Working in UX Design

Episode 24: Product Thinking & Product Design with Justin Leong

Product Designer at SPH based in Singapore focusing on implementing user-centred, data-driven and business-oriented design.He has been involved in various stages of product delivery, from doing 0 to 1 work in Xendit (YC15) a hyper-growth unicorn startup to scaling up B2B, B2C and B2B2C products in an array of different industries across multiple platforms.His best work happens when he is crafting solutions and championing human experiences in a collaborative, ambitious and innovative team.Passionate about Design, he coaches and mentors early-stage designers or transitioners in the field of design by either helping them land their first design role or accelerate their growth as a designer. He has helped more than 50 mentees and was recognised multiple times as a super mentor (Top 1% recognition worldwide) on ADPlist - A design mentorship platform.Join us to hear us cover:- 1.5 years experience in a high-growth startup- What do Product Designers do vs UX Designers?- Product Thinking between PMs and Designers, where is the line drawn?- What does being a top 1% super mentor on ADPList mean? What have you noticed in portfolios?

Episode 23: Working in UX Research in the USA with Monica Chan, EdD

UX Researcher at Amazon, Monica Chan, is a Singaporean living and working in the United States. She recently graduated from Columbia University (Teachers College), where she completed her doctorate in Education Technology and focused on K-12 maker / STEAM education. Now at Amazon Alexa, she investigates interactive experiences between humans and voice assistants, in areas such as personalization, customization, and proactivity. She recently started mentoring at ADPList and Open Door Policy, an organization that helps refugees upskill to find remote jobs, as she is passionate about supporting upskilling/reskilling opportunities and career transitions for underserved populations. In her free time, Monica keeps up-to-date with edtech and emerging tech trends. Join us to hear us cover:- Do you need a PhD to work in UXR?- Projects and processes at Amazon Alexa- Reframing your experience and CV for UXR- Experience working for US Tech companies like Uber, Pinterest & Amazon

Episode 22: UX Research & Strategy with Homaxi Irani

With over 20 years in experience design, the last 15 years have seen Homaxi Irani in roles providing leadership to build and elevate UX research and design maturity within organisations. She has worked in Australia and Asia in Group and APAC roles, in both corporate and consultancies. Homaxi’s motivation to share her experience and learn from others drives her to invest time in the design community as an educator, coach, and mentor. She is currently looking for global or regional opportunities to drive design maturity and customer centricity at an enterprise level. Homaxi enjoys collaboration with business partners that accelerates the product design partnership and results in richer customer experiences. Come down to hear us cover:- UX Design Research vs UX Strategic Research- How to be more strategic as a junior designer- Interview preparation for a UX Researcher role- Enterprise vs Startup UX

Episode 21: Building and growing UX circles with Khai Seng Hong

Khai Seng has been in the UX design field since 2004, focusing on design research and interaction design. He was formerly the Head of Singapore for Foolproof, a UK-based experience design agency. He is a firm believer in holistic experience design spanning digital, spatial, product and service domains. However, he also thinks that delivering great design for a client is only part of the equation – it is also key to help clients bring sustained impact and cultural change in the way they work.Learning and people development are in his blood. He has taught at Republic Polytechnic and helped developed the curriculum in anthropological studies, interaction design, experience design and design thinking. He has also spent time growing the UX community in Singapore through organising the UXSG conferences and monthly meet-ups.Throughout his career, Khai Seng has facilitated many workshops and training programmes with C-suite executives and working professionals to drive cultural change within organisations around design and innovation. Khai Seng is also certified as an Integral coach by New Ventures West – that involves helping clients to create and maintain habits of excellence that are self-generating and self-correcting. Come down to hear us cover: - Journey of leading a UX firm and subsequently a Dojo to help leaders and organisations - What leaders should know about the power of facilitation? - Why Studio Dojo organised design challenges for the community?

Episode 20: Learning and Networking as a UX-er with Wenshu Kwek

Wenshu is a senior product designer at Shopify with a background in industrial design. He helps reduce risk in product development and solves high-impact problems with elegant and thoughtful solutions. He works best in cross-functional teams and has 7 years of experience shipping successful B2C and B2B products and services. Beyond working with leading global technology companies, start-ups and government agencies, he tries to find time to give back to the local design community.Come down to hear us cover: - Growing from a junior to senior UX-er - Why designers should learn from non-designers - How networking and community participation helped Wenshu in his career transition - Designing for B2B vs B2C digital products

Episode 19: Running a Remote UX Design Consultancy with Chin Chin (Tan) Burkolter

Chin Chin started out as a visual communication designer, with her role expanding towards strategic experience design. She is a person who is always looking to learn so she can acquire skills to help her career as well as her clients. Over the course of her work, Chin Chin has collected different experiences in design and product management. She has worked across multiple industries including consumer electronics, household appliances, computers, food and beverage and digital services. Since 2016, Chin Chin has been managing Somia Customer Experience, a consultancy specialising in Product Innovation and Strategic Design. Chin has honed her craft working in multinationals, new ventures, as well as her own start-up. With her experience, she helps businesses identify their business needs to rightly frame what is needed to generate thoughtful value propositions. Chin is also an animal lover at heart which led her to start and manage the brand and marketing of a social enterprise, GOOOD Pet Collars, in 2010. She also organised 9LivesShow, an art and design exhibition to bring awareness to care for community cats, as part of the Singapore Design Week 2017 and 2019.Join us to hear us cover:- Challenges & learnings running a boutique UX consultancy- Managing remote research/design teams- Working in UX field research in countries like Indonesia - How does coaching help you be a better UX-er?

