Zhen Lin Lau

Nihao, I’m Zhen Lin — or Zac. I’m a Malaysian designer based in Melbourne, recently graduated from Swinburne University of Technology with a major in UX Interaction Design and a minor in Motion Design. My journey into UX began with the ambition to make a lasting impact on people’s lives. I believe that through empathy, attention to detail, and understanding real human challenges, design can truly make a difference. Beyond UX, I’m also drawn to web and interface design, 3D motion, e-commerce, social media campaigns, web development, and SEO, connecting creativity and strategy to craft meaningful digital experiences.

Mealink

Mealink is a connected system consisting of a smart fridge, automated composter, and community network that work together to promote mindful consumption and reduce food waste. Developed through user research, prototyping, and testing with older adults, the system combines interaction design and emotional engagement to make everyday food management simpler, safer, and more empowering.

Save UDLE

Save UDLE is a digital storytelling and crowdfunding campaign created to help a local café recover from financial hardship. The campaign combined emotional storytelling, web design, and social media strategy to engage the community and drive real action. Through a dedicated landing page, interactive donation system, and content series highlighting UDLE’s story, the project successfully strengthened brand awareness and community support.

Gem Within

Gem Within is a conceptual gamified app designed to help university students improve wellbeing through mindfulness and exploration. By combining geolocation, storytelling, and gentle interaction design, the app turns real-world exploration into a journey of self-discovery. Developed through research, prototyping, and user testing, it encourages emotional resilience and connection in an engaging, accessible way.

From Basque With Love

From Basque With Love is a Melbourne-based artisanal food company that I helped redesign its eCommerce website to improve usability, accessibility, and SEO. The new design enhanced the brand’s storytelling through refined UI, responsive layouts, and optimised user flow — resulting in smoother checkout experiences and stronger digital presence.

Acknowledgement of Country

The School of Design and Architecture respectfully acknowledges the Wurundjeri peoples of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners and knowledge-keepers of the lands, waters and sky that surround us, where we work, learn, create, communicate and make place. We recognise that sovereignty has never been ceded and this always was and will always be Wurundjeri Country. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who continue to make a better world through design.

We extend our acknowledgement to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, students, alumni, real-life clients, and knowledge keepers, who have contributed to our own education diversity and growth. We will continue to ensure that staff and students respectfully honour ancestral connection to Country and Place in everything that they do.

We are dedicated to the notion of design to make a better world and we acknowledge that making tools, shaping place, sharing stories, making meaning, wayfinding and collaborating have long been and continue to be both central and integral to First Peoples' cultures. We recognize that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ cultural contributions have continued relevance to design practice and commit to: reconciling ancestries of design and contemporary practice as well as pursuing culturally and professionally appropriate ways to engage with a diverse population of colleagues, industries and clients. In a time of treaty-making and voice we understand that there are overlaps between caring for Country and the sustainable production of goods, services, experiences, products and buildings.

Guided by the principles of respect, reconciliation, and reciprocity we undertake to indigenising and decolonising design practice by dismantling colonial structures and challenging biases that have marginalised Indigenous voices and design.

As students of SoDA you will be given opportunities to both engage with and educate yourself in Indigenous creative practices and cultural protocols through a lens of inclusivity, diversity, respect, mutual understanding, inter-cultural dialogue in all aspects of design practice. Indigenous people have been telling stories, making tools, and connecting to Country through visual media, placemaking and place marking for more than 60,000 years and these practices are part of an ongoing, evolving and live tradition.