Yizi Zhang

I'm a UX designer with a background in finance and a passion for storytelling. I enjoy the process of researching the constant seeking of what users really want and providing systematic and holistic solutions to problems.

Final Project

Shoulder: A safe place for parents of LGBTQ+ to communicate

Shoulder is dedicated to providing a safe haven for LGBTQ+ individuals and their parents to converse openly and authentically. Imagine a place where shared experiences lead to newfound connections, where your knowledge and communication skills thrive.

“Shoulder” goes beyond the digital realm, offering you tangible tools like stickers, stamps, and envelopes, making communication even more personal and heartfelt. No complicated steps – just write back and let your thoughts flow.

Unleash the power of conversation, strengthen relationships, and embrace a community that understands and supports.

Anonymous and seamless offline correspondence

Shoulder does not just provide AI assistance online to create a seamless communication environment. It can also strengthen your sense of connection to the LGBTQ+ community through offline correspondence.

No need to worry about your privacy to make it difficult to speak up. Your letters will be received by the Shoulder Centre, blurred with information, and then sent out by Shoulder to a match with progress tracked throughout.

Here you can comfortably talk about your worries and share your experiences.

Full accompaniment from the present to the future

As you eagerly await the arrival of your heartfelt letters, “Shoulder” is here to stand by you every step of the way. Seamlessly woven into your daily life, our AI assistant is your steadfast ally. If navigating LGBTQ+ terms leaves you perplexed, simply turn to “Shoulder” for clear explanations. Need to connect with your child or parent? Allow our assistant to craft messages that strike the perfect chord, guiding you with appropriate language and tone.

But that’s not all – “Shoulder” goes beyond assistance. It becomes a trusted partner, even simulating dialogues to help you practice communication. Imagine a future where you’ve honed your skills and feel ready to bid farewell to our service. We’d celebrate this milestone by gifting you a safety pin – a symbol that you’re a safe haven for conversations, ready to enrich the community.

Let’s together shape a world where open dialogue thrives, face-to-face, and “Shoulder” is your bridge to get there.

Key Moment

Primary research

Research methods such as storytelling, cultural probes and semi-structured interviews were focussed on.

The interviews provided an opportunity to obtain long answers, but had some limitations. And creative methods such as storytelling and cultural probes compensate for these shortcomings. In particular, cultural probes give participants control over what experiences they share and how they share them means that sensitive issues are free to surface. These methods were used to summarise in-depth findings and insights from the 11 participants.

Data analysis

According to research, parents who accept their LGBTQ+ children go through a bereavement process that involves stages of shock, pride, worry, sadness, and support.

Some of these negative emotions such as confusion and helplessness are part of what we are designed to overcome.Combining thematic and content analysis methods, we worked hard to discover the reasons behind these negative emotions.

Co-design

Co-design workshops with LGBTQ+ community participants and stakeholders, many of whom are highly creative and understand the problem, live with it and survive it. So we go into the community to find these smart solutions.

Business model

In order to encourage users to write more letters to communicate and share with others, we charge in the form of a stepped price. Reduce unit costs as customers buy more units.

Another source of revenue comes from the monthly donation programme, and by signing up as a monthly donor, Shoulders will open up more advanced features to this group of users.

Working experience

Wanda Commercial Financial Services (Tianjin) Co.

Accounting Management Group Accountant

  • Revamped the company’s internal asset leasing system to achieve automatic reconciliation, accrual and write-off processes to significantly improve efficiency and accuracy.
  • Designed a comprehensive system request in Oracle to simplify the adjustment of advance receipts tail differences, avoid manual bookkeeping errors and save time.
  • Updated the Fixed Assets module functionality in Oracle to enable seamless and automated depreciation calculations for enhanced financial management and reporting.
  • Assisted in the development of an internal accounting monitoring and sharing system to analyse accounting data, reflect business anomalies and enable early warning management of operations.

Visionary Thinkers

Visionary Creators

Visionary Makers