Hey there!! I am probably dozing by the window, please give me a bit more time :)
I endeavor to SEE and UNDERSTAND people
beneath the surface.
📝 I craft deliverables that actually deliver.
Communicating my research work is just as important as the work itself. When selecting the most effective communication method, I often break it down into four layers of considerations:
- Tailor the content based on the audience’s profile and the maturity of research/UX in the organization.
- Which deliverable format can best accommodate the content?
- To reduce the burden of content digestion and arouse interest, how can I be creative with the presentation of the deliverable?
- How to deliver: send materials and invite feedback? Live presentations? Workshops?
🧐 I plan research like a "crime investigation" and execute it with rigor.
While a detailed research roadmap helps prepare myself and the whole team to align on the objectives, I often flexibly adjust the sequence and even choice of methods based on the requests and research problems at the moment. The core of my research mindset is “investigating” particular problems by piecing up different sources of data. Therefore, the “data” to look for is not bounded by certain research methods, but by a simple question: what data can offer me evidence to reveal the “crime scene”–what really happened, what contributes to the result, and how should we do better next time to prevent it? That leads to decisions such as: is primary research a must? Who has the knowledge to answer my questions? How should I collect their insight? Therefore, you may often see me performing multiple methods at the same time or inserting ad hoc supplemental research into the original plan.
🔗 I have unique discernment when analyzing data.
With years of self-exploration and practice, I’m now able to say that my innate sensitive character has become my secret weapon, which also facilitates my research data analysis. It allows me to sharply detect the connections between two things far apart and then fit them into a broader system. Building high-level frameworks is my common thinking pattern. It takes place when I cluster the interview notes, map out the user journey, or describe the interrelated factors in the products.
📣 I'm an avid advocate of users and the values of UX.
Advocating for users doesn’t mean delivering users’ voices regardless of the context and project goals. For me, it’s a delicate craft to learn which part of the voices should be taken in while balancing factors from different parties’ interests.
Advocating for the values of UX is a lesson I learned progressively while working for the federal government. When user experience is no longer associated with revenue, how should we demonstrate UX values and get organization-wide buy-in?
🪜 I inform design by creating deliberate information architecture, wireframes, and prototypes.
Although titled as a UX researcher, I have hands-on experience as a designer in a range of projects. When approaching my research work, it’s always a habit to refine the research questions and objectives from a designer’s point of interest: what is most helpful to their work? How will they act on the findings? Through close collaboration with designers, I find it most effective to communicate my work by translating it into “their language”–wireframes and prototypes, and then leaving them the flexibility to build on what I offer.
When I was studying HCI major at school, I highly valued foundational theories and applied them to almost every school project. In fact, that’s often what we were guided to do: go through the stages of design thinking, arrange the sequence of different methods and conduct them one at a time, create wireframes before low-fis, create low-fis before mid/high-fis… Let alone many projects last only for a semester, so the phase of “evaluation” is implemented by collecting short-term qualitative feedback. Until I became a UX researcher in the industry, I realized that it requires sophisticated and multi-dimensional thinking mindsets to solve each contextual problem. Simply enriching a linear flow with rigor may prevent me from seeing the big picture. That’s why I choose not to present my work in the traditional project-based framework. Instead of describing a project from start to end, I want to present my skillsets and research philosophies, which I’ve been polishing and migrating across projects. They represent my competency as a UX researcher.
With that being said, I’m not ashamed to show you some of my older work that dominated my portfolio 1.0. Ideal as they were, they witnessed the first peak of my creativity and passion. Without these early-career practices, I couldn’t have figured out my strengths and developed such a deep passion for my work.
Journey of an apple
A museum exhibit exploring 'Food & Nature' through the lens of an apple.
Map your mind
A mind mapping toolkit for students to track and reflect on their learning.
Traffic Code
How to optimize the service for a ten-second payment experience?