“All of us here spend a lot of time thinking about how to help users eat healthy and be well. We’re all striving to provide a better solution towards this goal.”
Creative Director Nayoung Kim approaches design thinking with a steady eye towards optimizing the user experience. While at Adobe for seven years, she was in charge of the UX initiative for Flash Pro and Edge Animate as its lead designer. Nayoung also created new service concepts as part of the Creative Cloud ecosystem, providing a better workflow for designers and enhancing their work productivity. Prior to Adobe, Nayoung gained experience in a wide range of industries, from designing mobile devices at LG Electronics to manufacturing eco-friendly furniture at Grini. Her goal is to unite human need, empathy, technology, creativity and aesthetics in order to provide meaningful experiences.
1. Tell us why you joined Zipongo. I love food. I’ve got a blog where I’m able to exercise my creativity and inspiration for cooking and eating delicious food. When I first started talking to the folks at Zipongo, I had two things I was looking for: a product that excites me and a strong team that I wanted to work with. Zipongo seemed like the ideal place because all of us here spend a lot of time thinking about how to help users eat healthy and be well. We’re all striving to provide a better solution towards this goal.
2. What are you most proud of (personal or career-wise)? I’ve loved cooking ever since I was little. When my mom was out, I would sneak in the kitchen and make a big mess. Fast forward to 2012, when a friend was in search of a partner to help her test out her business idea for a restaurant. We opened a pop-up restaurant together and successfully continued the business for six months. Going into it, I was naïve, not knowing how hard and competitive the restaurant business is. Still, it was a tremendous experience for me to be able to learn the ins and outs of the food industry. Above all, I can now truly appreciate how precious it is to find and experience quality food both at home and in restaurants.
3. What’s your favorite food spot in the city? I feel fortunate that we have so many great restaurants and such a diverse cuisine in San Francisco. It’s so hard to choose just one spot. I will say that my visit to Lazy Bear was definitely memorable. It was unlike any other culinary experience I’ve had. The setting is relaxed and casual, and most of the food is excellent. On the other hand, my go-to pho place is Turtle Tower in the Tenderloin. The pho ga (chicken) and Hanoi-style beef pho are probably the best in San Francisco.
4. Can you share something that ranks high on your bucket list? I want to master my own 30 recipes, and be able to cook the dishes anywhere, any time. It’s a long process, because it takes time to collect really good recipes, and I need to practice them over and over to achieve perfection.
Want to work with Nayoung and the folks at Zipongo? Check out our current job openings.
