Nanxin "Peter" Zhao
About Nanxin "Peter" Zhao
Nanxin 'Peter' Zhao is a Senior Product Designer at project44 and a Design Fellow at On Deck, with extensive experience in product design and mentorship.
Current Positions
Nanxin 'Peter' Zhao currently holds multiple positions in the design field. He is a Senior Product Designer at project44 in San Francisco, California. Alongside this role, he serves as a Mentor specializing in Product Design, Design Thinking, System Design, UX, and IxD at adplist.org. Additionally, Zhao is a Design Fellow at On Deck.
Previous Work Experience
Peter Zhao has a rich history of work experience spanning various design roles. In 2021, he was Senior Product Designer and Product Team Lead at Collov Home Design for six months. Before that, he served as a Product Designer at the same company from 2020 to 2021 in Menlo Park, California. Zhao has also held the position of Lead Product Designer at Direct Action Everywhere in 2020 for four months and User Experience Designer at General Assembly from 2019 to 2020 for four months. His freelance career includes two years as a Freelance Product Designer and Visual Designer in the San Francisco Bay Area from 2018 to 2020. Zhao's earlier roles include Co-Founder and Lead Product Designer at Bloom Water Pipe, Product Design Intern at GoRun Technology, and Visual Designer at 09UI Studio.
Education and Expertise
Peter Zhao holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Industrial and Product Design from Academy of Art University, where he studied from 2014 to 2018. He also earned a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics and Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, completed between 2009 and 2013. Zhao leverages his academic background to inform his human-centered design thinking and integrative design framework.
Design Philosophy
Nanxin 'Peter' Zhao approaches design with a human-centered mindset, emphasizing empathy, integrative thinking, and innovative experimentation. He focuses on breaking up existing patterns of thought in the planning and design process, aiming to create long-term touchpoints and vital experiences for brands. Zhao utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to bring creative concepts to reality, designing innovative digital experiences for over 30 clients and organizations.