Bonjour, je suis Victoria! I'm a Product Designer building at the intersection of games and behavior.
I'm a Product Designer pursuing my Master's in Information Management and Systems (HCI and UX) at UC Berkeley. My work lives at the intersection of cognitive science, playful design, and real human need.
At Beta Hat, I run player research for studios including Xbox, Riot, EA, and Blizzard, spanning playtests, surveys, IDIs, and executive readouts. Before that, I led design on Beaba, a gamified treatment companion for pediatric leukemia patients, now at 5,000+ downloads.
I believe the best design leaves people with clarity and confidence, and of course, happiness.
I designed an interactive, story-based tool that helps young leukemia patients and their families navigate complex treatment plans, transforming a dense clinical document into something a 7-year-old can understand and even look forward to.
When understanding cancer treatment protocols is already overwhelming for adult families, it is only exacerbated for the children who are the patients. Kids going through ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) face a 24 to 36 week protocol packed with procedures, medications, hospital days, and confusing terminology they have no framework to process.
Beaba asked us to transform the current paper experience through gentle gamification, so that it feels cleaner, gentler, and more approachable for both children and their caregivers.
I spearheaded the design of a storybook-style experience that transforms treatment steps into snackable episodes. Mixed together with a medication tracker and a progression map, the app helps children understand their past, present, and future of where they are in their treatment journey.
The original AIEOP-BFM ALL 2017 protocol, overwhelming even for clinical staff
A parent hand-crafted this board game to help her child understand the treatment plan
One mother shared that she had turned the protocol into a homemade board game so that her child could better understand it. While there still existed an overload of information, this revealed a real opportunity for playful design.
Children process medical information differently, and often, much more emotionally.
How might we adapt that board game into something emotionally and cognitively digestible for children?
The earlier version showed promise, but needed refined alignment to how children absorb difficult information: clearer logic, friendlier tone, and a simpler structure.
Due to ethical concerns of having young leukemia patients as participants, we thought outside the box.
I then conducted follow-up research to replicate our findings for reliability, as well as to add meaningful context.
Children feel most at ease and remember best when information is conveyed through a narrative with bright visuals.
And so we began acting on the insights.
We began with rough sketches to map the core interaction model. The key tension: how do you respect clinical accuracy while making it feel like a storybook?
The onboarding quiz customizes the story to each child's unique protocol. The episodes map helps children gauge their progress. The interactive visual novel is synced to the child's protocol day by day.
We took the sketches and transformed the digitized treatment plan altogether.
The final app brings together four systems: a chapters map that unlocks in sync with the child's real treatment schedule; a day-synced visual novel; a medication tracker woven into daily flow; and a growing dictionary that teaches medical terms through play.
Each episode unlocks only when it matches the child's real-life treatment stage, keeping the experience focused and timely.
Children tap characters to unlock hidden stickers, turning stressful content into moments of playful discovery.
Logging is woven into daily flow, helping children build consistency without added stress or extra tools.
New medical terms discovered in the story are added to a personal dictionary, making the unfamiliar feel familiar.
We took the sketches and transformed the digitized treatment plan altogether, shipping to App Store and Google Play.
The content unlock system, modeled on game-progression mechanics, was noted by pediatric oncologists as a meaningful innovation in how children engage with their own treatment.
Top-rated freelance illustrator with 50+ clients in the gaming and streaming community. Character art, key art, and VTuber assets.
Open to product design roles, research collaborations, and freelance illustration. Based in San Francisco.