Working in UX Design

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

Episode 14: UX Research Craft & Methodologies with Naroth Murali, UX Researcher at DBS

Naroth Murali is a mixed-method UX researcher with over 6 years of experience in the design research domain.Having majored in industrial design, he is presently a part of the UX Research Team in DBS Bank where he collects, analyses and interprets customer data for consumer banking business and UX teams.An avid golfer, food/wine enthusiast and science-fiction lover, curiosity is at the core of what he does. He is adept at creating delightful user experiences that challenge the status quo, backed by uncompromising research.We spoke about:- Choosing the right research method- Research fieldwork- Applying for a User Researcher job- Research Ops- Qual and Quant research at DBS Bank

Episode 13: Mindfulness, Agile and Design with Thye Chuan Tan, Lead UX Designer at additiv

Thye Chuan embraces and shares an ardent curiosity in infusing the concepts of Self-Awareness and Agility. As a UX designer, he has worked with digital teams of all sizes ranging from Fintech startups to large organisations such as SP Group. As a Scrum Master practitioner, he has also facilitated various Agile Transformation initiatives in organisations.He enjoys sharing knowledge and concepts related to Self-Awareness and believes in creating unison among team members for better intercommunication. To him, understanding problems clearly before diving into solutions and creating a non-toxic learning culture are also key. Having met people with a passion for learning and growing as UX designers have propelled him to set up 'UX Guide SG', a resource hub for people to discover, learn and nurture their UX practices in Singapore.We spoke about:- The self-aware designer- Your journey in Agile- Freelance vs in-house designer- Building uxguide.sg

Episode 12: Design for Inclusivity with Kitt Santos, Senior Product Designer at Xero

Senior Product Designer at Xero, Kitt Santos, shares vast experience as an experience designer, freelance illustrator and design mentor.He is currently based in Canberra, Australia, has more than 12 years of experience in the industry, working along with agencies, getting involved in different design aspects, working with teams and collaborating with clients to articulate their philosophy and business requirements into unique design languages in the digital space.An avid visual artist in his free time, he takes a keen interest in the convergence of design and technology and how it creates meaningful digital experiences.

Episode 11: Leading Design from New York to Singapore with Randy Hunt, Head of Design at Grab

Head of Design at Grab, Randy Hunt, is an American design-centred executive living in Singapore where he spearheads a team of more than 130 product designers, researchers, writers, illustrators in creating the experience of Southeast Asia's leading family of superapps.He has over 15 years of experience in the design industry, having previously worked as the Head of Design at Artsy and VP of Design at Etsy. He also authored the “Product Design for the Web” which explores the evolving discipline of product design for today’s connected world.

Episode 10: Designing for SAAS vs Consumer Products with Mike Chen, Head of Product Design at ShopBack

From the co-founder of an interaction design company to product design leader, Mike is an individual highly experienced in product and experience design, with over 10 years in the field. He was previously at Zendesk as a product designer working with product managers and engineers to create beautiful and simple business software that scales. He is currently the head of product design at ShopBack.Mike’s philosophy is to make software simple with a data-driven design process and he is heavily influenced by works such as Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Rework by 37 Signals. He also enjoys conversations about building company culture, lean/agile UX and design processes.Tune in to hear his thoughts on:- Designing for Zendesk vs Shopback- Transitioning from agency side to client-side and entrepreneur to employee- Grooming design talent