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Tan Hsiao
Staff Product Designer at MongoDB Atlas
Professional Background
Tan Hsiao is a highly accomplished professional in the field of User Experience (UX) design, bringing over eight years of expertise to the table. He has a remarkable talent for transforming complex problems into intuitive solutions, showcasing his ability to merge creativity with a systematic approach. Throughout his career, Tan has focused on crafting exceptional product experiences that cater to the needs of users, ensuring that designs are not only functional but also delightful and accessible.
Tan's career has been anchored at MongoDB, where he has held multiple positions, including Staff Product Designer, Senior Product Designer, and Product Designer within the MongoDB Atlas team. His extensive work at MongoDB has allowed him to hone his skills in user research, interaction design, information architecture, and the creation of user flows, sitemaps, wireframes, and prototypes. Tan's knack for concept exploration and content audits further complements his user-centric design philosophy.
Prior to his impactful tenure at MongoDB, Tan enriched his professional experience as a Senior UX Designer at Prudential Financial and Athlon, where he contributed significantly to user experience projects that enhanced usability and engagement. His journey began in the tech industry as a Software Engineer at Quanta Computer Inc. and has evolved into a dedicated focus on User Experience design, where he continues to thrive.
Education and Achievements
Tan's academic background is a testament to his commitment to excellence in design and technology. He earned a Master of Arts (MA) in Game and Interactive Media Design from Savannah College of Art and Design, a program renowned for fostering innovative thinking and design principles tailored for interactive experiences. His earlier education includes a Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) in Computer Software Engineering from Tamkang University, equipping him with a solid foundation in software development and engineering principles. Tan also expanded his knowledge in Computer Science at the University of Maryland College Park, further solidifying his technical skills.
These educational experiences have provided Tan with a unique perspective on the intersection of technology and user experience design. He utilizes this background to create designs that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also functionally sound, taking into account the technical feasibility of his projects.
Achievements
Tan Hsiao's career is marked by a series of notable achievements that reflect his expertise and dedication to the field of User Experience design. His contributions at MongoDB, particularly in the development of the MongoDB Atlas product, have garnered recognition and appreciation from users and stakeholders alike. Tan’s approach to UX design emphasizes the integration of user feedback, which has led to significant improvements in product usability and customer satisfaction.
As a skilled UX designer, Tan excels in conducting rigorous user research and employing data-driven methodologies to inform his design decisions. His ability to advocate for user needs while navigating complex project requirements is a hallmark of his design philosophy. Tan is well-versed in creating wireframes, prototypes, and interaction models that guide development teams in building user-friendly products that resonate with target audiences.
In addition to his work at MongoDB, Tan has also made substantial contributions to the projects he led or contributed to at Prudential Financial and Athlon. His expertise in crafting seamless user experiences has been instrumental in enhancing the digital products offered by these organizations, resulting in improved user engagement and satisfaction.
Beyond his professional achievements, Tan is passionate about mentoring the next generation of designers. He actively shares his knowledge and insights with aspiring UX professionals, engaging in discussions about best practices and the evolving landscape of user experience design.
In conclusion, Tan Hsiao is a talented and dedicated UX designer with a proven track record of delivering accessible and user-centric designs. His robust educational background, extensive experience at reputable organizations, and commitment to excellence in user experience make him a significant contributor to the design community. With his comprehensive skill set, Tan continues to be a driving force in creating memorable and effective product experiences that delight users around the globe.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Clay is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Clay as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Clay offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.