Wenhui Gao

User researcher who plans and runs mixed-methods research end to end: framing the product decisions research must inform, recruiting participants, running interviews, contextual inquiry, surveys and usability tests, and turning evidence into prioritised recommendations teams can act on. Recently took an AI product from discovery to a live MVP, researching when users want AI to give answers and when they want to keep control of their own judgement, and built it in Next.js with the OpenAI API, so works comfortably alongside designers and engineers. Six years of client-facing B2B experience, including discovery research across 100+ client organisations at Steelcase and customer and market research in B2B tech marketing.

MA Digital Technologies, Communication and Education (Manchester, Dec 2026).

Bilingual

English–Mandarin.

Senior Sales Consultant | Learning Space Experience Design; Sales Consultant | Learning Space Experience Design at Steelcase Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Beijing Branch (2022-12 – 2025-02)

Global leader in workplace and learning-space design. Client-facing B2B role combining user research, design consultancy and delivery for school and university clients.

• Led discovery research across 100+ client organisations, interviewing end users and stakeholders and observing how people actually used their spaces, to uncover needs clients had not articulated.
• Designed and analysed a survey of 120+ students at a Chinese university on how they used the library and what they needed from it; the findings shaped the client's shift to flexible, dynamic learning space.
• Applied inclusive design by offering varied options for different needs rather than one standard solution, e.g. acoustic pods and private settings in open spaces for students with ADHD.
• Synthesised insights into user needs, proposals and pilot mock-ups tied to observed behaviour, iterating with user feedback; played back findings to senior decision-makers with evidence-led storytelling.
• Translated recommendations into specifications and implementation plans, facilitating 50+ design thinking workshops, pilots and presentations with clients, architects, design partners and delivery teams.
• This research-led approach won seven new customers (~US$0.8M) and converted US$1.3M of FY24 revenue.

Field Marketing Manager at Shanghai JKSTACK Science and Technology Co., Ltd. (2021-08 – 2022-06)

• Analysed quarterly campaign ROI and search-keyword data to understand what prospects looked for and responded to, refining digital and SEO strategy and increasing qualified online leads by 38.6%.
• Managed 20 integrated campaigns (webinars, events, forums), generating a ¥20M (~£2M) sales pipeline.

Marketing Manager at X-WORK Technology Beijing Co., Ltd. (2017-07 – 2020-08)

• Researched customer needs, competitors and market trends across China's education and workplace markets to define customer segments, positioning and go-to-market priorities.
• Led the core content programme (catalogues, case studies, customer presentations), iterating it over three rounds based on customer and sales feedback.
• Designed and delivered eight training programmes for 100+ customers and design professionals, contributing to a 25% revenue increase in 2019.

MA in Digital Technologies, Communication and Education – University of Manchester (2025-09 – 2026-12)

BSc in Marketing – Dalian University of Technology (2013-09 – 2017-07)