Yiya Wang
About

About me,
briefly.

Builder. Systems designer. Cognitive scientist by training. Most days are split between making software and trying to understand why it should exist.

The short version: I studied cognitive science at Berkeley, spent a few years in music and travel along the way, and now run an AI studio called Coaur. We build tools for cognition, memory, and creative practice.

Most of the work sits at a specific seam — between cognitive science, product design, and infrastructure. I treat the writing the same way I treat the products: as composable parts of one larger system, designed with care and shipped before they’re comfortable.

I’m trying to find the humane shape of all this — in actual products and code, not in talks.

I post when I have something real to say. I’m allergic to brand-speak. If anything here is useful to you, take it. If you’re working on something in the same neighbourhood, I’m almost always up for a conversation.

§ Tensions

Held, not split.

I don’t want to pick sides on the things most people pull apart. The edge of the work is keeping both ends of each scale honest.

fig. 02 — tensions / balance schematic06 pairs · pivot @ center

Hover a beam · click to pin

T-01Systems× SoulTools that feel humane and alive.
T-02AI× Human presenceTechnology that deepens rather than flattens.
T-03Strategy× BeautyClear thinking with emotional weight.
T-04Knowledge× TasteArchives that actually shape how I see.
T-05Ambition× RestraintEarned authority over loud self-promotion.
T-06Building× BecomingProducts and practices that change the maker too.
§ Trying not to do

What this isn’t.

  • Hot takes
  • Engagement bait
  • Generic AI tutorials
  • Founder performance
  • Productivity maximalism
  • Being online for its own sake
§ Trying to do

What this is.

  • Things I’d want to re-read in five years
  • Clear thinking under pressure
  • Real friendships with people doing serious work
  • Tools that get out of the way
  • Long, slow projects
  • Replying to actual emails

The best reaction I can hope for is not this is viral.
It’s I want to come back to this.