Natalie Fang, lecturer at the University of Michigan School of Information, is transforming the anime gaming industry by centering women’s agency — both as characters and creators. 

She is the founder and CEO of Nochi, a video game startup based out of downtown Ann Arbor that publishes anime video games made for women and empowers women to develop games. 

“At the time the company was founded, it was difficult to find anime games developed for female players in the U.S.,” Fang says. “And with the token few titles that were available, after going through hoops such as downloading fan translations because games were not localized at the time, the games ended up being problematic in content, especially in light of the #MeToo movement, as they were created by publishers in Asia with male directors and male writers.” 

Nochi, which is founded and run by a team of women, develops anime games that are readily available to players in the U.S., centering cultural significance and compelling storylines within the romance genre. 

Fang began her multifaceted career as a global sourcing professional for retail and luxury goods before earning an M.B.A. from U-M’s Ross School of Business. Now, she shares her expertise as a UMSI lecturer and executive-in-residence at the Digital Summer Clinic run by the Center for Digital Engagement and Ann Arbor SPARK.

For Fang, founding a startup has offered the opportunity to “make an impact closer to end users,” while teaching allows her to have a direct impact on students who are challenging norms and pursuing passions of their own. In this Q&A, she chats with associate dean for academic affairs Cliff Lampe about her roots as a gamer, how UX methods can power the success of a startup, and her favorite thing about UMSI students.  

Cliff Lampe: What do you teach? 

Natalie Fang: I teach Games and UX and UX-Driven Entrepreneurship. In Games and UX, we explore ways to be a better player advocate by being critical about games, coming out of the course with a few portfolio pieces including game design documentation that you'll pitch to real local stakeholders — including a publisher. For the entrepreneurship course, we study how UX methods support startup success by putting customer problems and needs at the forefront while working with a startup client and creating a pitch deck by the end of the course.

How and when did you start teaching at UMSI?

I was introduced to the UMSI curriculum through the game dev community in Ann Arbor but had also been exposed to brilliant MSI students in the past through interesting client projects! I started teaching at UMSI in 2023.

What’s your favorite thing about working with UMSI students?

UMSI students are so multitalented! I love chatting with students and seeing all the brilliant projects they're working on — whether they're professional ones like an interesting case study, or really cool personal projects like wood crafting.

Tell me more about yourself.

I'm originally from Ohio but have been bouncing around the Midwest for various endeavors, from product development to investment fund experience. I'm a founder/CEO of a gaming startup based out of downtown Ann Arbor and we're part of the university's tech startup portfolio through the Desai Accelerator. If anyone would like to chat about U-M’s or A2's entrepreneurial ecosystem, I’m happy to connect over a nice cup of coffee at RoosRoast.

What is something you want folks at UMSI to know about you?

I'm an entrepreneur and gamer at heart. Outside of planning social activities for my startup team, I love to spend my free time debating in a heated co-op board game session (Pandemic Legacy, anyone?) or pulling an all-nighter for an addictive video game!

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