Xue Hua

No, really. What are UX Engineers?

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Who's this for?

Audience UX Engineers, Leaders & Practitioners in UX, anyone hiring UXEs

Assumption

You’re a UXE who’s not clear what your role is or you’re a decision maker trying to maximize your UX Engineers. Also, you understand I am biased and have an agenda.

Objective

To question how the industry defines UX Engineering and what is lost when the role is mis-scoped. A bit of a rant.

”Wait, so are you in Design or Engineering?”

There is a peculiar ritual that happens whenever someone introduces themselves as a UX Engineer (UXE).

The first response is usually curiosity.

“So… you’re a frontend engineer?” 🤔

The second response is some version of fathoming.

“Oh, like a designer who codes?” 🤠

None of these questions have a universally accepted answer.

That’s the problem I’m noodling on today.

What is a UXE?

UX Engineering is one of those disciplines where the title, interview process, and success metrics often disagree with one another. Two companies can post identical “UX Engineer” roles and mean entirely different jobs.

There’s an old parable about blind men describing an elephant. One feels the trunk and says it’s a snake. Another touches the leg and insists it’s a tree. UX Engineering inspires similar debates. Depending on the company, a UXE might focus on frontend, design systems, or integration. Each view captures something true, but only part of the picture.

What is a UXE? Everyone has a different perspective.

This ambiguity has consequences.

Questions like “Are you code leaning or design leaning?” assume UX Engineering exists somewhere on a spectrum between two established roles when it doesn’t.

A UX Engineer is a steward of the goobly-woobly between design and code.

When organizations don’t understand UX Engineering, they shape the role around whatever problem hurts most right now.

One company needs design QA. Another needs overflow frontend capacity. A third needs someone to maintain the component library.

All useful work. None sufficient.

UX Engineering is a distinct discipline.

It exists at the intersection of design systems, frontend platform, and product development.

Treating it as a lesser version of adjacent roles distorts the field and leaves significant organizational value on the table.

UX Engineers are not “designers who learned React”.

UX Engineering emerged because modern product development created problems that neither traditional design nor frontend engineering fully owned.

Those seams are where products succeed or fail.

And as products become more complex, those seams become critical.

UX Engineers influence:

system evolution
adoption strategy
interaction standards
tooling
accessibility practices
prototyping workflows
product architecture decisions

Yes, maintenance is part of the work. It should not define the work.

Those are my strong opinions, I’ll post case-studies soon. Or you should bug me about it.

Analog Hour

Fri, 19 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

I can’t stop consulting AI for everything

AI changed my life.

Lately, I’ve noticed how instinctively I reach for it instead of thinking through something on my own.

AI is a tool, not a crutch.

I say this a lot in my classrooms, so this is me committing to it since I’m noticing I lean on it a little too much.

Some signs of my over-reliance:

Asking AI before I sit with a question for even a second
Getting agitated when I don’t get an immediate response or answer
Affecting how I’m enjoying activities sans-AI

Analog Hour !

One hour a week with no AI, where I sit with my thoughts or work on an activity.

I chose ‘Analog’ as my theme to remind and encourage me to pursue things that aren’t digitally tied to modern devices. It’s not a hard rule for now, just something to be mindful of.

Ideas for my analog behavior:

Moving
Cleaning
Meditating
Drawing
Reading
Writing

The goal is to struggle a little.

There’s probably a scientific phenomena for it. I’m choosing not to look it up.

I thought about naming this practice ‘struggle hour’ but that sounded a little negative.

AI isn’t bad or negative, I saw some signals I wasn’t coping well or having a healthy relationship with this tech.

In response, I treat my Analog Hour practice as self-regulation.

Thinking one hour during the weekend, perhaps Saturday. One hour, if I get stuck, I’ll stay stuck. Analog Hour is leaving a little room for boredom, uncertainty, and allowing ideas to take their time to arrive.

We’ll see what comes from it.

Day 1

19 June 2026, Friday

Almost made it to an hour, I set a timer for an hour. I drew.

So much for no digital screens lol.

