I design the product. Then I build it.
I’m Xinpeng Liu, a UX designer who also writes code, based in Vancouver.
Today I’m Head of Product on the founding team at Multimodal Media Lab, where I took MML ONE, an AI film production platform, from zero to public alpha — product, design, code and operations.
Before MML, I was the UX designer at Zixel CAD, a VR researcher at SFU, and a digital marketing intern at Unity in Shanghai. Different jobs, same thing underneath: complex tools for people who make things.
Outside work I make films. I produced Misty Northern City, a 2024 short that won at the Niagara Canada International Film Festival.
Designing and building the same product keeps me honest in both directions. The mockups stay buildable because I know what the code can do, and the code stays humane because I heard the interviews firsthand. There is no handoff, so nothing gets lost in one.
Experience
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Multimodal Media Lab, Vancouver
I took MML ONE from zero to public alpha: Story Room and screenplay editor, Character Studio, the 3D World Stage, the storyboard → shots → cut pipeline, and the Generative Canvas where a creator circles what’s wrong on a frame and regenerates only that. Public numbers on mmlone.com: 2,423+ creators creating, 213+ invited to the alpha, 16 pilot studios. Alongside it I designed and built nine client and company sites, from venture funds to aviation.
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Zixel CAD, VancouverI rebuilt expert-grade CAD analysis workflows on the back of about 30 user interviews, competitive benchmarks against SolidWorks, Onshape, and ZWCAD, and a new design system. Task time fell 57.6%, undo actions fell 69.2%, and satisfaction rose 105%.
Method: instrumented usability benchmarks on the redesigned analysis flow. An earlier moderated round on onboarding, measured separately, showed onboarding time down 30% and task completion up 25%.
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Simon Fraser University
I built hybrid mouse-and-VR interaction techniques on an Unreal Engine apparatus and validated them in two controlled studies with 40+ participants. Published with Bill (Di) Zhao as co-author and Prof. Wolfgang Stuerzlinger advising, as a first-author IEEE VR 2026 paper.
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Unity Technologies, Shanghai
I worked on the Asset Store’s China localization and ran 20+ multi-channel campaigns, including on the floor at ChinaJoy. I won’t dress it up as more than an internship — but it is where I learned to design for a developer audience.
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Multimodal Media Lab, Vancouver
Simon Fraser University
Unity Technologies, ShanghaiEducation
2023 — 2024
Simon Fraser University
MSc, School of Interactive Arts & Technology (SIAT)
2019 — 2023
Carleton University
BA Media Production & Design, With Distinction
Publication
Two controlled studies at SFU, written up as a first-author paper at IEEE VR 2026.
Skills
Design
Research
Engineering
Domains
Let’s talk.
Have a hard product to design and build? I reply to every serious email.