Harvard-MIT Side Hacks
0→1 Strategy across AI Productivity, Hardware, and Consumer Brands
Overview
During my master's, I was an embedded designer to 5 founding teams across edtech, climate, and productivity. Early ventures need to reach product-market fit fast. With no design foundation and a lot of ambiguity, the job shifted constantly. Vision one week, prototyping next, GTM storytelling after that.
I led 2 patent-pending designs, and served as PM for a 10-person team inventing a CPG brand, where I ran the trend research, built the brand system, and modeled a $180M retail path we pitched to executives at IDEO, Coca-Cola, Samsung, and General Mills.
Year
2024 - 2026
Role
Product Manager & Designer
Team
5 founders, 25 Design, 10 Dev
Impact
Built 5+ MVPs and pitch decks; 2 patent-pending designs; 4+ international awards
Year
2024 - 2026
Role
Product Manager & Designer
Team
5 founders, 25 Design, 10 Dev
Impact
Built 5+ MVPs and pitch decks; 2 patent-pending designs; 4+ international awards
Note: All opinions are my own and do not reflect the company or its partners. This is my POV on work I contributed to and I’ve recreated visuals for confidentiality.
Note: All opinions are my own and do not reflect the company or its partners. This is my POV on work I contributed to and I’ve recreated visuals for confidentiality.
0→1 Strategy across AI Productivity, Hardware, and Consumer Brands
Note: All opinions are my own and do not reflect the company or its partners. This is my POV on work I contributed to and I’ve recreated visuals for confidentiality.
Harvard-MIT Side Hacks
0→1 Strategy across AI Productivity, Hardware, and Consumer Brands
Overview
During my master's, I was an embedded designer to 5 founding teams across edtech, climate, and productivity. Early ventures need to reach product-market fit fast. With no design foundation and a lot of ambiguity, the job shifted constantly. Vision one week, prototyping next, GTM storytelling after that.
I led 2 patent-pending designs, and served as PM for a 10-person team inventing a CPG brand, where I ran the trend research, built the brand system, and modeled a $180M retail path we pitched to executives at IDEO, Coca-Cola, Samsung, and General Mills.
Year
2024 - 2026
Role
Product Manager & Designer
Team
5 founders, 25 Design, 10 Dev
Impact
Built 5+ MVPs and pitch decks; 2 patent-pending designs; 4+ international awards
Note: All opinions are my own and do not reflect the company or its partners. This is my POV on work I contributed to and I’ve recreated visuals for confidentiality.
Note: All opinions are my own and do not reflect the company or its partners. This is my POV on work I contributed to and I’ve recreated visuals for confidentiality.
01
PUZZLE AI
Infinite Canvas for Convergent Thinking
Puzzle AI is a thinking canvas that helps creative thinkers converge scattered fragments into clear direction. Instead of merely generating outputs, it supports reflective sense-making through a visual, puzzle-like interface. Guiding users from ambiguity to insight and proposing a new paradigm for human–AI collaboration centered on exploration and agency.
Puzzle AI is a thinking canvas that helps creative thinkers converge scattered fragments into clear direction. Instead of merely generating outputs, it supports reflective sense-making through a visual, puzzle-like interface. Guiding users from ambiguity to insight and proposing a new paradigm for human–AI collaboration centered on exploration and agency.
Team: Sydney Nguyen, Yutong Wang, May Choy, Kida Huang, Connie Cheng
01
PUZZLE AI
Infinite Canvas for Convergent Thinking
Puzzle AI is a thinking canvas that helps creative thinkers converge scattered fragments into clear direction. Instead of merely generating outputs, it supports reflective sense-making through a visual, puzzle-like interface. Guiding users from ambiguity to insight and proposing a new paradigm for human–AI collaboration centered on exploration and agency.
02
PATCH
Extending Old Devices' Life with AI Learning
Over 5 billion devices sit idle globally, contributing to 50+ million tons of e-waste each year. Patch addresses this by extending device life through a modular, repair-first system that makes upcycling part of learning. Reconfigurable hardware reduces material use, while AI tutoring expands access. Patch builds technical skills while fostering a culture of curiosity.
Over 5 billion devices sit idle globally, contributing to 50+ million tons of e-waste each year. Patch addresses this by extending device life through a modular, repair-first system that makes upcycling part of learning. Reconfigurable hardware reduces material use, while AI tutoring expands access. Patch builds technical skills while fostering a culture of curiosity.
Team: Sydney Nguyen, Constanza Pinto, Bradley Wagman, Kieran Parikh
02
PATCH
Extending Old Devices' Life with AI Learning
Over 5 billion devices sit idle globally, contributing to 50+ million tons of e-waste each year. Patch addresses this by extending device life through a modular, repair-first system that makes upcycling part of learning. Reconfigurable hardware reduces material use, while AI tutoring expands access. Patch builds technical skills while fostering a culture of curiosity.
03
RELIEF
Wearable Signals into Clinical Action
Chronic arthritis care leans on at-home physical therapy the prescribing clinician never observes, and the cost of PT itself becomes a clinical barrier. In a team of 3, we designed an MVP spanning a wearable, a patient app, and a clinician dashboard, using AR and video-based movement guidance so exercises produce passive data both sides can act on.
Chronic arthritis care leans on at-home physical therapy the prescribing clinician never observes, and the cost of PT itself becomes a clinical barrier. In a team of 3, we designed an MVP spanning a wearable, a patient app, and a clinician dashboard, using AR and video-based movement guidance so exercises produce passive data both sides can act on.
Team: Sydney Nguyen, Diksha Chugh, Haolei Zhang
03
RELIEF
Wearable Signals into Clinical Action
Chronic arthritis care leans on at-home physical therapy the prescribing clinician never observes, and the cost of PT itself becomes a clinical barrier. In a team of 3, we designed an MVP spanning a wearable, a patient app, and a clinician dashboard, using AR and video-based movement guidance so exercises produce passive data both sides can act on.
04
YOU ARE WHAT YOU PAY ATTENTION TO
AI Manufacturing in Physical Board Games
A four-player tabletop game and iOS companion that promotes digital literacy to non-technical users. I built this MVP with a team of AI agents: Claude Code, Cursor, and Claude Design, connected by MCP to Figma, Rhino, the Zund, 3D printer, and laser cutters. Ninety cards took six hours instead of twelve. The board game is now with a manufacturer for a first production run.
A four-player tabletop game and iOS companion that promotes digital literacy to non-technical users. I built this MVP with a team of AI agents: Claude Code, Cursor, and Claude Design, connected by MCP to Figma, Rhino, the Zund, 3D printer, and laser cutters. Ninety cards took six hours instead of twelve. The board game is now with a manufacturer for a first production run.
04
YOU ARE WHAT YOU PAY ATTENTION TO
AI Manufacturing in Physical Board Games
A four-player tabletop game and iOS companion that promotes digital literacy to non-technical users. I built this MVP with a team of AI agents: Claude Code, Cursor, and Claude Design, connected by MCP to Figma, Rhino, the Zund, 3D printer, and laser cutters. Ninety cards took six hours instead of twelve. The board game is now with a manufacturer for a first production run.
San Francisco, CA
Sydney Nguyen 2026 © All rights reserved.
Sydney Nguyen 2026 © All rights reserved.