Interview with Henry Han

My design studio is really an extension of how I approach design: curious, collaborative, and focused on solving real problems. I work with companies and teams to create digital products and experiences that are not only visually engaging, but also make sense for the people using them.

A big part of what I do is helping take an idea from “We think this could be better” to something tangible. That can mean starting with user research and interviews, figuring out what people actually need, mapping out the experience, creating wireframes and prototypes, and eventually turning those ideas into polished, high-fidelity designs. I enjoy being involved throughout that process because I think the best solutions come from connecting all of those pieces rather than treating design as simply the final visual layer.

I’m especially interested in projects where the problem isn't perfectly defined yet. Those are often the most fun.

For me, design is really about making things make sense. It’s taking something that might be complicated, confusing, or even a little messy and figuring out how to make it feel simple and natural. It’s not just about colors, typography, layouts, or making something look cool

I’m most drawn to designing digital products and experiences where there’s a real problem to solve. I especially enjoy projects that start out a little messy—where the problem isn’t completely defined and there are a lot of questions to figure out. Those projects give me the opportunity to dig into user behavior, talk to people, explore different ideas, and gradually turn all of that uncertainty into something clear and useful.

I really enjoy the full process, too. I like starting with research and rough sketches, moving into wireframes and prototypes, and eventually getting into the details of high-fidelity design. There’s something really satisfying about seeing an idea evolve from a simple conversation or scribble into a polished product that someone can actually use.

I’m particularly interested in products that people interact with frequently—things like travel, technology, marketplaces, and other digital experiences that have a lot of moving parts. Projects like Vrbo MarketMaker are especially fun for me because there’s a balance between understanding the user, solving a complicated product problem, and creating an experience that feels simple on the surface.

At the end of the day, I probably enjoy designing the things that make people say, “Oh, that’s actually pretty easy.”

I feel the most creative when I’m trying to solve a problem that doesn’t have an obvious answer. Give me a blank canvas, a messy problem, and a little bit of time to explore, and I’m usually pretty happy.

I think design is going through a pretty exciting transition right now. AI is obviously changing the way we work, but I don’t think it means designers are becoming less important. If anything, I think the role of the designer is becoming more about how we think rather than just what we make.

We’re already seeing AI help with things that used to take hours—generating concepts, exploring different directions, creating prototypes, analyzing research, and even producing visual assets. That means designers can spend less time on some of the repetitive work and more time thinking about the bigger questions: What problem are we actually solving? Who are we solving it for? Is this the right experience? What should we build in the first place?

I also think the idea of what we consider a “user interface” is going to change dramatically. For a long time, UI and UX have largely meant designing for a screen—a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop. But I don’t think the future of design is going to be limited to screens at all. We’re going to interact with technology through much more varied mediums: voice, wearables, cars, smart environments, augmented and virtual reality, spatial computing, AI assistants, physical objects, and interfaces that we probably haven’t even imagined yet.

That means UX designers will have to think beyond buttons, menus, and screens. We’ll be designing experiences that might involve movement, sound, conversation, gestures, physical space, or even interfaces that are almost invisible. The challenge becomes not just “What should this screen look like?” but “How should a person interact with this technology?”

I also think the line between UX, product design, visual design, research, and even development is going to continue to blur. Designers will have more ability to take an idea all the way from a conversation or rough sketch to something that actually works. At the same time, understanding technology will become increasingly important—not necessarily because every designer needs to become a developer, but because knowing what's possible helps you design better solutions.

The biggest thing I hope doesn't change is the human side of design. Tools can generate a thousand screens in seconds, but they can't replace genuinely understanding another person, noticing something they struggle with, or asking the question nobody else thought to ask. Good design has always been about people, and I think that will become even more important as technology gets better.

So I don't really see the future of design as designers versus AI. I see it as designers becoming much more capable because of AI and new technologies. The designers who can combine creativity, empathy, product thinking, technology, and AI will have an incredible opportunity to create experiences that would have been much harder—or even impossible—to build before.

And honestly, that's what makes this moment so interesting to me. We're moving from an era where we mostly designed interfaces on screens to one where we’ll be designing how people interact with technology itself. I think we're only at the beginning of figuring out what that really means.