From Art Student to Front‑End Pioneer: Yǐngyǐng’s Journey with AntV S2

Choosing a Major

Yǐngyǐng describes herself as brave, resilient, and free‑spirited, with interests ranging from art to travel. She chose a university that taught both computer science and art, driven by a classmate’s comment that she was suited for computing.

Despite family opposition, she pursued computer science with determination, attending every class, tackling difficult subjects like compiler theory, and maintaining a smile through the challenges.

Falling into Cross‑Tab

After joining Ant Group, Yǐngyǐng’s work constantly shifted, leading her to explore various technical directions. An accidental involvement in a data‑visualization project introduced her to cross‑tab tables, a statistical matrix that reveals relationships between variables and is widely used in business BI.

Seeing many pain points in early cross‑tab implementations, she decided to join the underlying development, earning the nickname “Big Sister.”

Passion Through Documentation

Motivated by a sleepless night and a cup of milk tea, she drafted a comprehensive cross‑tab documentation outline, wrote demos, and completed an internal open manual that later became the foundation of the AntV S2 documentation.

She then refined APIs, improved documentation, and reduced onboarding friction for users.

Open‑Source Leadership

Yǐngyǐng became the lead of the AntV S2 open‑source effort, coordinating a distributed team across Chengdu, Beijing, and Hangzhou. She faced doubts about guiding a large group and the future of the open‑source project, but embraced the mantra “act first, think later.”

She emphasizes that strong belief is essential for open‑source success, even when outcomes are uncertain.

Work‑Life Balance and Growth

She shares practical tips for achieving balance: deepen professional expertise, improve communication and meeting efficiency, practice empathy in conflict resolution, and avoid unnecessary comparison by embracing self‑acceptance.

In 2023, she shifted focus from cross‑tab to graph technology, looking forward to new challenges while maintaining a healthier work‑life rhythm.