Sean Tangco


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Mixed Method UX Researcher 

& 

Applied Ethnographer


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I excel at building relationships, empathizing with people's needs, and strengthening team morale.


As a trained applied anthropologist, I embed ethnographic methods into the research and analyses I conduct to triangulate the WHY behind human behaviors and attitudes.



Skills

User research

I'm effective at conducting end to end user ethnographic research projects, from managing stakeholders and research design to data collection and analysis as well as presenting actionable insights. 

Analytics

I use various software tools to establish benchmarks for design evaluation as well as describing behavioral and attitudinal data sets. 

User Testing

My UX testing skills range from diary studies and participatory design studies to concept testing and unmoderated A/B testing. 


Story Telling

I facilitate the communication of research strategies and findings  with individuals and large groups in both formal and informal settings. 

Software 

My select  projects

Below are snapshots of my research process for select projects. Connect with me on LinkedIn for a full walkthrough of my case studies.  

LinkedIn

Goal:

Identify barriers to adoption and increase user awareness, understanding, and utilization.


Problem:

Low employee engagement and lack of perceived value for the productivity suite.


Responsibilities: 

Lead research design, data collection and analysis, and developed recommendations.

Goal:

Identify high-value features to improve discoverability, usability, and user satisfaction.


Problem:

Underutilized features are confusing customers and occupying valuable UI space


Responsibilities: 

Stakeholder management, research design, data collection and analysis, reporting

Goal:

Understand employee dissatisfaction with a knowledge discovery tool to improve usage. 


Problem:

Declining Net Satisfaction Score and low user engagement with the tool.


Responsibilities: 

Designed mixed-methods study, developed and presented actionable recommendations.

Investigating the Value Gap of Employee Experience Apps

Microsoft

Scope

Microsoft Viva, a suite of employee experience tools, was confusing employees who did not understand its value proposition.

My objective was to understand the barriers to adoption and develop strategies to increase awareness, understanding, and utilization.

Process



Key Outcomes & Insights

Employees lacked awareness of Viva's purpose and full capabilities, perceiving the tools as irrelevant to their roles and experiencing usability and integration challenges.

Please reach out for a case study walkthrough for more key insights.

Lessons Learned








Optimizing the Navigation and IA for B2B SaaS

Demandforce

Scope

The user interface suffered from underutilized features and reports signaling poor user understanding of these features. 

My primary objective was to understand our users’ workflows and identify valuable features and meaningful terminology that aligned with their mental models. 

Process





Key Outcomes & Insights 

The 12-tab navigation (top image) was changed to vertical design (bottom image) with 4 parent-level tabs and incorporated terminology in alignment with users’ mental models. 

Please reach out for a case study walkthrough for more key insights.

Lessons Learned









Mixed-Method Study on a Knowledge Discovery Tool 

Microsoft

Scope

Microsoft Viva Topics, a knowledge discovery tool, was experiencing a decline in employee satisfaction. 

My objective was to uncover the root causes of this dissatisfaction and provide actionable recommendations to improve the user experience and drive adoption.

Process

Key Outcomes & Insights

The tool could not gain user trust as it surfaced irrelevant and outdated knowledge recommendations. I recommended actions to enable more effective curation approaches. 

Please reach out for a case study walkthrough for more key insights.

Lessons Learned