NICOLE NG
PRODUCT RESEARCH CASE STUDIES
Future of Chores for Asset-Lite Millenials
With tiny urban apartments and hectic outsourcing of chores to delivery services - heavy duty home appliances geared for the 'martyr housewife' face a threat of obsolescence. Led defensive foundational research across New York, Bangkok, Seoul that mapped tipping points and generated new products and business models for a new chore-lite generation
Anti-Geriatric Approach to Active Seniors
Designing for seniors tend to yield same-ish outcomes around dignified independent living and misleads tech execs into thinking target is too niche. To flip this mindset, we flipped the brief. Ditching the 'HMW enable Aunty X to do Y' paradigm, we focused on universal obsessions of young & old, enlisting Gen Z designers to stretch product thinking.
Rethinking
Search Paradigms for Unique SE Asia
Knowledge Models
A search giant wasn't gaining traction in emerging markets like Vietnam as anticipated and didn't know why. We looked into adoption barriers, usability pain points, definitions of the internet and push/pull mental models amongst mobile-first users going online for the very first time. Provocative study that led to a big push in voice search, retail onboarding, and most importantly a rethinking of epistemology in this region.
​
Kinesic Messaging,
When Words Fall Short
A social messaging app was experimenting with beyond-text features and needed quick inspiration from emotional gaps in texting. A methods pickle: how to identify moments when words fall short, if behaviour is not suited to recall, self-report, or observation at scale? Plus the demand to cover five wildly different markets (Indonesia, India, Brazil, US, UK) in 2 weeks. Cue rapid sensemaking through guerrilla tactics and crash course in cultural linguistics x kinesics
HOVER FOR product opportunity briefs I've worked on ...
Pain points of pet parenting within urban Asia to capture spend of affluent childless
Parental guidance and teen privacy needs across Asia
Wellness use-cases from affordances of a smart mirror
Business models for non-CPG challenger brands
Adapting TV features for social media and streaming
New role of appliances in front-of-house dry kitchens with decline of heavy cooking
Factors for tipping point in meat substitution and implications for kitchen products
New interactions and use-cases with home VUIs
How their changing values will alter the way we work and play
Fun independent living features for savvy seniors
New food hierarchies in SEA with changing definitions of nutrition
New products from space and time collapse of office/home