# Jennifer Ng > Research & Design Lead Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/jenniferng My philosophy: Design the right thing before designing the thing right. My process: Understand. Synthesize. Design. Understand. Synthesize. Design. Understand. Synthesize. Design. Understand. My labels: strategist, design researcher, user experience designer, anthropologist, problem solver, writer I am curious about people and why they do the things that they do. What is special about watching movies together? What is challenging about reading? What is so special about the kitchen? What makes happiness and pleasure? This drives both my design and writing. I believe that user experience follows an iterative cycle from understanding our target users, synthesizing the data into concepts and translating those concepts into designs. Then the cycle begins again to validate with our users. With over 15 years of experience in user experience design and research ranging from design studios to startups to academia, I aim to design for better user experiences. My specialties range from ubiquitous computing to service design to cross-platform design. I have worked with interdisciplinary teams and interfaced with clients. I work best with deep collaboration with the team. In the product cycle, I work best in the early conceptual stage. I love stickies and sharpies. Naturally resourceful and curious, I experiment with everything. New technology. New services. New tools. New ways of thinking. Specialties: mobile design strategy, human computer interaction, cognitive science, interaction design, user research methods (contextual inquiries, surveys, interviews, focus groups, think-aloud user tests, heuristic evaluation, cognitive walkthrough), design methods (design validation sessions, directed storytelling, low fidelity prototyping, conceptual modeling) ## Work Experience ### Research Lead @ San Francisco Digital Services Jan 2022 – Present | San Francisco, California, United States ### Creative Nonficton and Fiction Writer @ Self Jan 2012 – Present | At Large Author of Ice Cream Travel Guide, a kickstarter-funded book about ice cream destinations throughout the world. Order a copy http://www.icecreamtravelguide.com Currently writing a sprawling historical novel about the common practice of Chinese men starting second families during and after WWII that takes place in China, Peru, and the United States. ### Research & Design Consultant @ Freelance Jan 2008 – Jan 2022 | San Francisco Bay Area Freelance design strategist, behavioral researcher and user experience designer with a focus on service design supported by technology, especially in healthcare and education. We live in an amazing modern world where challenging problems pop up everyday. I have helped companies solve problems such as understanding everyday lives of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, improving an everyday commute by car, and engaging people in reading books. I currently lead teams in startups through a design thinking process. I start with design research to uncover needs and understand people's behaviors. Then I translate those insights into actionable design directions. Through product design sprints, I facilitate design thinking workshops to help prioritize features and functions. Then I design the user experience framework as I collaborate with product managers, engineers, and visual designers. ### Lead Product Researcher @ Instagram Jan 2020 – Jan 2022 | San Francisco ### Product Design Manager @ Vida Health Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | San Francisco ### Principal Designer @ Vida Health Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | San Francisco Lead product design and user research functions, collaborating with stakeholders around the company to accomplish business goals while enabling Vida to use its product design as a key differentiator Empower team members to proactively lead iteration cycles with stakeholders and push designs forward according to the team’s vision and understanding of the business goals Drive the design team philosophy by championing the team’s work with cross-functional collaborators and the executive team Manage and mentor designers on the team, fostering a collaborative and positive environment Incorporate qualitative research approaches, harnessing the power of generative and evaluative research to inform decision-making for product and design strategy Serve as primary expert on user research by creating user research toolboxes, leading design thinking workshops, and evangelizing findings Maintain and build design team workflows that ensure that designs delivered are in line within a design system framework and process ### Principal Product Designer @ Fitbit Jan 2017 – Jan 2018 | San Francisco, California Design lead for health solutions - Identified and prioritized high-stakes research questions to drive research projects including in-depth interviews and competitive analysis for new digital health initiatives - Recruited participants and provided oversight to vendors that assist with research - Mentored stakeholders and colleagues in research best practices and career development - Consistently conducted organizational research to understand the evolving needs and desires from health services leadership to inform high-priority projects ### Senior User Experience Designer and Design Researcher @ Mayo Clinic Jan 2016 – Jan 2017 | San Francisco Teleworking from San Francisco for the Department of Creative Media - Led design strategy and conducted research activities for various digital products to create a deep understanding and empathy for customers - Established the goals of the research, the methods they will use to gather data, and the budget and timelines required - Created recruiting screeners, test scripts, and interview guides, and utilized a variety of methods both in-person and remote to conduct sessions while identifying risks and creating risk mitigation strategies - Recruited participants and provided oversight to vendors that assist with research - Clearly and concisely articulated research, ideas, and perspectives diplomatically and persuasively for a complex healthcare organization - Evangelized the value of the user experience discipline and demonstrated the impact of research on business objectives to inspire stakeholders ### Experience Researcher Consultant @ Livongo Health Jan 2015 – Jan 2015 | Mountain View, CA I established a design research practice that ranged from diary studies to in-home interviews to usability studies to better understand people with diabetes. My emphasis was on behavior and surfacing that to make better UX decisions. In deep collaboration with the engineering and product teams, I introduced them to the power of design research through design thinking workshops and tools to support business and product roadmaps. ### Senior User Experience Researcher and UX Designer Consultant @ Barnes & Noble Jan 2012 – Jan 2013 | San Francisco Bay Area Lead new design initiative through UX planning, design research oversight, and refining experience direction Responsibilities include: - Answer research questions with various research methods including field studies, low fidelity usability tests, concept validation, storytelling - Moderate user studies and synthesize findings to be presented to diverse audience - Manage user experience design (information architecture, interaction design, ux strategy) for various components at NOOK including on nook device, iOS, Windows 8, Android - Develop UX concepts - Lead workshops across design, engineering, and product ### User Experience Researcher @ Palm Jan 2011 – Jan 2012 Lead researcher for applications (email, calendar, tasks messaging, phone) within Productivity and Communication; Contextual inquiries, competitive analysis, usability studies, diary studies, etc. ### User Experience Designer @ Nectarine Group Inc. Jan 2009 – Jan 2011 | Palo Alto, CA Led design research initiatives to inform and guide design through guerrilla interviews, competitive analysis, social media anthropology, heuristic evaluations; Managed interaction design of television UI, digital cameras, tablets, e-book readers and mobile apps from design research to information architecture; Clients include Barnes & Noble, BMW, DeCarta, eBay, Kodak, Motorola, Roku, Whirlpool ### User Experience Designer @ Method Jan 2007 – Jan 2008 Led and analyzed user research including focus groups, in-home visits, and usability testing; Designed and conceptualized interfaces for the television, web, game interfaces and mobile phones with a wide range of clients including Sony Consumer Electronics, Ugobe, Visa, GlideTV, Motorola, Boxee, and Sun Microsystems ### User Experience Design Engineer @ Spongecell Jan 2006 – Jan 2007 Managed all user experience design of a web-based consumer application including user needs analysis, translation of business requirements into design, and usability testing; Worked closely with the executive team to develop product concepts ### Research Assistant @ Carnegie Mellon University Jan 2004 – Jan 2006 Led user research through interviews, focus groups and contextual inquiries to understand user's mental model of an event service and to guide its design; Create and design lo-fi prototypes of an ubiquitous location-based event system ### Interaction Designer @ LotterShelly Jan 2006 – Jan 2006 Designed layouts of usable web-based applications from wireframes to high-fidelity mockups for financial companies and local hospitals ### Residential Computing Consultant @ UC Berkeley Residential Computing Jan 2002 – Jan 2004 ## Education ### Masters in Human Computer Interaction Carnegie Mellon University ### BA in Cognitive Science University of California, Berkeley ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/ngjennifer - Portfolio: http://www.think-ng.com --- Source: https://flows.cv/jenniferng JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/jenniferng/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13