Shawn Park
a.k.a. Si Hyun Park — an interface designer based in California
I design captivating, functional interfaces that help people’s lives. I am also a hardcore gamer, die-hard T1 fan, tea aficionado, and a low-key kpop fan. Down for a cup of tea or a glass of soju anytime!
Korean.
Interface designer.
A smol nerd with big dreams.
...also known as Si Hyun
My name, Shawn, comes from my Korean name, Si Hyun—say it fast, and you’ll hear "Shawn." Born in Ulsan, South Korea, I spent my early years in Korea until moving to Houston, Texas, with my family in 2003. Growing up in both Korea and the United States, I had the privilege of experiencing and being shaped by the best (and sometimes not-so-great) aspects of both cultures.
I discovered my passion for technology early. In 1999, at the age of seven, I got my first computer and was instantly hooked. It felt like a portal to endless creativity. I spent hours building websites with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and of course Dreamweaver, while squeezing in plenty of gaming on the side. I was that quintessential nerd, dreaming of inventing something meaningful through computers and design.
After a stint back in Korea for high school, I was driven to return to the U.S. to pursue my ambitions of creating and contributing something impactful. I chose to study Computer Science at UC Berkeley, which was the closest thing to UI/UX design, and somehow I ended up with a degree. (Ask me an algorithm question today and I will fail spectacularly.)
Through design, I want to make the world just a little better, one step at a time.
Today, I am a Senior Staff Product Designer at Discord, building the best place for people gather and hang out, chat, and game together. My design journey has taken me across companies at various stages, from leading design at the early-stage esports startup Blitz to shaping the best-in-class mobile messaging experience at Discord.
Beyond gaming and chat apps, lately I’ve been captivated by the transformative potential of AI to amplify creativity and efficiency. My epiphany moment came when I used Cursor to create the Hangul animation you saw when visiting this website. What once took me a week of looking up documentations and Stack Overflow now took just hours with tools like Cursor and Claude.
I also believe there's much change that needs to happen in healthcare. Having experienced Korea’s affordable, efficient, and accessible system, I’ve come to see the stark contrast in the challenges here. My partner, a primary care physician, often shares stories about the inefficiencies and outdated technologies plaguing the healthcare system. This is one of my “moonshot” aspirations—a space where I hope to explore and contribute to meaningful change one day.
I’m a designer.
I’m an interface designer with 10+ years of experience, whose superpower is transforming nascent ideas into compelling concepts with speed and precision. I bring design into reality through rapid prototyping, balancing intuition & data, and building extensible systems.
I’m a gamer.
I'm a "hardcore" gamer, sometimes staying up past 3am — playing games. In fact, I am a type of person that tries only a few games (maybe 1-2 a year?) but once I start, I get really deep into it. I'm also pretty competitive. I can't fall asleep after losing a game in League — I have to win at least one. (which is why I often stay up late, unfortunately).
I’m Shawn Park.
I love spending my free time with my wonderful wife, cooking new dishes, collecting and drinking artisan teas, playing board games, and traveling around the world. One of my mantras in life is to make the most of this one life. For me, that just means striving for excellence while also pausing to savor life’s little joys.
