Generalist product designer, driven by curiosity and agency. I enjoy building products that make users love their everyday work a little more. Currently learning to design in code.

Viya Q.

I’m a Product Designer building high-trust systems at scale, with 5+ years designing consumer fintech and on-chain products. My approach to design is what I call “state-centered design”

It started with crayons, markers, chalk, and a chalkboard or a wall, or whatever I could get my hands on. At age 5, I was drawing my first “ideas.” I didn’t have the language for it back then, but even then I was building systems for play, for people, for possibility. I’m from Prince Edward County, Virginia the same town that produced Dr. James West, is most famous for inventing the microphone that’s inside almost every phone, laptop, and hearing aid today. Growing up where he did, I learned early about invention.

My grandparents were locked out of school for six years during Prince Edward County’s massive resistance to Brown v. Board of Education. My father escaped those barriers to become an 11-time published author, only to face new ones: prohibitive publishing fees and lost reader connections. I watched him navigate systems designed to keep people out. That became my life’s work: building systems designed to let people in.

My family moved every four years from Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and then North Carolina. By sixteen, I’d learned to read rooms and celebrate diversity. My first technical spark came in 2009, customizing MySpace using HTML and CSS and hacking the school proxy to play games during computer class.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

I studied Human Sciences at NC Central, then earned my MFA in Fashion at Academy of Art University. Human Sciences taught me psychology, economics and consumerism. Fashion school taught me design is construction, storytelling, and brand identity.

At Chanel, I learned Coco Chanel’s principles: simplicity as sophistication, invisible luxury, and the power of subtraction. The best systems were often felt but never seen.

At Ally, I led Spending Buckets from 0→1, achieving 20% engagement growth and winning the ICC Innovation Award in 2022. I designed the moment anxiety dissolves when users see “I have $247 left for fun this week” before conscious thought activates.

Now I’m building Knovel Protocol, a zero-fee publishing platform where authors self-publish in 5 seconds.

Most teams say “user-centered.” I say “state-centered.” You’re designing how people feel before they think. The highest design level isn’t usability, it’s care.

When I look back and connect the dots I’ve always been building systems for play, for people, for possibility.

Tyrice HICKS

Real leadership comes from knowing when it's time to make room and opportunities for others.

Founder, Product @ Knovel Protocol • Reimagining Book Publishing with Blockchain • Featured on BeInCrypto

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