When Gary He decided to move from Shanghai to Melbourne, he wasn't just looking for a new degree. After six years as an Experience Designer, the spark that initially drew him to the industry was fading. He needed an inspiring space to recharge and rediscover his creative passion.

Image: Gary He

Gary found that space at Monash University. Graduating with a Master of Design (Interaction Design) in 2023, he has since transitioned into a pivotal role as a Project Manager at Xiamen Bank. Today, he manages product experiences for millions of users, applying the human-centred insights he sharpened during his time in Australia.

A studio-based approach to design challenges

Monash Design is known for its studio-based approach to teaching and learning. For Gary, this meant moving beyond restrictive corporate briefs and into the "Interactive Design Lab." This core experience challenged him to design sensory installations addressing social and emotional challenges.

The lab functioned like a professional design studio. Under the mentorship of experts like Dr Indae Hwang and Dr Wil-kie Tan, Gary and his peers experimented with sensory interaction, programming, and interface design.  A defining highlight of his degree was designing an interactive sensory installation blending physical play with mobile technology.

Using a toy net connected to a mobile app, users “captured” flickering virtual fireflies within a miniature forest model. The collected fireflies appeared in glass jars in the app in real time, allowing users to virtually “release” them back into nature to earn real-world souvenirs. The project used programming and interactive design to bring Gary’s creative ideas to life while encouraging greater awareness of environmental protection.

"Seeing my teachers and crowds of students happily experience and discuss my work gave me an immense sense of achievement and reminded me why I truly love design" he explains.

A global student experience

Moving across the world can be daunting, but Gary found the Monash Art, Design and Architecture (MADA) community welcoming and collaborative. His Design lecturers acted as accessible mentors, creating a supportive environment that championed brave experimentation and ambitious creative ideas.

Collaborating daily with international peers from diverse cultural backgrounds transformed his worldview. The inclusive community taught him how to apply co-design solutions from multiple perspectives. This global outlook proved crucial for his current career, where he actively monitors customer satisfaction and maps intricate user journeys across complex platforms.

Bridging the gap between users and services

Images: Gary's work at Xiamen Bank

Gary views experience design as a bridge connecting people to commercial services. In his current role in the Customer Experience Centre at Xiamen Bank, he oversees the end-to-end digital user journey for millions of individual and corporate banking clients. By conducting rigorous user requirements research, usability testing and Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys, he ensures that large-scale mobile and online banking platforms are both highly functional and emotionally engaging.

His ability to apply these human-centred systems to diverse commercial challenges was clear during his studies, when he supported global home-robotics company ECOVACS. Through in-depth usability testing for a new robot vacuum and household interviews across Melbourne and Sydney, Gary generated localised insights that helped the company adapt its technology to the specific cleaning routines of Australian users.

Gary’s deep commitment to inclusive, user-centric design defines his professional track record. A major career highlight includes developing an e-commerce application for  Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, called “Pu Hui Dao Jia,” a platform that reached more than 20 million users. As part of the project, Gary designed a flexible system of easy-to-use e-commerce display components that enabled platform operators to quickly create engaging pages for different marketing campaigns.

Insights for emerging designers

Gary believes that “emerging technologies like AI are tools for inspiration rather than threats.” He notes that “AI cannot replace a designer’s unique ability to discover genuine human needs or reconcile the demands of multiple stakeholders.”

By expanding his creative vision at Monash, Gary returned to his career with a renewed sense of purpose and the strategic skills to lead projects with social responsibility.

"My time at Monash helped me rediscover my original passion for design” Gary reflects. “It taught me to approach complex problems from multiple perspectives—insights I put into practice every single day.”