, I'm Ning Zhang, a Product Designer combining UX design, visual design, multimedia production, AI-assisted development, and technical analysis from my previous work experience.
I enjoy exploring complex problems and turning them into practical, user-centered products that balance usability and visual appeal.
Currently seeking UX, product design, and digital experience opportunities in Canada.
This is the story of how I became a designer.
My Design Journey
2015–2024 · Learning to Understand Complex Systems
Before becoming a designer, I worked as a patent agent/legal advisor for nine years in Beijing, first at patent agencies and then at internet and software companies.
My role involved collaborating with product managers, UX designers, engineers, and researchers to secure patent approvals. I developed strong research and analytical skills, I honed my research and analytical skills, quickly grasping new technologies systematically and simplifying complex ideas. I also handled many interaction and UI design patents, gaining an initial understanding of product and interaction design.
In 2023, I led a project to redesign the search experience and create the website’s interface and information structure for an internal patent database at a video game company. This project really helped me put my problem-solving skills to the test and get my first hands-on experience with UX and interface design, which has been a great foundation for my future design work.
2024–2025 · Exploring Design Through Creativity and Technology
My free time was spent exploring photography, digital art, and AI-generated art. Some of my work has even been exhibited in art shows.
After moving to Canada, I decided to study Interactive Media Design at Algonquin College to build a stronger design foundation. Through courses in photography, video production, web development, UX design, and visual communication, I gained a more structured understanding of how digital experiences are created. This led me to see design as a balance between problem-solving and visual communication, naturally drawing me toward UX and product design.
Outside the classroom, I worked on freelance projects for local organizations, community events, and video creators in Ottawa. Between 2024 and 2025, I photographed events including "Let's Bring Ottawa Onchain!" and the Ottawa Chinatown New Year Parade, produced video content in collaboration with a YouTuber friend based Ottawa, created the Anti-Telecom Fraud Awareness Video for the Canadian Federation of Chinese Students, worked with the student band Insomiac Sparrows, Designing its logo and website, taking promotional photos, and making a rehearsal video. These experiences gave me opportunities to connect with different communities and build confidence creating and collaborating in Canada.
This period enhanced my creative and technical skills, I’m really feeling confident about going into UX and product design.
2025–2026 · Co‑op Experience: Designing for Complex Systems
My co-op experience with the Algonquin College R3 Project became an important part of my transition into design in Canada. It was one of the first times I could apply my UX, visual design, and communication skills in a real professional setting.
As an E-learning Multimedia Developer Co-op (September, 2025 - December, 2025, full time) and later an E-learning Assistant (January, 2026 - April, 2026, part time), I supported the rollout of a new Student Information System (SIS) as part of the college’s Change Management team. My role was to turn complex administrative workflows into clear training materials and support resources that future users could follow with more confidence.
During the project, I developed interactive Adobe Captivate simulations for 23 SIS functions and created 5 quick guide documents. I also helped with content reviews, QA updates, and interface recommendations for a related Game Centre webpage. Also, I trained two new co-op students on Captivate workflows and Quick Guide production, which helped the team share knowledge and keep the work moving.
This experience helped me understand how design works inside a larger organization. I learned how to communicate with different team members, respond to feedback, and organize detailed production work. As my first full-time professional experience in Canada, it also helped me feel more confident about continuing my design career here.
2025–Present · Building Products with AI
As I continued developing my design skills, I also began exploring how AI could support the product design and development process.
SubLime Captions began with a problem I observed while helping a YouTuber friend produce videos. Reviewing and translating subtitle files generated by speech recognition tools often took an entire day of repetitive work, even for a single video.
To solve this problem, I designed and built an AI-powered subtitle editing and translation platform that helps creators process subtitle files more efficiently while maintaining control over the final result. The project started as a simple prototype and gradually evolved into a complete web application through continuous testing, redesign, and iteration.
One of the most important design challenges was finding the right balance between automation and user control. Instead of relying on complex forms and settings, I redesigned the workflow around natural-language instructions, allowing users to communicate with AI in the same way they interact with tools like ChatGPT. At the same time, I introduced features such as side-by-side comparison, selective processing, manual editing, and version recovery to ensure users could always review and control AI-generated results.
This project also changed the way I think about product development. By using AI-assisted coding tools throughout the process, I was able to rapidly prototype, test, and refine ideas in a much shorter feedback cycle. It showed me how design, development, and AI are becoming increasingly connected, and how natural language itself is emerging as a new design tool.
Today
Now, I have completed my studies in Interactive Media Design and am ready to begin my professional career in product design.
My background combines complex problem solving, visual creativity, UX thinking, and AI-powered product development, each step has shaped the way I approach design today.
I am excited to continue growing as a designer in Canada, helping teams solve meaningful problems, create better user experiences, and build products that deliver value to both users and organizations.
2024: My AI-Generated Artwork "Embrace," featured in the August issue of Portrait Photography Magazine.
2023: My AI-generated imagery piece "Lover" was exhibited in "Cabinet of Curiosities: Artistic Explorations in the Era of Web3, Metaverse, and AIGC" at the Forward Art Gallery in Changsha.
2024: I photographed event "Let's Bring Ottawa Onchain!"
2025: I photographed Ottawa Chinatown New Year Parade
2024: Filming an interview video for my YouTuber friend.
