Mastering Product Design: A 6‑Step Process from a Top Designer’s Journey

Liu Yao, a graduate of the University of Calgary and current design lead for Duolingo China, has spent eight years in product design across three industries, previously working at Uber and Mobike.

Six‑Step Design Process

Demand Discovery: company goals, product vision, data analysis, user feedback, market changes.

Scope Definition: importance, urgency, ROI, success probability.

Solution: direction exploration, requirement documents, R&D evaluation.

Design: UI, interaction, visual, illustration, operations, branding, media.

Development: delivery, implementation, testing.

Launch: gradual rollout, data monitoring, iterative improvement.

Case Study: Flickr

In 2013, Liu revisited Flickr, Yahoo’s photo community, which was eight years old and faced feature overload and low prioritization. The team performed a comprehensive redesign to unify the experience and eliminate fragmented additions.

Case Study: Uber

After joining Uber in 2015, Liu’s team adapted the app for Chinese users, optimizing core flows and introducing a night‑time feature that lights the rider’s screen with a chosen color, which is then displayed on the driver’s windshield, solving visibility issues.

Case Study: Mobike

In 2017 Liu moved to Mobike, tackling high operational costs caused by bike “tide” imbalances. The team launched a “red‑packet bike” initiative, using data to mark demand hotspots and guiding users to park bikes where they are needed most.

Case Study: Duolingo

After Mobike, Liu joined Duolingo, establishing its first overseas office in Beijing. The team customized features for Chinese learners, testing them locally and rolling successful improvements out to other markets.

Key Takeaways

Expanding both depth and breadth of skills enables designers to take on larger roles, increase their value, and drive faster growth. Depth builds core competitiveness, while breadth enhances adaptability to change.