Aloha! I’m Liv 🤙

👋 I’m a product designer who weaves together storytelling, technology, and people-centered design.

Product Design Intern at Duolingo 💚

Recent Projects

Quick Facts

I have a variety of interests ranging from…

  • ✍️ product and graphic design

  • 📚 moral philosophy and ethics

  • 🎤 music performance and composition,

  • 🎞 film production and photography,

  • 🇫🇷 French language and culture (B2)

Background

  • I attended ’Iolani School in Honolulu, HI from Kindergarten until 12th grade. My extra-curricular interests included the Iolani Dramatic Players, French Club, Storyteller’s Club, and multiple student-run publications.

    I now attend Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, where I continue to pursue creative writing, music composition, live theater and performance, entrepreneurship, student government, and community-building initiatives.

  • In April of 2020, I chose to take a gap year before attending Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. These experiences taught me how to organize community through COVID-19, create social media marketing strategies, and maintain brand consistency.

    I worked at a local French café, Aritzia, and my alma mater ’Iolani School. I also interned with HomeAid Hawaii (a nonprofit founded by developers to improve homelessness in Hawaii), Kiwanis of Honolulu (volunteer organization), and Lieutenant Governor (now Governor) of Hawaii Josh Green’s Communications Office.

  • Over my gap year, I leveraged online resources in order to learn Figma and other technical design tools. I wanted to know the most effective, efficient, and empathetic way to build a meaningful product for a user. I recently completed Useful School's bootcamp for designers of color!

  • I’m currently studying “Ethics in Film, Design and Human-Computer Interaction” a special major I’ve designed around Philosophy, Film and Media Studies, and Computer Science at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.

    I’m fascinated by the overlap of philosophy and film through historical movements such as The French New Wave. I also hope to use philosophy to explore the ethical implications of technological advancements. A background in computer science also helps improve my technical skills as a designer too.

  • I will be returning to Duolingo as a Graduating Design Intern this coming summer. I first joined Duolingo’s team as a Product Designer Thrive Intern in Pittsburgh, PA during the summer of 2023. This was my first internship in the product design space, and I’m so grateful and excited for this opportunity to grow as a designer.