Skip to content
UCSD Ed Ngai salesforce

Where are they now? Ed Ngai

Where are they now? Ed Ngai

Where are they now? Ed Ngai

Ed Ngai ‘17 works to ensure that designers and developers create consistent, beautiful experiences through defining company-wide design guidelines. He is currently a UX Engineer at Salesforce working on the Lightning Design System.

He recently spoke at Dreamforce 2018, Salesforce’s annual tech conference that unites over 170,000 industry pioneers and thought leaders to learn about new products and processes that can elevate their organizations. Ngai shared his work on densification, a feature set to roll out next winter that allows users to control their interface density setting to enhance the Lightning Experience. He has previously spoken at Dreamforce and TrailheaDX, Salesforce’s developer conference.


Ed Ngai ’17, now a UX Engineer at Salesforce

Similar to many other designers, Ngai stumbled upon design coming from an adjacent field. He entered UC San Diego as a freshman majoring in computer science. During his junior year, he enrolled in an introduction to information architecture course where he discovered design.

I learned what UX is and that led me to want to work in design to create experiences rather than be focused on specific engineering details.

He attributes that course to jumpstarting a career that bridges design and development. During the summer going into his senior year, Ed interned with Salesforce on the Prototyping team where he had the opportunity to leverage his coding and design skills.

For aspiring designers, Ngai emphasizes the importance of closing the gap between academia and industry through developing strong interpersonal skills. He believes that classes will equip students with the necessary skills and projects to excel but the differentiating factor is having the ability to network and successfully communicate with others through storytelling. He points to his personal experience when navigating professional relationships.

As a junior UX engineer, I want to present myself in a humbling way when seeking help and driving projects to the finish line.

Ngai also acknowledges the value of adopting a life-long learning mentality that emerges from building connections. At UC San Diego, Ngai served as President for Design at UCSD where he had the opportunity to lead by teaching. He believes the student group allows students to learn how they can deliver value through skill-building opportunities while encouraging them to find autonomy in pursuing their creative interests. As a student leader, he worked closely with The Design Lab to support student learning initiatives within the design community. His involvement with both organizations helped him accelerate his career and establish lasting relationships that he will carry throughout his professional journey.

Ed Ngai ’17 (front and center) leading a discussion with other Design at UCSD students at a IBM Design Training hosted by UCSD Design Lab back in 2017

Ed Ngai ‘17 works to ensure that designers and developers create consistent, beautiful experiences through defining company-wide design guidelines. He is currently a UX Engineer at Salesforce working on the Lightning Design System.

He recently spoke at Dreamforce 2018, Salesforce’s annual tech conference that unites over 170,000 industry pioneers and thought leaders to learn about new products and processes that can elevate their organizations. Ngai shared his work on densification, a feature set to roll out next winter that allows users to control their interface density setting to enhance the Lightning Experience. He has previously spoken at Dreamforce and TrailheaDX, Salesforce’s developer conference.


Ed Ngai ’17, now a UX Engineer at Salesforce

Similar to many other designers, Ngai stumbled upon design coming from an adjacent field. He entered UC San Diego as a freshman majoring in computer science. During his junior year, he enrolled in an introduction to information architecture course where he discovered design.

I learned what UX is and that led me to want to work in design to create experiences rather than be focused on specific engineering details.

He attributes that course to jumpstarting a career that bridges design and development. During the summer going into his senior year, Ed interned with Salesforce on the Prototyping team where he had the opportunity to leverage his coding and design skills.

For aspiring designers, Ngai emphasizes the importance of closing the gap between academia and industry through developing strong interpersonal skills. He believes that classes will equip students with the necessary skills and projects to excel but the differentiating factor is having the ability to network and successfully communicate with others through storytelling. He points to his personal experience when navigating professional relationships.

As a junior UX engineer, I want to present myself in a humbling way when seeking help and driving projects to the finish line.

Ngai also acknowledges the value of adopting a life-long learning mentality that emerges from building connections. At UC San Diego, Ngai served as President for Design at UCSD where he had the opportunity to lead by teaching. He believes the student group allows students to learn how they can deliver value through skill-building opportunities while encouraging them to find autonomy in pursuing their creative interests. As a student leader, he worked closely with The Design Lab to support student learning initiatives within the design community. His involvement with both organizations helped him accelerate his career and establish lasting relationships that he will carry throughout his professional journey.

Ed Ngai ’17 (front and center) leading a discussion with other Design at UCSD students at a IBM Design Training hosted by UCSD Design Lab back in 2017

Ed Ngai ‘17 works to ensure that designers and developers create consistent, beautiful experiences through defining company-wide design guidelines. He is currently a UX Engineer at Salesforce working on the Lightning Design System.

He recently spoke at Dreamforce 2018, Salesforce’s annual tech conference that unites over 170,000 industry pioneers and thought leaders to learn about new products and processes that can elevate their organizations. Ngai shared his work on densification, a feature set to roll out next winter that allows users to control their interface density setting to enhance the Lightning Experience. He has previously spoken at Dreamforce and TrailheaDX, Salesforce’s developer conference.


