About Me
I’m a senior service designer / user researcher with a focus on qualitative research.
In the last 6 years of working in the field, I’ve run in-person user research in countries like Japan, US and UK and have run remote user research with participants based all over the world including Africa, South East Asia and South America. 🌐✨
I am originally from Nagoya, Japan, lived in Tokyo and New York and now moved to London to settle down in 2019.
I founded the UX Review where I interview leading UX professionals about their craft.
Speaking of crafts, I'm also a knitting addict, making countless scarves during the winter to keep me and my friends warm 🧶
Specialities
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International user research
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Strategic user research
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Generative user research
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Evaluative user research
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Inclusive user research
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Service design
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Workshops
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Stakeholder engagement
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Usability testing
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Content testing
Work Experience
2022 - Present
Senior user researcher/
Service designer
Wellcome Trust
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Leading all aspects of user research within a cross-functional, agile team. Using qualitative and quantitative research methods to generate timely and actionable insights to deliver a new product called Wellcome Funding, a brand-new funding management system.
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Ran several strategic user research that allowed the product team to understand what the big-impact problems are, where they reside in the user journeys and how might we address them. The surfaced insights shaped the roadmap of the product development.
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Ran multiple discovery research to review end-to-end user journeys and business processes, allowing the cross-functional teams to identify areas for improvement and optimisation. The uncovered insights made Wellcome's funding services more user-centred while reducing business costs.
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Secured stakeholders' buy-in to run large-scale field studies and user interviews, providing foundational insights into how committee members behave and complete tasks during meetings. This filled a significant gap in our knowledge and played a pivotal role in shaping the feature's strategy.
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Conducted over 60 usability tests with various user groups before the MVP launch, ensuring the product delivers essential features for users to complete core tasks and identifying potential frustration points.
2021 - 2022
User Researcher
at Refinitiv / London stock exchange group
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Led several discovery research to uncover what finance engineers need to integrate with CodeBook - a customised Jupyter Notebook for Refinitiv’s data platform - into their workflow. Findings guided a PM to develop the product roadmap for business success and user satisfaction.
2020 - 2021
User Researcher
AQ
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Supported a two-week diary study with 12 participants to track changes in user attitudes over time. This study identified specific challenges faced by the Japanese community in adapting to the design of the 9th generation of video gaming consoles.
2017 - 2019
Design Strategist
Gensler
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Conducted desktop research and field studies at competitors’ spaces to understand user behaviours and space utilisation of co-working spaces. Findings helped us propose innovative concepts for our client, resulting in increased user satisfaction and conversion rates.
Education
2019 - 2021
Master of Arts in Curating Contemporary Design in partnership with Design Museum
KINGSTON UNIVERSITY, London
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Led a multidisciplinary team in conducting competitor analysis, and working with design engineers to create the website for The Design Film Festival. The website received over 5,000 visitors from around the world.
2013 - 2018
Bachelor of Arts in Design Research and Psychology
KEIO UNIVERSITY, Tokyo
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Led a 16-day ethnographic research with Japan's largest furniture company, studying unique independent shops across six towns in Japan, engaging with over 200 people to inform the design of office spaces that encourage spontaneous interactions and teamwork.
Personal life
Outside of work, you can find me...
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🧶 knitting countless scarves.
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🎮 playing Nintendo Switch (Zelda and Animal Crossing).
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🐕 adoring dogs and cats on the street.
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📚 collecting beautiful cooking and baking books that will probably just sit on my shelf for the next five years.
I also love travelling - my next dream destination is Morocco 🐫🌞