I call this piece: ‘Trust the Process’

The sketch, which is generous term for it, is how I far I got during my Analog Hour.

Below is the final result.

She's one of the DnD NPC characters of the campaign I'm playing.

I didn’t make it a full hour, I got really antsy and kept checking my phone, but I got really close. Around 53 minutes.

Day 2

26 June 2026, Friday

I fell asleep lol. But I did some writing. I just dumped all my thoughts onto my notepad and gave permission to myself not to action or react to it. Just observing, letting go and creating space in my brain.

This was cozy, there were birds chirping outside and I was gazing at a tree

I made it the full hour, but I noticed I kept trying to record every single thought. I started writing slower and just enjoyed the practice of penmanship.

I love Pilot G2 pens, it’s been with me through every stage of life.

Day 3

3 July 2026, Friday

This week, I decided to read.

I’ve been working through the topic of Nutrition. The last few weeks, I’ve been pursuing a better understanding on the fundamentals of nutrition.

Human Nutrition by the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa is the textbook I’m using. I believe it started as an OpenStax textbook. If you’re familiar with Open Source software, it’s similar but books. Therefore, I read this for free.

Scrolling to read a text book for Analog Hour seems ironic.

I started feeling sleepy after a few subchapters but didn’t really want to take a nap again like last week.

I switched gears towards some light stretching on my wrists and hamstrings (I have an old injury that my body is guarding against).

Interestingly, I learned that when I set my hour timer on my phone, it didn’t bother me. But, when I did the same thing but was interacting with it when I was reading. I felt anxious because I saw the countdown. I’ll just use the alarm instead of timers moving forward.

What made this a funny day was after I had completed my Analog Hour. My internet went out, all day.

Xue's Tech Resume Fundamentals

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Who's this for?

Audience

High-school students, college students, early-career professionals, mid-career professionals (less than 10 years of relevant experience)
Anyone targeting US-based technical roles
Anyone pivoting into the tech industry
Anyone who has not received a call back despite submitting numerous applications

Assumption

Seeking technical roles, based in the US. Not getting past the resume stage

Objective To break down how to effectively craft a tech resume.

Introduction

Hello, hello! Welcome to ✨ Xue’s Tech Resume Fundamentals ✨

First things first, there is no one-size-fits-all resume. We all have different experiences. Conveying value is an iterative process. Expect to get conflicting feedback from different sources.

Recruiters and other decision makers are people and different people have different preferences!

Philosophy

Most folks struggle with resume writing because they fail to answer core questions before they start:

Why you? Why should I hire you? What’s your evidence?

Your resume should highlight why you specifically are the best fit for this specific role.

It should not read like a job ad but showcase your technical ability, competency and how you could potentially contribute to the company or team’s bottom line (e.g. ⬆️ profit, ⬇️ costs, and how to work together without losing our minds, etc.).

It should express,

“Yes, I am competent in this role and here is my evidence”

It should shout

“Yes! I am a great person to work with!”

Your resume needs to convince a recruiter/hiring manager that you can do the job and that they should pick you over everyone else.

Why should you listen to me / follow this guide?

You don’t have to.
I have been on hiring teams for interns, new-grads, and entry-level to junior engineers.
I have reviewed 300+ tech resumes since 2019. Majority get improved callback rates.
I regularly have meetings and conversations with experienced recruiters in tech to determine the most effective strategies and if my advice is industry relevant.

Note

I did not have a target profile and pivoted into the industry. Read more about my story here.

⛰️The Basics

Build in Microsoft Word or Google Docs, export as PDF
Use a sans-serif font for easy readability (e.g. Arial, Verdana)
Keep it one page
1-column format
Please, no graphics, no charts, no logos and no unnecessary information

💬 The Building Blocks

Header and Contact Information

Full name - Phone number - Email - LinkedIn - Your target role/position - Address (City, State): Don’t put your full address. City, State. - Website, GitHub, etc.