Episode 18: Inclusivity in UX Design with Ning Goh, Senior UX Designer

As a UX Designer, Ning believes strongly that products can be and should be designed ethnically and with inclusivity in mind.Previously, Ning has worked in both big and small organisations such as OCBC, HReasily, Silot and Chope in both Product and Marketing Design roles. Her experience in the tech sector has grown vastly over the years and she now finds herself involved in a variety of scopes including market and user research, design ops, and service design. Ning considers herself a mini advocate for diversity and inclusivity. She was the co-lead for Proud Spaces, a career fair that showcased inclusive workplaces especially in the local sectors in 2018. She says it was one of the proudest moments of her career as she was able to secure sponsorships, rope in brands like Airbnb, 99.co, and The Lo and Behold Group, and pulled off the half-day event with great success on a relatively tight budget.Come down to hear us cover: Thoughts on being a UX Designer in Singapore- Working in different types of organisations: Start-ups vs MNC- Working in different design teams: Embedded vs CentralisedInclusive Design- Ning's interest in inclusivity and what it means to be inclusive in tech- Notable Projects e.g. Proud Spaces, a career fair to showcase inclusivity at workplaces Growing in UX- Designing with data: Why it's important and why it's also not- What to prepare for as a UX Designer grows his/her career in their 2nd/3rd year

Episode 17: The Value of UX Internships & Degrees with Jingxiu Cheng, User Experience Architect at Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA)

Jingxiu is a UX Designer who strives to make a positive impact on society through human-centred design. He is currently working as a User Experience Architect at Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA), where he designs user-centred technologies that contribute to the defence and security of Singapore.Prior to his current role, Jingxiu spent the last four years pursuing his studies in London, where he graduated with a Master’s in Human-Computer Interaction and a Bachelor’s in Psychology. During this time, Jingxiu had also taken up a range of UX internships across different industries, solving design problems for both start-ups and larger companies in Singapore and the UK.Jingxiu likes to spend his free time volunteering with non-profit organisations that focus on helping those who struggle with physical disabilities or mental health issues. He’s also an avid traveller who enjoys the outdoors and exploring new countries when he can.Hear us cover:- UX Internships in Singapore and London- Should you take a Master's degree in HCI?- Breaking into a competitive UX industry during the pandemic with remote interviews- Why does our military defence organisation need UX?

Episode 16: From Code to Canvas with Ajmal Afif Jamal, Lead Product Designer, Grab, Singapore

Ajmal Afif Jamal is a Malaysian design executive living in Singapore. He is currently working as a Lead Product Designer at Grab.He shares a vast work experience of more than 8 years in the digital design industry as a Product Designer. Previously started his career as a Digital Marketer and Frontend Developer in different startups in Kuala Lumpur.Ajmal is always in search of opportunities to put his knowledge into practice, and he believes the best way to learn is by doing – and also by sharing with others.Come down to hear us cover:-Switching from frontend development to product design-Working in Singapore Tech Scene as a Malaysian expatriate-Gaining experience and levelling up as a UX designer in Aviva and Grab-Learning and practising Behavioural Design in UX

Episode 15: Service Design & Research Ops for Public Design with Cheryl Wong , UX/Service Designer & ResearchOps at GovTech Singapore

Cheryl Wong is currently a UX/Service Designer & ResearchOps at GovTech, Government Digital Services (GDS) Singapore. She has over 11 years of diverse design experiences working as a Team Lead at a veteran design studio that made it to Singapore’s design history books, startup, consultancy and digital experience agency spanning various sectors: Fintech, Banking, Hospitality, Social Impact etc. She is passionate about shaping organisational culture, using design to improve the lives of users & teams while meeting business goals. Based in Singapore, she has worked on projects around the world: Australia, Bangladesh, East Africa (Serengeti), Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Principality of Liechtenstein, Seychelles, South Africa (Johannesburg), Timor-Leste and UK. She has organised, facilitated, presented at several tech public events such as Elephants in the room: Shitstorms in UX, CuriousCore’s Leaning Into Change - Experience and Service Design; STACK2020 Conference. She has supported the global UX community as Design Mentor at GDS & ADPList and served as Industry Guest Reviewer at Singapore Polytechnic Grad Show and General Assembly. She is a contributor for a Gluework article and was featured in TEDx’s Storytime revamping reading environments in India and will be organising an upcoming Learning Circles: Operationalising ResearchOps at Scale. In recognition for her design & impact on society, she has been featured on Google’s Women TechMakers’ International Women’s Day, alongside numerous accolades. Here us talk about: - Service design at GovTech - Scaling user research for GoBusiness - Generic Stakeholder Management tips - Applying to be a UX Designer at GovTech - Bootcamp portfolios vs professional portfolios