Role: UI/UX Designer | San Francisco | 2015

Starmaker is a karaoke and talent discovery platform that was later acquired by Everyone Happy Entertainment on August 10, 2016. In this role, I deepened my skills in UI design and creative direction while working under the mentorship of design lead Kasia Wyser-Pratte.

Product Design & Feature Work:

Karaoke Recording Tool:
Designed an interactive audio/video recording experience with real-time pitch display, lyrics syncing, and toggles for voice-over and playback modes. Developed custom icons and interactions for both iOS and Android — including elements not natively available in system kits at the time.

UI for Navigation, Tiles, and Competitions:
Built navigation patterns and reusable tile styles for various content types (songs, recordings, competitions, ads). Developed a responsive system for promotional banners with universal safe zones — ensuring consistent layouts across screen sizes without duplicating assets.

Thematic Visual Language:
Crafted a UI library featuring angular iconography and color states inspired by the app’s triangular motif. Implemented tonal variation techniques to reflect the app’s branded geometric gradient backgrounds, resulting in a cohesive and dynamic interface.

Collaboration & Growth:

Worked Closely with Developers & Sound Engineers:
Partnered with technical teams to understand the inner workings of the karaoke engine, leading to more intuitive and technically feasible UI components.

Introduced to Agile Processes:
Participated in daily stand-ups and sprint rituals facilitated by a hands-on scrum master. This manual post-it workflow laid the foundation for my later sprint planning systems at Rakuten.

Deepened Visual Design Expertise:
Developed stronger visual instincts for spacing, color balance, and typography in layouts with photography — lessons that still inform my creative direction today.