"Product Innovator"

Yidan Xu

I'm a London-based product designer and innovation researcher, with a double master's in Innovation Design Engineering from Imperial College London and the Royal College of Art (2025). My work operates at the intersection of people, science, and design.

Her individual work has received international recognition, including being named a UK James Dyson Award runner-up and global top 20, and being featured by Dezeen and Reuters. My current venture, Urify, is being incubated at Imperial College London's We Innovate programme. I lead its cross-functional medical and engineering team as solo founder, and have presented it to the NHS and at TEDx.

Yidan Xu speaking on stage at TEDx, wearing a headset microphone and holding a presentation clicker, with the TEDx New Channel Qingdao logo on the screen behind her
Presenting at TEDx, July 2026

I'm always open to cross-disciplinary collaborations and chances to push my work further. I've also contributed to projects at Huawei and Xiaomi Auto, applying a human-centred design approach to complex product systems.

Timeline

Wide-ranging exploration, one design sensibility.

Rather than staying in one lane, I've deliberately moved across industries: health tech, dating, automotive, hardware, branding. Each one gave me a different way of thinking, and I carry it into the next.

My résumé doesn't read like a ladder. It reads like a network. Six industries in three years isn't job-hopping; it's how my generation actually works: pick up an unfamiliar domain fast, treat AI as native to the process rather than bolted onto it, and carry what each stop taught into the next one.
04 2026 — Now
01 2026 — Now
11 2025 — 04 2026
05 2025 — 11 2025
07 2024 — 09 2024
06 2024 — 10 2024
Earlier
Earlier
Earlier
Earlier

Press

Interviews and coverage of my work. Hover a row to open it.

Education

Two masters, one throughline.

09 2023 — 11 2025
09 2023 — 08 2025
09 2022 — 06 2023
09 2018 — 06 2022
Awards

Recognition.

2022
  • China National Scholarship
  • American Embassy Young Artist Event
2023
  • Tsinghua University Future Laboratory
  • Chinese Master's Students First Class Scholarship
2025
  • UK National Runner-Up, James Dyson Award
  • UK Global Top 20, James Dyson Award
  • DIA Award
  • Analytics for Society Award — 2nd Prize
2026
  • Imperial We Innovate — Semi-Finalist
  • Idea to Impact — 2nd Prize
Exhibitions

On show.

2022
  • Beihong Xu Academy Art Exhibition
2024
  • London Design Festival
  • Beijing Exhibition
  • London Exhibition Road Design Week
2025
  • London Design Festival
Contact

Let's work together.

Open to product design roles and collaborations in London and remotely.