Experience or Relevant Experience

Just list the roles for now (we will flesh this out in Content and Descriptions)
- Include company name, position, and dates (month and year)

If you’re running out of space, trim your experience down to experience relevant to the target role. Label this section as ‘Relevant Experience’.

Feel free to include location, I never did, and it’s never been an issue for me.

Education

Include school name and degree you attained or are pursuing

For internships/new grad,

Include graduation dates or expected graduation dates
Include GPA if its above 3.5, I personally never included it lol

For bootcamp grads,

Include your bootcamp and how long the bootcamp took
You can include relevant coursework if you want and have space, but I would rather use the space to convey impact in my experience/projects
Relevant certifications/licenses also go here

Skills

Split your skills to ‘Languages’ and ‘Technologies’, ‘Other’ is optional
Please try to keep it to relevant technical skills you’re confident in

Do not use up too much space in this column. Your Experience and Projects section will showcase your proficiency in these skills

Projects (optional)

List technical projects, go into depth if it features relevant experience and technologies.

Objective Summary (highly recommended)

This is a really controversial section. I know a lot of people say not to do it because it doesn’t add value. The solution to that is to add value 🙃

Do this by answering:

Why are you specifically the best fit for this specific role?

Jump to Content & Description: Objective Summary to learn how to write an effective Objective summary TODO

Other Sections

Achievements, Leadership Experience, and Extra-Curricular are nice to have but are the lowest priority unless the job posting specifically ties into it
Interests sections are… unnecessary in my opinion and can lead to bias (good or bad, we don’t want it!)

Caution

Do not include interests/hobbies, you can talk about in the interview. But I have never hired someone because they love fishing. And, I LOVE fishing 🎣

👑Content & Description (most important part !!)

Again, do not write a Job Ad Description. Recruiters know that software engineers develop programs and code.
TAILOR YOUR DESCRIPTIONS TO THE JOB POSTING
Use past-tense and strong action verbs

Framework - Content & Description

Show your impact

How did you measure/prove them?

Use metrics when possible

Please don’t just come up with random numbers

Passively demonstrate soft skills

At least one example of Leadership and Teamwork skills

Always be asking yourself

“Why would a recruiter care about this?” Know your audience.

You will get rejected if you don’t express how you meet minimum requirements.

Most recruiters are trained in discerning if you are a fit.

Recruiters care about:

Specific, relevant technologies and skills (this is #1)
Ability to work independently and in teams
Collaboration skills
Problem-solving skills
Measurable results and impact

Description Examples

🚩 Weaker	✅ Stronger
Developed a full stack application.	Independently developed a full stack application that predicted solar eclipses using Node, JavaScript, and React. Utilized Agile Development cycle methodologies to stay organized and on-task.
Helped increase efficiency of application and overall productivity.	Collaborated with stakeholders directly to increase efficiency of application by 20%+ over a 3-month period. This contributed to overall productivity in the office by reducing wait times from 10 minutes to 2 minutes.
Applied problem-solving skills for senior robotics project which received a grade of ‘A’.	Implemented and programmed solution to solve “line-tracking” problem which blocked robot from detecting lines with the use of IR sensors and Regression Algorithms in C. Outperformed class average and received the highest grade available.
Managed and facilitated daily activities of fast-food restaurant with 20 employees. Responsible for making sure orders were delivered on time and receiving a 4/5 satisfaction rating. Experienced in POSTech, Cashier+, Kronos.	Managed 20+ employees daily, ensuring that orders were delivered according to company deadlines. Improved delivery rates by designing and implementing a “1-2-3” productivity system. Corporate implemented this system as a protocol across all restaurant chains.

Action verbs for your resume (source: Harvard)

☁️ Objective Summary Content

Alright!! You’ve made it!! I am such an advocate for this section. Sadly, if you don’t have space, this is the first one to cut ✂️

Framework - Objective Summary

Here’s my formula:

Why you should pick me =

    Why I’m different (hook)
        +
    What I’m good at
        +
    Why we’re a good fit

Please, please, please don’t just repeat information in your resume

Don’t be generic and boring. Here’s the perfect place to express your creativity and individuality!

Examples - Objective Summary

Highly-motivated software engineer with 3+ years of experience building scalable solutions in JavaScript and React. Strong advocate for effective system design and tech-debt reduction. Seeking a company that builds large-scale applications that directly impact customer satisfaction.
Aspiring Product Manager with proven record of contributing to open-source front-end projects. Proficient in Agile Development and thrives in fast-paced settings. Pivoted from teaching English and posses transferable skills such as people management. Passionate about delivering high-quality products to clients and seeking to join a team that values creativity and independent input.
Results-driven Computer Engineering student with strong leadership skills. I drive impact through my involvement with Women Who Code by providing coding lessons to high-school students. Personable team member and effective collaboration skills as proven in completed projects. Seeking first internship with company that also focuses on impact through programming applications in the Environmental industry.

️🪜 The Order of Your Resume

So, you have a few options, but basically you want to put your most relevant towards the top.

Early Career / Mid-Career

If you have strong relevant experience,

Header → Objective Summary → Relevant Experience → Projects → Skills → Education

Header → Objective Summary → Skills → Relevant Experience → Projects → Education

If you’re pivoting from a non-tech industry or role,

Header → Objective Summary → Skills → Projects → Experience → Education

Internships / New Grad

Header → Objective Summary → Education → Relevant Experience → Projects → Skills
Header → Objective Summary → Education → Skills → Projects → Experience
Header → Objective Summary → Education → Projects → Skills → Experience

⭐ Tips and Notes

I like to use the Narrow Margins to give me more space (0.5 inches)
Pops of color are nice
Use AI to proofread, never to generate facts you don’t have
Make sure everything is consistent, devil is in the details! (e.g. periods on every sentence if you have them)
Again, this is an iterative process. Don’t be afraid of feedback and several revisions

Next Steps

Good luck, now go out there and crush it :)

Breaking Into Big Tech

Tue, 09 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Who's this for?

Audience Students, New Grads, Pivoters

Assumption You ask because you’re hoping to find some clues on how I did it.

Objective

To share the events and actions that aligned which led to me ‘Breaking into Big Tech’. To encourage and inspire you that your path is yours.

Introduction & Objective

I was great at following directions, terrible at finding direction.

Growing up with access to internet tutorials and walk-throughs, I believed that success was something I could unlock if only someone gave me step-by-step instructions for my goals.

The schooling system I grew up in rewarded rote memorization and regurgitation more than creativity or critical thinking. I would snatch any practice test (complete with correct answers) I could get my hands on and beg anyone and everyone for ‘tips’ rather than properly learning the material. And it worked, for a while.

Looking back, I wasn’t sure what to do if I didn’t know someone who’s done it before.

I was frustrated by paywalls, gatekeepers, and folks who refused to break down exactly what they did and instead, gave me these overly generalized advice that never went beyond the surface level (e.g. “just network/tailor your resume/grind LeetCode/etc.”)

But then I met folks who seemingly did everything right, but still weren’t where they expected to be.

I don’t say this to discourage you. Inferring and applying ideas to your personal situation is a skill. A skill I want you to practice and perfect. So, keep that in mind if you decide to read on.

Anyway, you’re probably here because the question you’re asking me is:

How did you get into Big Tech? Like Microsoft and Tesla?

And sometimes, the tone of this comes across to me as:

How did someone like you, a non-target applicant, pull it off? What’s the secret? Tell me.

My LinkedIn post about getting hired at Tesla got really popular

When I moved to Seattle for Tesla, I made this post because I wanted to give back to the community when they shared advice. It was so popular, my friends got notifications lol. This reinforced that people only cared about me if I was ‘somebody’. 🙁

Took me a long time to recover. But I think sharing some of the event and actions that aligned for me will help you align yours. 🌻

Objective

The purpose of this document is to:

Answer questions of “how did you get into Big Tech/Microsoft/Tesla/etc.”
Share what worked for me and under what circumstances
Hopefully, convince you that everyone’s story is different. This is not a roadmap. You do not need to emulate this 100%. Rather, understand that these are just pieces of my story. I hope these pieces spark ideas for yours.

