Zhuo (Prince) Niu
Designer-Builder + Human Factors, AI Products, Prototyping, UX Research, and Design Engineering
Helmline
Follow agent work and review sensitive actions from iPhone while execution stays on your own host. Independently designed, built, and released on the App Store. Requires a compatible self-hosted Gateway.
- Role
- Independent designer and engineer
- Platform
- Native iPhone app · SwiftUI
- Status
- Available on the App Store
- Release
- Version 1.0 · Free · iOS 17+
TrekAssist
A team UX/HFE case study for a solar-powered outdoor e-ink device, tested with 9 participants across 6 tasks covering navigation, emergency support, and low-power interaction.
- Role
- UX / Human Factors Designer (team)
- Methods
- UI design, usability testing (n=9), task scenarios, flow mapping
- Tools
- Figma, e-ink prototyping
- Outcome
- Validated safety flows; identified Low Power discoverability issue
KnowledgeOS
A personal knowledge system built with Markdown, Obsidian, Hermes Agent, cron workflows, and Git backup. It keeps useful project context from disappearing inside chat threads.
- Role
- Designer-Builder / System Architect
- Methods
- Information architecture, agent workflow design, automation, audit loops
- Stack
- Markdown, Obsidian, Hermes Agent, Python, Cron, Git
- Outcome
- Live system with automated capture, review, audit, and backup
Porsche Digital Interface
Automotive HMI work for Porsche Communication Management. I worked on navigation and voice interaction flows, then translated design decisions into prototypes and specs the team could use.
- Role
- UX / UI Designer (Porsche Asia Pacific internship)
- Methods
- UX research, multimodal flow design, prototyping
- Tools
- Figma
- Outcome
- 30% reduction in interface load time after iterative UI optimization
SayIt
A shipped macOS voice-to-text utility I designed, built, signed, and released. It pairs a global hotkey with local Whisper support and a small HUD that stays out of the way.
- Role
- Designer-Builder (solo product + engineering)
- Methods
- Product design, native development, on-device AI
- Tools
- SwiftUI, Whisper, Xcode
- Outcome
- Shipped macOS app with downloadable releases
E-Tongue Sensory Platform
A Human Factor Product Design case study on turning machine taste data and human sensory feedback into clearer early product decisions.
- Role
- UX Researcher + UI Designer
- Course
- Human Factor Product Design
- Methods
- Stakeholder research, task analysis, prototyping, usability testing
- Outcome
- Early prototype for hybrid sensory evaluation and Go / Tweak / Stop decision support
Designing the seam between people and complex systems.
I’m Zhuo (Prince) Niu, a designer-builder working across UI/UX, AI products, and human factors. I’m currently studying Human Factors Engineering at Tufts, after finishing my Computer Engineering degree at Purdue. I like the part of product work where an idea stops being abstract. That usually means deciding which problem is worth solving, shaping the first usable flow, testing a rough version, and building enough of it for someone to actually use. My work sits between human factors, product design, and engineering. I care about the details that decide whether a product feels clear or confusing: the prompt, the feedback, the recovery path, the first click that makes sense. I shipped UI work for Porsche Communication Management at Porsche Asia Pacific, built a BLE-paired posture-tracking app, and released SayIt, a macOS voice-to-text utility. I also designed and usability-tested TrekAssist, an outdoor e-ink safety device, and built KnowledgeOS, a personal AI system where agents maintain durable project context. I’m currently looking for product design, UX, and human factors roles around thoughtful products, refined UI/UX, and complex multimodal experiences.
Send me a messageDownload resume (PDF)