Yani Liu is a multidisciplinary designer with over seven years of experience across digital media, UX design, and interactive storytelling. Her work focuses on translating complex ideas into clear, emotionally resonant narratives that connect with audiences across platforms. She holds dual master’s degrees from the University of Washington and the University of Pennsylvania and currently works as an Experience Designer at Autodesk, creating large-scale digital experiences used by millions worldwide. Her work has been recognized by international awards including Red Dot, IDA, and London Design Awards, and she values originality, clarity of message, and meaningful creative impact.

How many years have you been a judge?

1-3 years

What excited you about judging for the Telly Awards?

I’m excited about the opportunity to engage with a wide range of storytelling—from branded content and digital media to traditional film and video—through the lens of both craft and audience impact. As a multidisciplinary designer, I’m especially drawn to work that translates complex ideas into emotionally resonant, accessible stories. Judging for the Telly Awards allows me to celebrate creativity while also learning from how different creators approach narrative, tone, and innovation.

What was your first job in the industry? What did it teach you?

My early professional work was in architecture and spatial design, where I learned to think deeply about structure, narrative, and human experience at scale. It taught me how design decisions shape behavior, emotion, and understanding over time. That foundation still influences how I approach digital and media work today—thinking in systems, sequences, and experiences rather than isolated moments.

What project are you most proud to have worked on?

I’m most proud of projects that take highly abstract or technical concepts and make them understandable and meaningful for broad audiences.

What’s the most challenging part about your job and/or the industry?

The hardest part is maintaining depth in a fast, metrics-driven environment. Speed often competes with reflection, and scale can dilute meaning. The challenge is protecting storytelling, ethics, and human value in systems designed for efficiency and growth.

What do you look for to determine excellence in video?

I look for clarity of story first, whether the audience understands not just what is happening, but why it matters. Strong work shows intentional choices in pacing, editing, sound, and visual language, all in service of the narrative. I also value emotional authenticity, originality, and how effectively the piece connects with its intended audience rather than relying solely on production scale or spectacle.

What are your current roles and responsibilities and what do you love most about your job?

I currently work as an Experience Designer at Autodesk, where I design complex digital systems used by millions of people worldwide. My role involves collaborating closely with product, engineering, and research teams to translate technical complexity into clear, human-centered experiences. What I love most is shaping how people understand and interact with sophisticated tools—turning complexity into confidence and meaningful outcomes.

What initiatives or projects are you working on now that excite you?

I’m currently working on large-scale digital systems that explore how complex information, automation, and user behavior intersect. I’m especially excited by projects that connect narrative, technology, and human-centered design, where storytelling isn’t just content, but embedded in experience.

Do you have any specific practices you lean on to spark creativity?

I often step away from screens and return to sketching, writing, or mapping ideas spatially to unlock new perspectives. I also draw inspiration from film, animation, and narrative-driven media to study pacing, emotional beats, and visual storytelling. Moving between digital, spatial, and narrative modes of thinking consistently helps me generate stronger and more original ideas.

What inspired you to pursue your career path?

I was drawn to design from a young age through hands-on making, visual storytelling, and creative projects, influenced strongly by my family. My grandmother encouraged craftsmanship, while my father’s love for drawing and photography shaped how I see composition and storytelling. Over time, I wanted my creative work to be more persuasive and grounded in real-world impact, which led me to study architecture as a discipline rooted in both art and engineering. That same motivation later drew me to user experience design, where creativity is supported by research, data, and evidence-based decision making.