Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jeremy Yijie Chen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jeremy Yijie, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
I keep my creativity alive by making “play” a daily practice. It’s not just a thing I do, but a mindset I nurture. Whether I’m designing a board game or crafting immersive narratives for workshops, I try to lead with curiosity and joy. I surround myself with tools and people that invite experimentation: playful warmups in meetings, moodboard rituals, even game-of-the-week moments with clients.
To me, creativity thrives when there’s psychological safety to try weird ideas, remix old ones, or fail fast in low-stakes ways. That’s why I constantly seek out spaces where divergent thinking is welcome. I draw inspiration from unexpected sources: kids’ perspectives, Gen Z’s social trends, board game mechanics, or even the texture of an everyday object.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m an interaction designer and creative prototyper working at the intersection of play, emotion, and emerging technology. At IDEO’s Play Lab, I focus on designing human-centered experiences that make new technologies feel less intimidating and more joyful, curious, and alive. Whether it’s prototyping a speculative AI product or crafting interactive product concepts, I’m always exploring how digital transformation can feel more human.
My work often lives at the intersection of digital and physical, what we call phygital experiences. I specialize in bringing ideas to life through high-fidelity prototyping, whether that’s an interactive AI tool, a smart toy, or a speculative tech concept. I believe in making things real early and often because nothing reveals a feeling like actually playing with a prototype.
Recently, I’ve been experimenting with AI vibe coding and try to see how AI can support designers emotionally and creatively, not just functionally. From designing AI-assisted experiences to probing how generative tools shift our process, I’m fascinated by how designers might co-create with machines in the near future, and what that means for craft, authorship, and intuition.
My background spans from tea science to media design, and my journey at IDEO has taken me across industries like healthcare, education, entertainment, and beyond. But the common thread is always the same: I design stories, artifacts, and interfaces that invite people to play with the future before it arrives.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Looking back, there are three qualities that have been especially impactful in shaping my design journey:
1. Learning by making.
Whenever I’m exploring a new technology, I don’t just read about it. I try to build with it. Whether it’s prototyping with generative AI or hacking together complicated interactions, I believe that hands-on experimentation is the fastest way to understand how something works and how it feels. My advice is that don’t wait until you know everything before you start. Build the thing. Break the thing. That’s where the learning lives.
2. Embracing your weird.
Some of my most valuable ideas come from parts of my background that seem unrelated to design, from tea science to speculative design to toy invention and play. I’ve learned to appreciate the value of being interdisciplinary, and even a little peculiar. Stay curious beyond your immediate field. Talk to people outside your industry. That’s often where the freshest perspective comes from.
3. Be the wild card.
Give yourself permission to bring in the unexpected. Say the odd idea in the brainstorm. Sketch the thing that seems too out-there. Some of my favorite moments have come from leaning into playfulness and helping others do the same. My advice is to protect the weird ideas no matter it’s yours and others’. Not everything needs to be practical at first. Sometimes what starts as “too wild” becomes the most meaningful spark and provocations.
What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
I think it’s important to have both—a deep strength and a willingness to stretch. At IDEO, we often talk about being “T-shaped”: going deep in your craft (that’s your superpower), while also reaching across disciplines to collaborate, empathize, and grow in new directions.
For me, my depth is in making, especially prototyping experiences that bring emerging technology to life. But one area I’ve struggled with is communication, especially articulating my ideas clearly in conversations with teammates or clients. Early in my career, I used to think of design as something that mostly happened between humans and machines. But I’ve come to realize that conversation itself is a design moment too. The way you explain an idea, hold space for others, or tell a story, it’s all part of the experience.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve been learning at IDEO is how to design those human-to-human interactions with the same care and intention I bring to interfaces. It’s not about being perfect, but about being clear, curious, and co-creative. That’s still a work in progress for me, but I’ve found that investing in this growth area has made me not just a better communicator, but a better designer overall.
So yes, go all in on your strengths but don’t be afraid to step into the uncomfortable stuff too. Sometimes that’s where the real transformation happens.
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