Gini Choi

Psychology researcher with 5+ years of experience in cognitive, social health, and developmental fields. Advocator for data-driven design decisions and product iterations. Lifelong creative with an entrepreneurial mindset, offering a wide variety of skillsets ranging from video editing to UI and graphic design with business strategy in mind.

Senior User Experience Researcher - BC Public Service - Vancouver, B.C.

(2023-03 - 2023-12)

• Supported the UX Lead and BC Services Card Login team on accessibility initiatives, feedback surveys, joint research with Health Gateway, primary and secondary user interviews, web and ops analytics, etc.
• Established enhanced product feedback channels for continuous user testing opportunities and building public trust with government digital identity products.

Research Lead + Product Designer - Ethica Software Systems Inc. - Vancouver, B.C.

(2021-06 - 2022-06)

• Secured $150,000 in Mitacs funding & venture awards for an online grocery shopping browser extension.
• Conducted multi-pronged initiatives including field studies, usability testing, and interviews to test hypotheses for product-market fit.

Project Manager + UI/UX Designer - Centre for Digital Media - Vancouver, B.C.

(2020-09 - 2021-06)

• Led information data architecture solutions for developers & contextual inquiry research protocols for redesigning a legal research database website. Collaboration with BC Human Rights Tribunal.
• Spearheaded UX initiatives for 15 product iterations & 100+ testing sessions in 4 months. Delivered award-winning desktop training simulation for fire investigation courses at the Justice Institute of BC.
• Managed two teams to iterate on concept designs & prototype testing on Unity Game Engine & Figma for a platformer game and tugboat simulator exhibit at the Vancouver Maritime Museum.

Independent Contractor + Designer + Photo/Videographer - Gini Choi Designs - Vancouver, B.C.

(2018-02 - 2023-03)

Client-Centred Approach: takes on any role to meet each client's business and/or personal goals.

• UI/UX/Graphic Design: Cactus Media Group, Celebrity Clinic, BadRealm Records, Linda Louie for East Side Culture Crawl, Jalapeño Employee Engagement, DiamondNet, etc.
• Photo/Videography: Lux Fire Productions, DVJ Wedding Studios, etc.

Research Study Coordinator - UBC Social Health Lab - Vancouver, B.C.

(2017-10 - 2018-12)

• In charge of training new research assistants, scheduling & administrative operations, data collection & organization, social media & poster advertisements.
• Initiated & collaborated with a computer engineering student to develop a Python script to automate repetitive & tedious data organization tasks to eliminate inefficient protocols.

Research Assistant & Website Coordinator - UBC Brain Attention & Reality Lab - Vancouver, B.C.

(2016-04 - 2021-09)

• Managed several cognitive research projects from participant-centred methodology design for protocol & stimuli development, surveys, data collection & organization involving eye trackers, VR, large touchscreens, user interfaces on laptops/desktops, etc.
• Co-authored 2 research publications in peer-reviewed journals with Lab Director, Ph.D students, and Post Doc researchers.
• Custom-designed lab website with HTML/CSS on WordPress CMS and handled content updates.

Research Assistant - UBC Knowledge, Innovation, Development (K.I.D.) Lab & Living Lab - Vancouver, B.C.

(2015-09 - 2016-09)

• Collected behavioural data for 8 developmental studies from families with children aged 3-10.
• Received mentorship & opportunities to propose a new 2x2 factorial research study about paralinguistics.
• Applied UX design principles for protocol development & audio-visual design for experimental stimuli.

Master of Digital Media - Digital Media - Centre for Digital Media (UBC + SFU + BCIT + ECU) (2020-09 - 2022-06)

Bachelor of Arts - Psychology - University of British Columbia (2014-09 - 2019-06)