Career Timeline

Date	Milestone
2017 Fall	Enrolled into Grand Valley State University in Michigan
2019 Summer	Started co-op at Herman Miller as a Controls Engineer
2021 Fall	Graduated with Bachelor’s of Engineering in Electrical Engineering ¹
2021 August	Started with a new team at Herman Miller as a Software Engineer
2022 November	Started at Tesla as a Software Engineer
2024 April	Started at Microsoft as a Software Engineer

My “Non-Target” Profile

Demographics

International student
Woman
Asian
First-generation graduate
Non-target university
Non-Computer Science degree

Psychographics

Low-confidence and a lot of self-doubt
Lack of immediate access and resources
Didn’t know what I didn’t know

Education

In 2021, I graduated from Grand Valley State University with a Bachelor’s of Engineering in Electrical Engineering.

Undergrad was hard, like, really hard

🚀 Steps I took that helped:

Learning how to learn
Pre-work before class
Staying on top of assignments
Going to office hours
Getting diagnosed and medicated for my ADHD and other mental health challenges
Understand my academic major requirements

🌱 What I would do differently today:

Gotten ADA accommodations sooner
Joined Society of Women Engineers sooner
Prioritize staying on top of immigration paperwork and rules by working with the school’s DSO (such as updating addresses/taking reduced course load/etc.)
Worked on my confidence issues

Internship and Early Career

Between 2019 - 2021, I had a co-op with Herman Miller as a Controls Engineer.

In August 2021, I transitioned to a different team at Herman Miller as a Software Engineer.

My time at Herman Miller is when I taught myself software engineering because of projects I was assigned

🚀 Steps I took that helped:

Went to career fairs
Used the school’s career resources department
Got my resume reviewed
Did mock interviews
Showcased some of my web-dev abilities
Networked a little with colleagues as an intern

🌱 What I would do differently today:

Networked way more
Started my LinkedIn profile earlier
Documented my journey as an intern for visibility
Invested in meaningful mentorship sooner (doesn’t necessarily mean only financially, investing time and how I can help my mentors is what I mean too)

Breaking into Tech

Joining Tesla was a catalyst for me. I worked on the Digital Experience team. I really fell in love with React around this time.

Starting at Tesla, I had to uproot to Seattle but learned so much here!

🚀 Steps I took that helped:

Using Codecademy to learn React, JavaScript, Data Structures & Algorithms
Using YouTube and FreeCodeCamp to learn Python, PHP, and C#
Showcased my projects and portfolio
Regularly engaging and posting on LinkedIn
Had a Project Presentation ready to go
Being part of online communities focused on software engineering
Collaborating and rolling with the punches in a fast-paced environment
Focused on being a team player
Learned what business and stakeholders value

🌱 What I would do differently today:

Highlight my technical skills more
Started a Smile File earlier to document career achievements and contributions
Embraced my note-taking skills at work
Not put my self worth in my career title or company

Leveling Up in Big Tech

I later joined Microsoft.

I think this is about the time people started taking me seriously

🚀 Steps I took that helped:

Presentation of my skills as a senior engineer
Portfolio of high-impact projects
Communication skills
Working on my executive and leadership presence

🌱 What I would do differently today:

idk, this is where I am currently. So, idk yet lol.

Lessons

I developed clarity.
I practiced every day.
I leaned into communities.
I embraced gratitude.

Nonlinear Version

And this is the problem when I try to answer this question.

The above looks like a linear journey. It was not.

There were low times. Really low times.

I was depressed, a lot. I have attempted.

I was lonely.

I’ve been betrayed. And harmed.

My dad passed away.

My family was far away.

I kept making mistakes.

People hurt me. I hurt people.

I am a bundle of fears of anxiety,

held together by prayer.

Your path will probably be nonlinear too. Onwards anyway.

Onwards anyway 💫

Next Steps

Hope this answers some of your questions! ☺️

Footnotes

Note this is not Computer Science or Software Engineering ↩