Meet Mingyue Qu of Los Angeles CA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mingyue Qu.

Hi Mingyue, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I studied interactive art at Pratt Institute, where I explored how people interact with physical objects. I made projects ranging from distance-sensing glasses for people with visual impairments to shoes that responded when the wearer bounced a leg. I loved the playfulness of that work, but over time I became interested in digital products: things I could build from the beginning and keep improving as people used them.

I went on to work as a product designer at Ezze Live, focusing on a B2B operations platform. That experience made me more rigorous about the logic behind a design. I learned to pay close attention to how each step connects, how information is arranged, and whether the details hold up in everyday use.

Brewwww! began with something much more personal. My co-founder and I spent our weekends exploring cafés around Los Angeles, trying matcha lattes, boba, iced coffee, and whatever else caught our eye. We took plenty of photos, but they ended up scattered through our camera rolls. I’ve always collected stamps when visiting national parks, and one day I wondered: why couldn’t a café visit leave a mark like that?

We built Brewwww! around that idea. It lets people keep a visual record of their drinks, with each entry becoming a vintage postmark showing the shop, date, and city. As a co-founder and the product designer, I’ve shaped the experience from its early structure through to the screens, interactions, and hand-drawn collectible stamps.

Today, seeing people fill their calendars, revisit the places they’ve been, and collect stamps I drew is one of the most rewarding parts of the work. Brewwww! started with our own café photos, but it now holds stories that belong to people all over the world.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It hasn’t been a smooth road, and some of the hardest parts weren’t what I expected.

AI has made it much easier for us to explore ideas and work through technical problems. But getting something to work is different from making it feel like Brewwww!. AI can offer options; it can’t decide which ones fit the product. The structure, the visual language, and all the small choices that make the app feel coherent still depend on my judgment as a designer. I’ve had to learn how to use AI without letting it make those decisions for me.

This is also our first time building and running an app of our own, so we’ve had to learn the requirements and limitations of each platform as we go. The Android map was a particularly difficult example. We wanted to offer it, but the map service cost more than our small team could sustainably afford, and we eventually had to remove the feature. It was a decision we didn’t want to make.

Then there’s marketing. So far, our growth has come organically through the communities and social platforms where we share our work. I’m proud of that, but it doesn’t make the next decision obvious. I still wonder when it makes sense to invest in paid advertising, and how ready the product should be before we take that step. Building Brewwww! has taught me that making the app and learning how to sustain it are two different challenges, and we’re working through both.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I work across product strategy, user experience, and visual design. I enjoy shaping an idea from the beginning: figuring out how the experience should work, then making sure its visual details support that experience. I care about both the logic of a product and the feeling people take away from using it.

The hand-drawn stamps are probably the most recognizable part of my work on Brewwww!. Each one has its own illustration and name, but I also think about how someone discovers it, earns it, and returns to it later. That combination of structure and personality is what I try to bring to every part of the app.

I’m most proud of seeing people make Brewwww! their own. They fill their calendars with drinks they’ve tried, revisit places they’ve been, and share stamps I drew. Seeing those designs become part of someone else’s memories is a feeling I didn’t expect when we started.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
The people I’ve learned the most from are my co-founders, Lin and Rui. Lin works on iOS and Rui works on Android, so the three of us often approach the same idea from different perspectives. I may be thinking about how a feature should feel to use, while they’re thinking through what it takes to build and maintain it. Those conversations have made my designs stronger. They’ve also taught me that mentorship doesn’t always have to be a formal relationship. Sometimes it happens through working closely with people you trust.

Sharing our work publicly has helped me connect with people outside the team. I’ve also reached out to cafés I genuinely enjoy when I thought they might be a good fit for Brewwww!. Having a specific reason to connect makes the conversation feel more natural.

My advice is to start with genuine curiosity. Show people what you’re working on, ask thoughtful questions, and listen to their perspective. The most valuable connections I’ve made have grown through shared work and continued conversations.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bre4w.app/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brewwww.app?srtk=b3ZrcGJxbXZobWpu&utm_source=qr
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/brewwww-app/?viewAsMember=true

Image Credits
Brewwww!