Rin Chu · Essays & frameworks
Writing.
I’m a product designer, writer, and independent builder. This is where I explore the reasoning behind design decisions, who gets to make them, and what it means to own the work.
Questions I’m working through.
Frameworks & working theoriesChain of Authorship
Keep the reasoning behind a design decision recoverable.
Why did we make this design decision—and what would someone need to question it or carry it forward? Chain of Authorship is my developing framework for keeping the evidence, interpretations, and choices behind design work connected.
Chain of Ownership
Who gets to change a decision—and on what basis?
As a product grows, the knowledge needed to shape it becomes distributed. Chain of Ownership asks how decision authority should relate to relevant expertise, responsibility, and consequence.
Where the thinking began.
Essays from the workWhy I Chose The Name Provenance of Design
“Make it look pretty.” How a supposed redesign became a full design effort—and shaped the name of my practice.
67, 69, 420, 666, 11:11, 07734 and the Psychology of Noticing Things
A running joke about 67 became a reflection on attention, symbolic systems, and the meaning we make from ordinary things.
Managerial Authority is NOT Knowledge Authority
Every organization runs on two different kinds of authority, and too often it can’t tell them apart.
Taking care of myself is how I learned what loving myself meant
A skincare gift helped me build a routine I enjoyed. What it taught me about self-love, following through, and designing things people want to use.
The Project That Was Supposed to Be Made Pretty
How a cosmetic design assignment became the starting point for Chain of Authorship.
What a Family Business Taught Me About Design
The early days of Ballistic: learning Wix, designing a logo and website, and carrying the brand without the authority to shape the business.
The ideas continue in the work.
Explore my projects