I find the expensive problems hiding inside large companies — and design the products that fix them.
I'm Daniel Wang. I work end-to-end across research, strategy, and interface design — currently on AI-driven and multi-platform products at a Fortune 100 insurer. I'm happiest turning a fuzzy, costly business problem into something people actually want to use.
Selected work
Five projects · 2021—2025AI Claims Predictor
A self-initiated AI prototype that predicted claim outcomes from real data — built on borrowed time, then pitched to senior leadership.
The problem
One of the company's core processes was slow and costly: claims that were mis-routed or mis-estimated drive real expense and quietly erode customer trust. I was convinced this was worth attacking, but it wasn't anyone's assigned project.
Constraints
No mandate, no budget, no headcount. I pulled together a software engineer and a data scientist on borrowed time, and we had to earn access to real, messy operational data before we could build anything credible.
Key decisions
- Started from the claims handler's day, not the model. Slower to a demo, but it meant the prediction surfaced exactly where a decision actually gets made — not as a dashboard nobody opens.
- Designed for confidence, not certainty. I showed the model's uncertainty range instead of a single hero number. Less impressive in a screenshot, but it matched how adjusters actually reason and avoided dangerous false precision.
- Scoped the prototype to one claim type. A narrower story, but a believable end-to-end one we could defend with real numbers in the room.
What I'd do differently
Bring a frontline adjuster into the room in week one rather than validating later. I designed the happy path before I'd properly pressure-tested the edge cases, and paid for it in rework.
Home Energy Management
I stood up our team's first design-concept process and shipped two validated concepts in two weeks — work a parallel team took three months to match.
The problem
The team had no repeatable way to move from a fuzzy opportunity to a concept leadership could act on. Good ideas kept dying in decks. We needed both the concepts and the machine that produces them.
Constraints
Three designers, no established process, and a two-week window — yet the output had to be credible enough to stand up in front of a company-wide audience.
Key decisions
- Built the process as we ran it. A lightweight pipeline — frame, diverge, test, narrate. Some rework along the way, but the team kept using it long after the project ended.
- Invested in the narrative, not just the artifact. I treated the handoff as a story leadership could retell themselves. Time spent on communication over extra screens, but it's why the concepts actually advanced.
What I'd do differently
Document the process while building it instead of after. Reconstructing it later cost the team roughly a week we didn't have.
Sundial
I owned the end-to-end experience for a product spanning mobile and voice — and guided other designers to ship it consistently across all three platforms.
The problem
A single product experience was fragmenting across platforms, each with its own design system. Users felt the seams, and practitioners kept reinventing the same patterns three different ways.
Constraints
Three platforms, multiple design systems to respect, and a group of practitioners working at different levels of seniority and confidence.
Key decisions
- Defined the experience at the journey level first, platform second. More upfront alignment work, but it kept the product coherent instead of three apps that merely shared a logo.
- Wrote guidance other designers could apply themselves. I gave up some personal control over every screen in exchange for quality that scaled past what I could review alone.
What I'd do differently
Invest earlier in a shared component reference. We aligned on principles before we had the concrete building blocks to make them effortless to follow.
ShareCare
I turned a quiet signal from user interviews into a funded strategic bet — by making the case, not waiting to be asked.
The problem
During unrelated research, I kept hearing an unmet need that no one owned. It sat just outside the current roadmap, which is exactly why it was easy for everyone to walk past.
Constraints
No one had asked for this. To go anywhere it needed evidence the strategy team would trust and a story that aligned with goals they already cared about.
Key decisions
- Led with the strategy team's language, not mine. I framed the opportunity against their existing objectives so it read as acceleration, not a detour.
- Ran the research to back the instinct. I treated my own hypothesis as the thing most likely to be wrong, and gathered evidence accordingly before advocating hard.
What I'd do differently
Socialize the early signal sooner. I refined it alone longer than I needed to before bringing others in to build shared ownership.
Home +
I orchestrated research, engineering, and product around a connected-home experience — and kept a sprawling effort pointed at the user.
The problem
A connected-home initiative had many capable people pulling in slightly different directions. The risk wasn't a lack of effort; it was a coherent experience getting lost between teams.
Constraints
I was the connective tissue between research, product designers, lead engineers, and technical analysts — with influence but no formal authority over any of them.
Key decisions
- Made the journey the shared artifact. I ran user-centered design and service-design workshops so the map — not any one team's backlog — became the thing everyone aligned to.
- Spent my credibility on clarity. I made the rationale behind each design decision easy to repeat, so stakeholders could carry the why without me in the room.
What I'd do differently
Set decision-making rules earlier. Alignment workshops built the shared picture, but we needed clearer ownership of the calls that picture implied.
I'm a product designer who likes the messy front of the process — the part where the problem isn't defined yet and nobody's sure there's anything there.
Most of my work happens inside a large, regulated organization, which has taught me that good design is half craft and half persuasion. A concept only matters if the people who can fund it understand why. So I spend as much energy on the story and the stakeholders as I do on the screens.
I move fast and I write things down. I've stood up new processes, led small teams beyond my title, and shipped a working AI prototype as a side project — not because anyone asked, but because the problem was worth it.