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About

tingchun.a.lai@gmail.com

Work

Coding

About

tingchun.a.lai@gmail.com

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Schedule Builder

Schedule Builder

Reimagining how attendees plan an 800+ session event.

MVP & RD Summit Site

Preview in Figma

Overview

As the lead product designer, I optimized the planning journey to improve discovery, decision-making, and schedule management. I led UX UI design strategy and collaborated closely with PO, engineering, and event teams to boosted pre-event planning by 43%, saved 10K+ sessions with Watch Later, and achieved a 95% satisfaction rate.

As the lead product designer, I optimized the planning journey to improve discovery, decision-making, and schedule management. I led UX UI design strategy and collaborated closely with PO, engineering, and event teams to boosted pre-event planning by 43%, saved 10K+ sessions with Watch Later, and achieved a 95% satisfaction rate.

Time

Jan 2022 - Mar 2022

Role

Lead Product Designer

Deliverables

Product Strategy

Research

Prototyping

Testing

Iteration

Teams

1 Principal PM manager 



2 Event program managers 



1 Producer



1 3D graphic designer



Dev team

Time

Jan 2022 - Mar 2022

Jan-Mar 2022

Role

Lead Product Designer

Teams

Principal PM manager 



Event program managers 



Producer



3D graphic designer



Dev team

Deliverables

Product Strategy

Research

UX/ UI Design

Testing

Iteration

Process

Process

The Brief

The ask sounds simple:
"Fix the filter. Improve the sidebar."

""

The ask sounds simple:
"Fix the filter. Improve the sidebar."

""

What I Discovered

Users were planning a conference with more than 800+ sessions overlapping schedules, and long session descriptions.

3 issues stood out:

3 issues stood out:

  1. Cognitive overload

  1. No middle ground

  1. A cramped planning experience

Reframing the Challenge

I brought a different perspective back to the PO and stakeholders.

Improving the filter would help users search faster, but it wouldn't solve the experience of planning a meaningful event schedule across hundreds of options.

And I mapped the users' planning journey, and targeted the 3 stages — Discovery, Decide, Manage — for optimization.

And I mapped the users' planning journey, and targeted the 3 stages — Discovery, Decide, Manage — for optimization.

Redefine the Goals

Discovery

Discovery

Users needed a faster way to narrow down 800 sessions.

Users needed a faster way to narrow down 800 sessions.

Decide

Decide

Users needed a low-commitment way to bookmark interesting sessions.

Users needed a low-commitment way to bookmark interesting sessions.

Manage

Manage

Users needed a dedicated space to compare and organize their plan.

Users needed a dedicated space to compare and organize their plan.

Manage

Participants could only see and manage their plan through a slim sidebar, which was extremely difficult to use.

What I Designed

Discovery

faster way to narrow down

Decide

low-commitment way to save

Manage

dedicated space for their plan

What I Shipped

Tab Filter

Simplified browsing with top-level event filters, improving session discovery speed.

New Feature

Tab Filter

Simplified browsing with top-level event filters, improving session discovery speed.

New Updates

Dropdown Filter

Added date, time, timezone, and category filters for precise, context-based search.

Scannable Content Card

Enhanced scannability by surfacing key info upfront for quicker decision-making.

Watch Later

Reduced cognitive load by allowing users to save sessions and decide later.

Dropdown Filter

Added date, time, timezone, and category filters for precise, context-based search.

New Feature

Scannable Content Card

Enhanced scannability by surfacing key info upfront for quicker decision-making.

Responsive Design

Optimized all new features for mobile to ensure a consistent multi-device experience.

New "My Plan"

Kept a slim sidebar for quick access, and introduced a full-view mode for easier plan viewing, editing, and management.

New Feature

Watch Later

Reduced cognitive load by allowing users to save sessions and decide later.

New Feature

New "My Plan"

Kept a slim sidebar for quick access, and introduced a full-view mode for easier plan viewing, editing, and management.

Design Updates

Responsive Design

Optimized all new features for mobile to ensure a consistent multi-device experience.

Impact

Impact

Numbers | Quotes

10K+

Total sessions got saved to the new feature Watch Later list before the event started.

43%

Lift in pre-event engagement.

+4

New features successfully design and launched.

95%

Overall event satisfaction rating.

Searchable by event titles was fantastic.

New My Plan experience is nice!

Really beautiful / easy to use interface.

10K+

Total sessions got saved to the new feature Watch Later list before the event started.

43%

Lift in pre-event engagement.

+4

New features successfully design and launched.

95%

Overall event satisfaction rating.

+4

New features successfully design and launched.

95%

Overall event satisfaction rating.

Searchable by event titles was fantastic.

New My Plan experience is nice!

Really beautiful / easy to use interface.

Testimonial

“I really like Ariel. I’m pretty impressed. Great perspective, she isn’t afraid to suggest new ideas, but also respects input from stakeholders. I’d love to keep working with her on other projects.”

— James Conard, Principal PM Manager, Microsoft Developer Relations (for MVP Summit Projects)

Discovery

Find relevant sessions faster

Prototyping and Iterations

Decide

Reduce decision making pressure

Manage

Make schedules easy to view & edit

More projects

See more work

Let’s connect?

Find me at

Email

LinkedIn

Medium

GitHub

Design by Ariel L

© 2026

All rights reserved

Let’s connect?

Find me at

Email

LinkedIn

Medium

GitHub

Design by Ariel L

© 2026

All rights reserved

Let’s connect?

Find me at

Email

LinkedIn

Medium

GitHub

Design by Ariel L

© 2026

All rights reserved