About | Connie Yang

Hi there, I'm Connie (she/her). I currently work as a User Researcher @ Kooth, where I lead research to drive marketing and product strategies for a health app.

In my past chapters, I’ve worked in a variety of roles including developmental therapy, marketing, and academic research. Now, I’ve found my lil’ happy place as a UX researcher where I get to combine my passion for helping people with my skills as a researcher to build products that bring people joy! I am particularly interested in exploring how we can leverage technology to promote more accessible healthcare and education.

In my spare time, I enjoy dancing at concerts, hiking at national parks, watching old-school anime, and trying restaurants from every cuisine (guess what my fav cuisine is). I’m also passionate about mental health literacy and practicing mindfulness.

To learn more about me, check out the tabs below… but enough about me, I want to hear about you!

Q: Why did I decide to do UXR?

Q: What did I do before my transition into UXR?

For as long as I can remember, I've always been naturally curious about understanding the way my mind thinks which is what led me to pursue my degree in Cognitive Psychology. Following that, I worked as a developmental therapist and a research assistant in academia where I studied the effects of parenting programs on child psychosocial outcomes. At that point in my career, I was unsatisfied that my research would likely not be applied to practice until decades later and felt demotivated by the lack of direct impact I could make on the communities that I care so much. That's when I realized I valued a career that allowed me to create meaningful connections with others like how I did as a therapist but also have that intellectual challenge that came with being a researcher, which ultimately brings me to where I am today!

Before my UXR journey, I worked in a variety of fields including developmental therapy, digital communications, English teaching, and academic research. Here's a timeline of my work experiences:

As a UX researcher, my expertise leans towards qualitative methods such as interviews and usability tests to assess user behaviors and mental models. My goal in the next year is to explore more quantitative research methods and improve my statistical analysis skills in R and Python. In the long term, I aim to solve problems with a mixed-method approach to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the subject.

Educating Canadian youth on the importance of mental health literacy

I was part of the design team for This Mind of Mine, a student-run magazine based in Canada that aimed at educating youth about mental health literacy and destigmatizing the taboo around mental disorders. I assisted in designing spread layouts and building our brand image on social media. I also had the opportunity to speak with youth about their lived experiences in struggling with mental health and highlight each of their inspiring stories through the magazine.

Designing digital marketing content for a local beauty business

In 2022, I freelanced as a digital content creator for miamiami.co, a BIPOC, women-owned local business in Toronto that sold luxury lash and beauty products. As their lead content creator, I worked with the founder to strategize and design marketing content on their Instagram, including flash gifs for promotions campaigns and digital banners for email newsletters. The brand now has over 1100 active followers across all social platforms and has even expanded its reach to the US market!

Building an online course about travel safety and risk management

Currently, I am the lead researcher on a 3-person team for building an online course that teaches solo travelers about how to travel safely in mid to high-risk environments. This project was inspired by my own experiences as a solo female traveler and I am passionate about educating others on how to protect themselves and their assets during international travels. My main responsibilities include conducting primary research to inform our course curriculum and assess user needs, as well as developing the instructional materials and marketing content.