Michael Carychao

Senior Product Designer · Creative Tools & AI

Berkeley, Californiamichael.carychao@gmail.com

michaelcarychao.comlinkedin.com/in/michaelcarychao

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Profile

Product designer who prototypes in code, with a decade of designing and shipping creative tools, games, and AI experiences for web, mobile, and VR, including nearly four years with Will Wright’s team and a generative-AI project with Netflix. Invents new interaction models and iterates with real users until each one clicks.

Experience

Viridian Reveries | Founder, Product Designer & Creative Technologist

Mar 2017 – Present

Studio doing product design, app development, and strategy for clients, alongside original work.

  • DreamLounge: Designed and built a web experience for exploring imaginary worlds. A scrollable feed pairs Midjourney animation with music.
  • Malt: Invented a turn-taking model for human-AI writing and built it into an open-source, cross-platform writing tool. Author and model alternate one paragraph at a time, so the writer stays in the lead.
  • Two Seater: Design and build games for shared play across phones, no internet needed; refine them through TestFlight playtests and make short films that show how the cross-screen play works.
  • Created the nature-world animation for Karen X. Cheng’s Alternate Worlds (1M+ views). Since 2022, published hundreds of AI image and animation experiments for 37K followers on Instagram, TikTok, and X.
  • VFX credits include Marvel’s Secret Invasion. Collaborated with Method Studios and Shepherd Studios, refining shots through rounds of director feedback.
  • Prototype in code with Claude Code and Codex, and build local ComfyUI, LLM, and GPU pipelines.
  • Smart Swords: Co-created and shipped 100 app-connected swords to Kickstarter backers, plus a companion fantasy game; designed the electronics, PCB, and iOS experience.

Greater Studios | Co-Founder, Game Designer & Developer

Jan 2017 – Aug 2023

  • Kitty Nigiri: Co-created a science-fiction VR puzzle game with Jacob Dominicus and took it from concept to Steam Early Access release.
  • Designed gameplay and programmed VR interactions in Unity, connecting physical player actions to laser puzzles, flying sushi, and a story world of space cats.

Gallium Studios (Will Wright) | UX Prototype Designer & Unity Developer

May 2018 – Mar 2022

  • Proxi: Designed and built playable UX prototypes for iOS and Apple TV with Will Wright’s team, reworking them through successive rounds of user feedback.
  • Memory Maker: Prototyped Proxi’s tool for composing personal memories as 3D scenes; built exploratory scenes and proposed features for more expressive scene creation.
  • Worked with Netflix on a generative-AI story-game prototype, exploring playable AI storytelling.

Earlier experience

  • Tippett Studio | Feature-film rendering
  • NASA Ames | Data Visualization & UI Intern: lunar-lander data interface
  • photo-eye | Web Developer: e-commerce, auctions, and artist portfolios

Education

  • B.S., Computer Engineering, San Francisco State University, 2008. Additional study in Film and Comics at Hampshire College and Physics and Math at the University of Chicago.

Skills & tools

Design: Product, interaction, and visual design; UI/UX; prototyping; game design; visual storytelling; playtesting

Code: Unity, C#, TypeScript, JavaScript, HTML/CSS, iOS development

AI: Midjourney, Claude Code, Codex, ComfyUI, Runway, local LLM and GPU workflows

Hardware: PCB design, 3D printing, laser cutting