Yiu Fung Chow

UX Expert

I BELIEVE IN USING STORIES

TO FIND AND TELL THE "WHY"



"So, what's the story?"

These are the kinds of questions I ask when I step into a new design challenge.

When you listen carefully to stories from different perspectives, they reveal a lot. You can find inspirations, emotions, experiences, reasonings and objectives. They guide me to the "why" by enriching the design process and help me continue my story.

This is my story.

A passion for user research



The key is not what we give to our users, but why they need our solutions. What kind of added value can your design bring? To find the answer, you need to dive into their world and listen with your heart to their stories to uncover the latent needs that the users themselves don’t even know about. Only if you can completely get what the users are experiencing and feeling, then you'll be able to create the best solutions for them. This is user-centered design, this is design thinking.



A drive for interaction design



For me, the most interesting phase of a design process is the Fuzzy Front End. Discovering new contexts and gaining new perspectives of end-users are like exploring a new world. Finding out what is the current situation, what is the problem and why they need something is what I love to do, because it's an exciting and challenging journey to translate user experiences and insights to functional design concepts. Discovering and pushing the boundaries, out-of-the-box thinking and enabling user-friendly interactions, is my drive.

Portfolio - designing products people love


Each picture tells a story, but like browsing through an old photobook or looking at a photo on a wall, these stories only come alive when someone is telling you how that time was, what feelings and thoughts played at that moment and what is outside the picture. I'm willing to be your storyteller, as each project, each picture is a journey of me doing some amazing discoveries. Don't hesitate to contact me, I can tell you more.

Blooming Delft Cutlery


The Blooming Delft Cutlery let you get a taste of spring by visualizing the growth of the tulip through the casing, knife, spoon and fork.


“Flowers”, “Feelings” and “Food” are combined in this concept. This cutlery set is a perfect souvenir for people visiting Delft.


Designing for paramedics


Paramedics are people we can rely on. They literally come to your rescue when you need them. But how can we help them back? What do they need? In this story, I observed and interviewed many paramedics, conducted in-depth user research and taken strategic options of the stretchers company Stollenwerk into account to finally upgrade their stretcher with an innovative and ergonomic monitor handle that helps paramedics carry the lifesaving equipment and reduces the strain on their bodies. Now they have more hands and energy for when it counts!


Caring design for mother and child


The Sleeping Well is a customizable pregnancy pillow that grows with the child. It's a product to care for mother and child. During the pregnancy period, the mother goes through a lot. The body changes and it can be stressful and hard to sleep. Good supporting pillows can help mothers sleep well and when the child is born, these pillows can also transform to support the growth of the baby further as a feeding pillow or a little chair! Sleeping Well is a product designed for Prémaxx.

Designing a new metro interior for Shanghai Electric Transport


The underground in Shanghai is complex and expanding. The rapid transit system needs to provide safety, air conditioning and space for over 10 million people each day. It's a challenge to design an ergonomic and user-friendly environment, which needs to be sturdy but also comply to technical standards and regulations. Shanghai Electric Transport was one of the candidates to supply metro line 9 with their systems. I created photo realistic renderings to visualize the possibilities and provided new insights about metro designs for the company.

Long Stay Support - Designing for the last phase of life


What is the most important thing for someone at the end phase of life? Designing for terminally ill patients is something serious but also meaningful. When facing death, it's not about how great the product is, it's about what you can offer to someone without life perspective.


Finding the answer and come up with something of value was my mission. I volunteered to help at a nursing home for terminally ill patients and experienced the last phase of life as closely as possible. I was part of the team, I talked to the patient, the caretaker, family and friends and heard their stories. I found out that at the last phase of life it's not about dreams, new things or even staying alive, but to be human. They want to keep their dignity and enjoy the little last things. Imagine your body is so weak you can't even get out of bed by yourself, you can't wash yourself, you can't go outside to feel the sun or sit at a table to have breakfast with a dear visitor. It takes two people to get someone out of bed with a lifting device, but there are only two caretakers for about six to ten terminally ill patients.


My Long Stay Support is an ergonomic net suspension wheelchair that makes easy transfer of the patient from and to nursing beds possible with just one person and also prevents decubitus. It's a product designed for the company Medsorg GmbH. I want to help the family, the caretakers, the patient to get out of bed, to feel human again. It's the last little things that matters and this design helps them do those last little things, to feel the sun on their skins and breath some fresh air outside, for just a little while longer.

Design to improve the user-interface and workflow


This design project is specifically aimed to improve the interface of GLIMS, a medical information system for lab researchers. GLIMS is a product of MIPS NV and is mainly used to register information from blood test forms and save and communicate the corresponding blood test results afterwards. Different scenarios and use cases are analyzed to come up with a better workflow and logical interface. Advice is given to improve the user-friendliness of the interface, such as replacing similar icons, grouping often used fields together and simplify the most common form-entry process with a wizard.

