I'm Claire Nguyen. I'm a curious Product Designer, and yes, I really am in love with flan.

Yep! I graduated in 2016 with a bachelor's in Computer Science from University of California, Irvine (Zot Zot!), and I worked as a front end developer for 3 years at Panasonic Avionics. The experience I got from those years were amazing and truly valuable, and it played a major part in why I jumped into doing UX/UI and product design full time.

As a front end developer, I was able to control a large part of how the UI works, but mostly only in code. The user experience was where I was strongly attracted (and still am!), and the more I understood the user behind the scenes, the more I wanted to learn on how to design better experiences.

Ask me about flan, and I'll tell you all the reasons why its jiggly-ness is so beautifully delicious.

What's so special about it?

• Milk, eggs, sugar, and a splash of vanilla. That's all it takes.
• There are so many ways to make flan.
• I love seeing people enjoy it whenever I make it. :)
• It has countless elements of design.
• Did I mention that its jiggly-ness is delicious?

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In my free time, I enjoy drawing, 3D printing, making cosplay props, random crafts, and perfecting my flan recipe. :)

Well, what do flan and design both have in common?

What do flan and design have in common?

They both strive to make people happy.
They both require extensive trial and error.
Good impressions are everything.
It's squishy and not always well-defined.
And it's subjective.
Everyone has different tastes.
You have to do research to find out what works.
They both have endless possibilities.
Good design is like good flan: you know it when you experience it.
You have to take care of your customer and their needs.
Everyone has different tastes, but my focus is to cater to their needs while not losing sight of the goal: to make good flan and good design.

• They both strive to make people happy.
• Everyone has different tastes.
• They both require extensive trial and error.
• Research is important for both to turn out good.
• They both have endless possibilities.
• They're both squishy and not always well-defined.

Good design is like good flan: you know it when you experience it. It's subjective, but my job is to cater to the needs of as many people as possible while not losing sight of the goal: to make good flan and good design.

When I first started making flan years ago, my goal was to be able to make one of my favorite desserts whenever I wanted. I didn't even know how to cook properly, and that was one of the first things I learned.

2 Google searches in and I was already inundated with recipes that all differed in some way. Some used more egg yolks than whole eggs. Some used condensed milk, while others go with half and half. Some use the oven, while others steam it in a pot. It was dizzying, to say the least.

So I gathered a bunch of recipes, compared them all, and wrote out a recipe of my own. And it was fantastic. But it wasn't firm...the way that I preferred.

When I gave some to a few friends to try, they all had different opinions. One mentioned it was too sweet. A couple others wished it was firmer like I did. Someone said the caramel was very bitter...just the way they like it.