Rising Stars: Meet Ziwei Song of Alpharetta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ziwei Song.

Hi Ziwei, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Ziwei Song is an award-winning Product Designer whose career sits at the intersection of technology, strategy, and human-centered design. She began her journey with a strong curiosity about how design shapes behavior and decision-making, which led her to focus early on digital products that solve complex, real-world problems.

Over the past eight years, Ziwei has worked across global consulting and tech environments, including roles at Verizon and the international consulting firm Nagarro, where she partnered with brands such as Hilton, Porsche, and The North Face. These experiences sharpened her ability to design at scale—balancing business goals, technical constraints, and meaningful user outcomes.

As her career evolved, Ziwei became increasingly drawn to emerging technologies and socially impactful work. She led and contributed to AI-driven product initiatives, including intelligent design systems and AI agent experiences, while also creating independent projects focused on healthcare, emotional well-being, and women’s issues. Her work has earned over 30 international design awards, including top honors from A’ Design Award and Red Dot, recognizing both innovation and impact.

Today, Ziwei positions herself as a senior product designer who bridges vision and execution—someone who not only designs polished experiences, but also helps define product direction, align cross-functional teams, and push design toward a more thoughtful and responsible future.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Ziwei’s journey has not been a completely smooth road, and she often sees that as one of her greatest strengths. Like many designers building a global career, she navigated moments of uncertainty—working across cultures, adapting to fast-changing technologies, and continuously proving the value of design in highly technical and business-driven environments.

Early in her career, one of the biggest challenges was learning how to advocate for design in rooms where speed, metrics, and engineering constraints often took priority. She had to develop not only strong craft, but also the confidence and communication skills to influence stakeholders, align teams, and translate human needs into business outcomes.

As her work became more visible, the expectations grew as well. Leading complex projects—especially in AI and healthcare—came with ambiguity, ethical considerations, and high stakes. There were moments when she had to make decisions without clear precedents, learn quickly from failure, and push forward despite limited resources or incomplete data.

Rather than slowing her down, these challenges shaped Ziwei into a more resilient and intentional designer. They taught her how to stay grounded in user empathy, adapt in uncertainty, and lead with clarity. Looking back, she sees the difficult moments not as obstacles, but as the foundation that allowed her to grow into the designer and leader she is today.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Ziwei Song is a Senior Product Designer specializing in AI-powered product experiences, large-scale platforms, and emotionally intelligent design. Her work focuses on turning complex systems—such as AI, data, and enterprise tools—into intuitive, human-centered products that deliver measurable business impact.

She is particularly known for her work on AI-driven initiatives, including the Hilton Boost AI project, where she helped design an intelligent system that supports decision-making, operational efficiency, and personalized experiences at scale. By shaping the AI agent’s interaction model, workflows, and design system, Ziwei played a key role in translating abstract AI capabilities into practical tools that real teams could trust and use.

At Verizon, Ziwei worked on Verizon Family, a high-impact consumer platform used by millions of households. There, she focused on designing for trust, safety, and clarity—helping families manage digital well-being through experiences that are both emotionally sensitive and technically robust. Designing at this scale sharpened her ability to balance privacy, accessibility, and usability while collaborating closely with engineering and product leadership.

What Ziwei is most proud of is her ability to move fluidly between vision and execution. She is equally comfortable defining product strategy, designing AI interaction models, and refining details at the interface level. Beyond commercial work, she has led independent projects in healthcare and women’s well-being, applying the same rigor and empathy to socially impactful challenges.

What sets Ziwei apart is her rare combination of AI fluency, systems thinking, and emotional intelligence. She doesn’t just design how products look or function—she designs how they think, how they behave, and how they make people feel. This approach has earned her over 20 international design awards and positioned her as a designer who consistently bridges innovation with responsibility and human impact.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Ziwei believes that empathy and curiosity are the two qualities most essential to her success.

Empathy is what she sees as fundamentally human—especially in an era shaped by AI and automation. It allows her to design products that go beyond efficiency and intelligence, focusing instead on trust, emotion, and real human needs. Empathy is what helps her understand not just how users interact with a system, but how those systems affect people’s lives. In her view, it is also what most clearly distinguishes human designers from machines.

Curiosity complements that empathy. Ziwei approaches her work with a mindset of humility—always questioning, always learning, and never assuming there is a final answer. Curiosity pushes her to explore new technologies, challenge existing assumptions, and continuously evolve her craft, especially in fast-moving fields like AI and large-scale digital platforms.

Together, empathy and curiosity shape how Ziwei designs, leads, and grows—allowing her to create thoughtful, future-facing products while remaining deeply grounded in human experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://vickysongdesign.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ziwei-song-27838a21a/