02 - Kate Zhao
Kate Zhao is a product designer at Microsoft.
Welcome to Design People! We celebrate design people all around the world and share their inspiration, everyday essentials, and important lessons. After reading this, we hope you can learn something or at least smile 😄.
Meet Kate
🔗 Linkedin | 💻 Portfolio | 💭 Open to messages
Today, we’re meeting Kate Zhao - one of my favorite people in this entire world. Kate is a product designer at Microsoft. She recently moved to Seattle and started working full time just last week.
“My first project is more of a creative exercise - I’m trying to reimagine one of our landing pages for a new service we’re trying to incorporate. I’m identifying design themes I think might work well with our existing ecosystem, while still being distinct enough to distinguish from other pages in the experience.”
A Peek into Kate’s Life
The importance of mental and physical health
“I’ve started to take my mental and physical health more seriously these past few months especially as I transition into this new stage of adulthood because I’ve noticed the direct correlation it has on my quality of life.”
“I’m also realizing that with moving across the country, I have a responsibility to myself to prioritize my mental and physical health because no one else is going to! Small things like grocery shopping, cooking more, and exploring new fitness activities gives me a lot of joy because I know future Kate will appreciate the small efforts I’m making to improve her general health. “
📚 Currently reading: “Steal Like an Artist” by Austin Kleon and “It Ends with Us” by Colleen Hoover
☀️ Q&A
How do you get ready for the day?
I like starting my day off with a big cup of water and some light exercise (usually yoga or some low intensity youtube workouts). I think this gives me a chance to wake up and feel more in control of my body and my day ahead.
What’s your most recommended resource for someone getting into design?
Someone old :) - No, but really! I think you can find a mentor in anyone and it’s really great to learn from those who have been in your shoes before. Everyone has their own journey to where they are today and it’s always really inspiring and motivating for me to hear about that.
How do you plan on growing your design skills in the future?
Pushing myself outside my comfort zone so I can become a more well-rounded designer. Right now, because I’m on a more creative and image-focused project, I feel like I’m really exercising my visual design skills (which is something I didn’t get much practice with in college). Generally at Microsoft, there’s a lot of opportunity to grow and work on different projects. I hope to move around a lot so I can experience all of them and learn from different people.
Thanks for reading this edition of Design People! If you liked what you read, please consider sharing it with a friend 😄. If you know someone who’d be perfect to feature next, please email me!
- Allison