Hi, Zhu Hong here, you can call me Hong. Zhu is my family name in Chinese.
I am a designer and author, and I also work with photography as a way of observing the world.
For more than two decades, my work has centered on the relationship between technology, systems, and people.
For more than two decades, my work has centered on the relationship between technology, systems, and people.
Professionally, I have worked with global technology companies including Microsoft, Alibaba, and Xiaomi, contributing to and leading design efforts across operating systems, mobile products, and large-scale e-commerce platforms—from Windows and MIUI to complex, high-traffic digital ecosystems.
I am currently based in Singapore, serving as Senior Vice President and Head of Design at Lazada (Alibaba Group), where I lead a cross-cultural design organization across Southeast Asia and China.
I am currently based in Singapore, serving as Senior Vice President and Head of Design at Lazada (Alibaba Group), where I lead a cross-cultural design organization across Southeast Asia and China.
For me, design is not primarily about interfaces or efficiency.
It is a systemic practice that asks a deeper question:
how people can remain understood, respected, and autonomous within increasingly complex technological systems.
It is a systemic practice that asks a deeper question:
how people can remain understood, respected, and autonomous within increasingly complex technological systems.
My long-term work in this direction has been recognized within the design community, including honors such as Top 10 Outstanding Design Leader / Innovation Officer (2024) awarded by IxDC / WDO. I see these acknowledgements not as milestones, but as peer recognition of sustained design judgment over time.
Alongside design, I write.
I have published multiple books spanning fiction and design, including Lost in Iceland, Take Time to Waste Your Life, and The World Traveler’s Dog, and translated Keep It Simple, introducing early Apple design thinking to Chinese readers.
Writing is not secondary to my design practice—it is how I engage with time, memory, family, migration, and the quieter forces that shape human life.
Writing is not secondary to my design practice—it is how I engage with time, memory, family, migration, and the quieter forces that shape human life.
If design often addresses immediate problems,
writing allows me to confront longer temporal questions.
writing allows me to confront longer temporal questions.
Photography is another important part of my practice.
I approach photography not as a technical pursuit, but as a slower form of understanding—observing how people and reality unfold without intervention.
In 2025, my photographic work received the Google Photography Gold Award, reinforcing my belief that images can stand as a serious and honest mode of expression alongside design and writing.
In 2025, my photographic work received the Google Photography Gold Award, reinforcing my belief that images can stand as a serious and honest mode of expression alongside design and writing.
In recent years, I have been actively exploring the relationship between AI, design, and creative practice.
In professional contexts, I work on integrating AI into real-world product experiences and design workflows. On a personal level, I experiment with AI as a creative and narrative medium. I do not see AI merely as a productivity tool, but as a new environmental condition—one that reshapes authorship, systems, and how humans relate to the future.
At this stage of my life and career, I value depth over scale,
judgment over titles,
and work that remains meaningful over time rather than optimized for speed.
judgment over titles,
and work that remains meaningful over time rather than optimized for speed.
If you are interested in the intersection of design, writing, photography, and technology—or in how a person continues to rebuild themselves across systems and life stages—you are welcome to read further or get in touch.
