About Me: Designer Crafting Digital Excellence
Hey! Thanks for stopping by. I'm Julie Cho, a designer making complex things make sense for users.
My 10+ design journey started with a passion for industrial design, which evolved into a deep interest in product and UX design. I honed my enterprise UX skills in designing internal tools for the life insurance industry at Northwestern Mutual. Before diving into portfolios and annuities, I was designing native mobile experiences at Samsung. This diverse path has given me over years of experience crafting user-centered designs across digital and physical products.
Throughout my design career, l had the privilege of collaborating with talented and passionate teams, all striving towards the same goal: creating world-class user experiences while achieving business objectives.
I believe the key to great product design lies in asking the right questions, not having the perfect answers. This mindset fosters a culture of persistent exploration and leads to the most impactful solutions.
When I’m not in design mode, I’m unleashing my inner tennis champion, or fueling up with a second cup of joe. And yes, I’ve been building side projects too - quite a few have ended up in my own little project graveyard.
FAQs
What's your design specialty and career background?
I started my career as an Industrial Designer, which allowed me to gain a great deal of experience solving real-world problems with a blend of art, technology, and science. In essence, UX design can be seen as an extension of industrial design principles towards creating user-centered experiences.
What is your take on research?
I firmly believe in taking a qualitative and quantitative research approach to each project to understand the reason behind a user’s behavior, before even considering design. This is crucial to gain a deep understanding of users' needs, behaviors, and pain points.
Do you also have visual design qualities and skills?
Due to my background, I'm a skilled visual designer with an eye for UI, graphics, typography, layout, and color. I prioritize design principles (balance, contrast, rhythm) and love building functional platforms and mobile products to pixel-perfection while infusing modern aesthetics and patterns.
How is Product and UX design related to your background?
Both involve the user vantage point such as the look, feel, and usability of the product is what I’m primarily concerned with. I'm focused on the user interaction which involves research, observation, prototyping, and iterations. I like to prototype products across the entire design lifecycle with users and stakeholders. My favorite tools are Figma, Framer, and Protopie.
Are you more comfortable in agile or lean UX?
I believe in infusing agile processes and methodologies to my design process. I like to continuously gather user feedback throughout the design cycle, allowing me to iterate and plan for what’s feasible for MVP and prioritize enhancements in Phase 2.
Are you hands-on with research?
I'm a huge proponent of consumer psychology and understanding how users think, behave, and interact with products (attitudinal vs behavioral). I believe in analyzing user behavior through interviews, recordings, analytics for an interaction science-backed approach to design.
“Good design balances information with interaction in a way that is both elegant and empathetic.”
2025
Latest and Greatest
Reading 📚
So Good They Can’t Ignore You – Cal Newport
Learning 🧠
Vibe coding with AI, Tempo Labs
Exploring ⛰️
3 x 26.2 marathons @Erie @AC @Philly
Sandy beaches at Turks & Caicos
Obsessed ❤️🔥
Baking galettes and binge watching last of us