Product Pros 02 | Tokyo
š Hello! In this series I ask product pros from different cultures just three questions. Tokyo edition.
Meet Akiko: UX Researcher and Designer at btrax, based in Tokyo.
š How does your countryās or cultureās uniqueness influence your approach to UX Research?
I am originally Japanese and I learned English as a second language. I also lived in Netherlands for a year as an exchange student and that culture is quite different to a Japanese culture.
For example, communication wise, in Japan, a lot of the communications are indirect. Having that in mind, when I was in Netherlands people donāt have bad intentions but they just tell you what they think. So that was like a huge cultural difference for me. But that kind of helped me to have two different perspectives, in my head, and I became able to switch between different communication styles.
As a researcher I conduct interviews, sometimes with English speakers, and sometimes with Japanese people. When I form the questions, I always think about, what kind of person I will talk to, and what kind of expressions will help them to be comfortable to speak up and to say, their honest opinion.
If itās a Japanese person, I try not to push them too much, but rather give them the options to be able to, for example, select what is the closest to their feeling. Japanese people tend to say general opinion rather than their own opinion. They also prefer to describe something as āgoodā rather than criticize. Itās really important to assure them that whatever they say is fine and helps us to improve, there is no right or wrong answer.
When I talk to American people (my company has office in San Francisco) Iām trying to be straightforward. If I talked to them in a Japanese way it would be too vague and easy to get lost.
Having different perspectives helped me to be more of a flexible minded researcher.
āļø Your top 3 favourite products
I really like Muji, because itās affordable, very functional, well designed and itās really simple/minimalistic so itās for anyone.
I recently purchased a travel pyjamas from Muji. I travel a lot for business and I like sleeping in pyjamas, but they take a lot of space in my luggage. The one I got from Muji is so compact and yet comfortable, I really appreciate the design.
This week my Slack crushed and I was so worried, how Iām going to communicate with my coworkers? That made me realise that Slack really became part of my working environment.
The experience when we communicate via slack is totally different from the way we communicate via email. In that sense, Slack really changed the way we work remotely and communicate with others. And I always enjoy customising emojis and sending GIFs it adds a bit of fun and makes communication more cultural and interactive.
I wonāt say itās my favourite, but I just feel it became an essential. Itās really well made and it fits the current working environment.
My third favorite product is a Japanese pen. Itās affordable, has nice design and is smooth to write.
I prefer to use pen and paper for brainstorming and drawing rough sketches of wireframes so it helps me when I design.
š” Whatās one piece of advice youād offer to aspiring product designers or researchers based on your experiences?
I changed my career to product world in the past years. What helped me the most I think is that I was open to share my status, curiosity or passion to other people. And that always helped me to find a way or people who were willing to guide me.
In the past, I was really shy about my challenges or ambitions I was not confident enough. I didnāt have any design background from university. So I was afraid to say, I want to be a designer.
At first I thought Iām a bit too late because I started learning in my late 20s. In Japan we say:
āToday is your youngest day, because tomorrow, you will be one day olderā
But then I changed my mindset and when I started learning I started telling my friends and other people āIām learning something new, Iām learning designā.
People were really positive about that. And some of them introduced me to potential clients, or connected me with their friends.
When we start something new, we are worried to be judged. I was so amazed how much people are willing to help. Especially at the beginning, I even didnāt know where to study UX. I was so lost and I ended up posting on Facebook and LinkedIn groups that Iām looking for a bootcamp, a lot of people from all over the world found and commented on my posts. I even found my mentor and finally I got my job. Others supported me a lot.
My tip is wherever you are right now in your journey speak up.