Designing for autistic children


A child with autism experiences the world from a different perspective. As an UX Designer, I dived into the world of these children and tried to understand all those chaos and impulses they are feeling throughout the day. Sound and other signals we perceive as normal might be disrupting and scary for children with autism, as their minds process them differently. Children with autism like structure, logic and predictable things such as numbers, trains on rails and items ordered from big to small. They dislike abrupt changes and unplanned things they didn't prepare for. To help them get through the day more peacefully, I designed, programmed and field tested the Activitree. It's an interactive day-planner that helps the children to understand what's next by getting their attention and prepare their mind for the next activity in a playful manner.

Drawings and rendering


I like to draw, but creating realistic renderings is what I like more, because with a 3D model, I can test and visualize the design in various ways. Think of creating animations, check out colour combinations and test a large number of materials. Nowadays, you can even make use of rapid prototyping techniques if you have a decent 3D model. That's why I’m more interested in learning and mastering CAD software. However, when it comes to doodling, freeing up my mind, generating ideas, brainstorming and making user journeys, I still love the pen and paper because they're tangible and allow me to freely express myself.

UX DESIGN PROCESS

My design techniques & methods


There are many ways to understand the emotion and experiences of users.

Depending on the goal, resources and constraints, I'll select the best methods available to gather insights and latent needs from them.

The main focus is to learn and define the problem clearly, in order to deliver maximum value with efficiency to our users.

DISCOVER & EMPATHIZE


It's important that everyone involved understand the "why" of the project and what value we want to deliver.


In the first step of the UX design process, I'll look into:

- Business goals

- Requirements and constraints

- Target group and user information

- Stakeholders and competitors

- Tasks and planning

ANALYZE & DEFINE


It's essential to capture user behavior, pain points, motivations and emotions from contextual inquiries.


In this step, I'll identify gaps, opportunities and maximum values with:

- User surveys & interviews

- Persona's & user stories

- Journey mappings & story boards

- Mood boards & mindmaps

- Brainstorm sessions

IDEATION & DESIGN


Now it's time to translate the user's

thought process, desired actions and reactions for each task flow into concepts.


I'll prioritize and design the desired user experiences and come up with:.

- Sketches & wireframes

- Mock ups & 3D models

- Usability testing & validation

- Branding & styling

PROTOTYPING & TESTING


It's important to get users involved in the design process with quick and inexpensive materials to uncover usability issues and validate design decisions.


With prototypes and MVP's we can:

- Gather feedback & reactions

- Learn & optimize

- Reconfirm & improve

- Measure & adapt

DELIVER & MEASURE


A good product is created after a good design process, but great value can only be delivered after.


To deliver such value, we need to keep a keen eye on the market and take emerging technologies and cultural differences into account. Therefore, I'll think about:


- Product services

- Market communication

- Sustainability

- DevOps

- Reports & metrics

- Product feedback

- Improvement & enchancement plans

- The next story I can tell

MSc. Design for Interaction

ir. Yiu Fung Chow

THIS IS MY STORY


"But why?" - This is probably one of my most asked question since childhood. I have to understand why we are doing something and why should it be this way and not the other. I'm also curious, I remember I opened the case of our very first x486 family PC as a child, disassembled it, fried some parts, repaired it and put an upgraded version back together. During my high school, I have chosen the most technical subjects because science is fascinating. And after screening through all possible studies, I have chosen to study Industrial Design Engineering because of its variety and the possibility to discover, create, design and experience new things.

Skills - Knowledge - Tools

Curriculum Vitae


Personal information

Surname: Chow

First name: Yiu Fung

Birthplace: Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Residing in: Rotterdam

Spoken languages: Dutch, English, Chinese Cantonese, Chinese Mandarin


Characteristics

Active, sportive, optimistic, cheerful and upbeat. Like to interact with people, take initiative, sport and play music.


Strong points

Broad insights, creative, high adaptability, reason based analyzing skills, fast thinker, multi-lingual, trained in human-centered design, visual communication, research user experiences and interaction.


Interested in

Doing UX design related projects

Explore, identify and meet the needs of users with different backgrounds

Refine skills in product design


Education

MSc. Design for Interaction

Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands

Feb ’09 – Aug ‘11

Faculty: Industrial Design Engineering

Specialization: Medisign (Medical Design, design for healthcare and wellbeing)


Experience

Business Analyst

Glencore Agriculture BV

Jun 2019 - Dec 2020

Rotterdam, The Netherlands


Technical Product Manager

Bullhorn

Jun 2018 - Jun 2019

Rotterdam, The Netherlands


Technical Product Consultant

TOPdesk

Mar 2012 - Jun 2018

Delft, The Netherlands


Product Owner

TOPdesk

Jul 2017 – Sep 2017

Delft, The Netherlands


Interaction and Product Designer 

Medsorg GmbH.

Oct 2010 - Aug 2011

Delft, The Netherlands and Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany


Product Design Engineer

Stollenwerk GmbH.

Feb 2010 - Jun 2010

Köln, Germany


Product Design Engineer

Shanghai Electric Transport

Nov 2008 - Jan 2009

Shanghai, China


Product Designer

Prémaxx BV.

Sept 2008 - Oct 2008

The Netherlands


For current profile, please visit LinkedIn.


Let's work together,

for a breathtaking world.