... and I investigate🕵🏽 hidden opportunities for product design, branding, and social/behavioral change, using mixed-methods research.
Background
💼 Experience
May 2023 - Present
Senior Customer & User Researcher
DeepL (AI-based translation and writing platform)
Feb 2022 - May 2023
Senior User Researcher
Zalando (fashion e-commerce company)
Nov 2021 - Dec 2021
Senior User Researcher
Grab (Southeast Asian super-app)
Dec 2019 - Oct 2021
User Experience Researcher
PebbleRoad (design & innovation practice)
2013 - 2019
Director (Corporate Investigations)
Kroll (global management consultancy)
Highlights:
→ 8+ years of professional research experience
→ 10+ industries worked in (from health to finance)
→ 180+ research projects delivered (from 2 weeks to 6 months)
🔎 What I do
As a Researcher and Design Strategist, I help organisations make informed decisions based on how people think and act, to create intuitive products and compelling messages. I specialise in using immersive qualitative research to map out an unfamiliar problem space, then facilitating and co-creating how we arrive at a given solution.
As a corporate investigator, I've previously led teams conducting covert fieldwork on environmental, social & corporate governance (ESG) issues to inform the decisions of C-suite executives, NGOs and governments, e.g. on corruption and slave labor in Myanmar. The mindset, curiosity and grit I developed then remains core to my research process to this day.
I'm energised by projects which involve cross-cultural research and analysing core aspects of the human experience (e.g. money, death, family and gender roles). The diversity of human cultural practices & beliefs can provoke us to re-think how we live in an uncertain future.
"The future is already here— it's just not very evenly distributed." - William Gibson (speculative fiction writer)
🏖️ After office hours (tap the ► on the left)
That's Dusya in the middle, a wonderful babushka I met during my journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway (2019)
💥 Facilitating challenging conversations
In 2018, as an extension of my professional interest in understanding different communities and being inspired by Drink Talk Learn parties, I began hosting a series of parties named Subculture Salons:
Rules are just guidelines
I deeply enjoy connecting people of very different views and backgrounds together and watching them try to make sense of each other. I love overhearing the conversations people would be having as they tried to understand the ins-and-outs of (for example) joining a punk crew in Bangkok.
Explaining the ins and outs of CAPTCHA to an inebriated audience
The vibe isn't quite the same virtually, so the Subculture Salons are on hiatus until we're clear of the pandemic.
🎭 Role-playing, improvisational & interactive theatre
In-character during a live-action role playing session, held by Void Deck Games (a participation design studio that creates immersive games)
My interest in ethnography and other forms of immersive fieldwork started with exposure from a young age to stage theatre, plus a healthy dose of tabletop roleplaying.
Observing an art auction gone awry
To truly understand how a person from a community far removed from your own thinks, there needs to be an element of ethnography or role-play because impactful experiences are cemented by action. Metaphors only go so far.
👩🎤 Genre-bending music (jazz/R&B/electronic)
I was quoted in the national broadsheet as a vox pop on the burgeoning alternative music scene in Singapore:
Check out the last page of the article for my five minutes of fame
Kilo Lounge (RIP, we'll miss you), formerly the best place for alternative acts in Singapore
South by Southwest (SXSW) 2019
🤺 Medieval fencing
Since 2019, I've been learning a form of medieval fencing; known as Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA); at an academy in Singapore; Bastion.
What is HEMA, you ask?
Watch this video to find out:
🗺️ Travelling to remote & isolated places
Among the places I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to explore:
- North Korea
- Mongolia
- Syria
- Greenland
- Iran
- Tanzania
🏂 Snowboarding
I make an annual pilgrimage to the slopes of Japan (barring pandemics) to pay my respects to the bountiful powder on offer.
Tsugaike Kogen in Nagano Prefecture, Japan
Myoko Kogen
✨ Fantasy, science fiction & futurology
🐡 Scuba diving
Portfolio/Resume
Projects (tap for more details)
MOBILE APP
2WEB PORTAL
2STRATEGY
2IN-PERSON SERVICE
1INVESTIGATIVE
0
Discovering patient needs to guide feature roadmap of B2C healthcare app
Private healthcare company in Southeast Asia
Mixed-methods research to empower low-income migrant workers through a mobile app
Singaporean government agency for labor policy
User interviews and service blueprinting for arts education portal
Singaporean government agency for arts promotion
User interviews and prototyping to streamline license application web portal
Singaporean government agency for media regulation
Ecosystem mapping & workshop facilitation to formulate post-COVID strategy on education technology
(EDUTECH)
Alliance for Action (AfA) on EduTech
(public-private task force formed by Singapore government)
Sensemaking and journey-mapping of 30 interviews on
YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH
Common Ground
(social innovation consultancy)
👏🏽 Testimonials
"Shaun's investigative research unraveled numerous tough cases, flattened opposing lawyers, thoroughly impressed detail-obsessed Japanese clients, and earned the respect of his most demanding senior colleagues. Apart from being hugely competent, Shaun is a team-oriented, hard-working lateral thinker who can calmly assess project obstacles, and then build solutions - even in unreasonably urgent situations. I’d particularly suggest working with him on matters requiring critical thinking, novel process/methodology development, and qualitative research."
Managing Director & Head of Oceania,
Kroll (Business Intelligence and Investigations)
"I had the chance to work with Shaun and what stood out about him was his "can do" attitude. He was always adding value to the team with suggestions of how we should approach the design research and the main things we needed to discover while always listening to other's people points of view. He is quick to act and get things done. Shaun is someone you can count on to plan and execute excellent design research and workshop facilitation. Engaging people in a conversation and making them feel comfortable to share their needs, concerns and pain points comes naturally to him."
"I enjoyed working with Shaun, who was a key consultant for the design sprint to develop a strategy for the EdTech sector. When we first embarked on the design sprint, the scope was very ambiguous. Shaun was able to translate our broad goals into concrete actions points. He was very collaborative and went the extra mile to over-communicate to ensure that we were always on the same page. He took seriously our points of view, and was more than willing to change plans when necessary. At the same time, he did not over-promise, and was able to be realistic and explain the trade-offs of different options. This humble honesty of Shaun's made it easy to trust him and talk candidly, which was something very important for me."
Senior Manager, National AI Office
Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (Singapore)
Professional Activities (tap for more details)
SPEAKING
SPEAKING
VOLUNTEERING
VOLUNTEERING
Consulting
I can assist you with:
- Career Coaching and Mentorship
- Speaking and Writing
- User Experience Research / Design Research
- Design Sprints & Problem Solving Facilitation (e.g. workshops)
- Investigative Due Diligence
For more information, to ask any questions, or to determine if we'd be a good fit, please contact me.
Contact
The most rewarding conversations have the humblest beginnings.
I'm always keen to chat with people who are passionate about what they do.
Please message me on LinkedIn or get in touch using this form:
