Meet Flexport’s UX Team: Angeline Chen, Product Designer

Angeline Chen is a product designer at Flexport, who loves collaborating and driving strategy through a user-centric approach. She sits in our San Francisco office, designing financial tools and processes for teams across Flexport.

This week Angeline and I hung out over video chat and discussed her journey as a designer and experience at Flexport.

How did you get into Product Design?

I started out in service design consulting, where designers help their clients think about building ecosystems that enable better experiences, because I wanted to drive impact through design across different industries. This was where I began dabbling in the product development process as we taught and guided many clients in their own. I loved being able to think big and evangelize the value of design, but knew there was the other side of driving design impact incrementally that I had yet to experience. This led me to explore opportunities to design in-house, ranging from being the first and only designer, to contributing on a team of about 30 (here at Flexport!). It has been eye opening to learn how different the constraints and considerations are when designing in-house versus at an agency, as well as how often challenges in these two worlds overlap.

Why did you join Flexport? What keeps you here?

I was initially drawn to Flexport for its people — the people that I knew, met, and continue to meet who work here are all incredibly bright and hardworking. I was looking for a design team that is established and respected within the product org. The Flexport design team is thoughtful and diligent, fights relentlessly for research and works hard to solve complex problems quickly through iteration. I love collaborating with my fellow designers, and am inspired by the company’s commitment to build better products.

What does your day-to-day look like? What are you working on currently?

I am on the Finance Makers team working on sell-side tools, meaning I work on products and features that manage financial controls, streamline workflows and ultimately empower our Ops teams to make better financial decisions. I am currently juggling four projects, all at a different phase of development. I partner closely with my Product Manager to scope, plan and execute, and find great collaboration with my engineers, who push my thinking and bring my ideas to life. My team also depends on me to know and speak for my users, so I am regularly planning and facilitating research (for discovery and feedback) for all of my projects. I lean on my design team for critique and their expertise, so I look for opportunities to share out and collaborate.

So you don’t have previous experience designing for logistics/freight. Was it hard to get up to speed?

It was and still is! But the problems that the world hasn’t cracked yet are uncracked for a reason. The best part is that everyone at Flexport has gone through the experience of onboarding and feeling lost in the sauce of logistics, so our culture is very supportive, encouraging and understanding.

What is different about Flexport compared to other jobs you’ve had?

Definitely the complexity of our industry, as well as the span of our services and products. Our problem spaces have both breadth and depth, which is daunting and challenging, but also means there is so much opportunity for impact.

What is the design team culture like?

Friendly, supportive, hard working, focused.

What big design challenges have you faced while working at Flexport?

Sometimes the amount to do and uncharted territory can feel overwhelming! However, this pushes us to be intentional and bold, to think outside of the box and work together through problems that the digital world hasn’t faced before. It also challenges what we think is right and keeps us trying new approaches and processes.

Just to keep it interesting…What is your spirit animal?

Definitely some kind of sassy yet charming dog — probably a small one, very food motivated.

Creative outlets are so important to have as a designer, what do you like to do when you’re not designing to help inspire your work?

To inspire my work, I love to consume content — podcasts, magazines, books, blogs, TV and movies! They bring me new perspectives and I indulge in artsy cinematography. I also love hand lettering and drawing, particularly people and figures.

Do you sketch digitally or on paper?

Always on paper first! It helps me get ideas out quickly, and to think freely when it comes to more complex projects.

If you weren’t a designer, what would you be doing for a living?

I would love to be an elementary school principal. I love kids and education, and I would like to empower teachers who do important work everyday.