Ed Ngai ’17, now a UX Engineer at Salesforce

Similar to many other designers, Ngai stumbled upon design coming from an adjacent field. He entered UC San Diego as a freshman majoring in computer science. During his junior year, he enrolled in an introduction to information architecture course where he discovered design.

I learned what UX is and that led me to want to work in design to create experiences rather than be focused on specific engineering details.

He attributes that course to jumpstarting a career that bridges design and development. During the summer going into his senior year, Ed interned with Salesforce on the Prototyping team where he had the opportunity to leverage his coding and design skills.

For aspiring designers, Ngai emphasizes the importance of closing the gap between academia and industry through developing strong interpersonal skills. He believes that classes will equip students with the necessary skills and projects to excel but the differentiating factor is having the ability to network and successfully communicate with others through storytelling. He points to his personal experience when navigating professional relationships.

As a junior UX engineer, I want to present myself in a humbling way when seeking help and driving projects to the finish line.

Ngai also acknowledges the value of adopting a life-long learning mentality that emerges from building connections. At UC San Diego, Ngai served as President for Design at UCSD where he had the opportunity to lead by teaching. He believes the student group allows students to learn how they can deliver value through skill-building opportunities while encouraging them to find autonomy in pursuing their creative interests. As a student leader, he worked closely with The Design Lab to support student learning initiatives within the design community. His involvement with both organizations helped him accelerate his career and establish lasting relationships that he will carry throughout his professional journey.

Ed Ngai ’17 (front and center) leading a discussion with other Design at UCSD students at a IBM Design Training hosted by UCSD Design Lab back in 2017

Read Next

Super Low-cost Smartphone Attachment Brings Blood Pressure Monitoring to Your Fingertips

Super Low-cost Smartphone Attachment Brings Blood Pressure Monitoring to Your Fingertips Engineers at the University…

Idea Lab Design Lab

IDEA LAB Spring 2021

In collaboration with UC San Diego The Design Lab and The Basement, the Idea Lab is a quarter-long foundational program designed to introduce students to the ideas of design thinking and how it complements entrepreneurship through hands-on experiences and collaborative work with students from a variety of academic disciplines, backgrounds, and perspectives.  This program is ideal for both students who want to learn about design thinking and for students who need help getting “unstuck” from their current problem space.  Participants who successfully complete the program requirements of the Idea Lab may have the option to continue their journey with a focus on entrepreneurship in The Basement’s Summer Converge Program.

Application opens Monday, Feb. 1st at 12PM noon, closes Sunday, Feb. 21st @ 11:59pm
Design Lab Faculty

New Design Lab Faculty Working to Shape the Future of UC San Diego

As a global pioneer in design thinking, research, and invention, The Design Lab prides itself on recruiting the brightest and most innovative minds in the design field. Today, we would like to extend a warm welcome to brand new faculty members Elizabeth Eikey, Haijun Xia, and Edward Wang!

Elizabeth Eikey
From a first-generation undergraduate student at Penn State, then an inquisitive Best Buy employee and finally, to the Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health & The Design Lab at UCSD, Dr. Elizabeth Eikey has an illustrious career. Her research work at The Design Lab focuses on the intersection between technology, mental health, and equity, primarily studying the possible applications for technology in supporting mental health and well-being.

Haijun Xia
After receiving his PhD in Computer Science from University of Toronto, Xia made the move across countries to begin his time as a researcher at UC San Diego. ‘I wanted to work at The Design Lab and UC San Diego, because of the diversity of skill here,’ says the Professor, ‘We are all approaching the many challenging research questions from different angles, which is really important to develop comprehensive solutions.

Edward Wang
When Edward Wang was an undergraduate student at Harvey Mudd, he never expected himself to become a researcher, let alone becoming a professor. It was only after a Professor offered him the chance to help design a course she was planning about biosignal processing, that he began on this path. ‘As I was designing the class over summer, I had to read a bunch of papers,’ he says, ‘I couldn’t stop thinking about how cool all of it was. Especially when it branched out into computer science and how it could be involved in biosignal processes.’
Don Norman Emphatic Design

Why I Don’t Believe in Empathic Design

Human-centered design pioneer Don Norman, who coined the term ‘user experience,’ explains why he’s not convinced by the current obsession with empathy and what we should do instead.

I approve of the spirit behind the introduction of empathy into design, but I believe the concept is impossible, and even if possible, wrong. The reason we often talk about empathy in design is that we really need to understand the people that we’re working for. The idea is that, essentially, you’re in a person’s head and understand how they feel and what they think.
Design Lab Designatucsd Adobe Wish Salesforce

Design at UCSD Students Visit Leading Silicon Valley Companies

Design thinking and user-centered design continue to rapidly gain traction across a diversity of fields.…

Super Low-cost Smartphone Attachment Brings Blood Pressure Monitoring to Your Fingertips

Super Low-cost Smartphone Attachment Brings Blood Pressure Monitoring to Your Fingertips Engineers at the University…

Back To Top