Hello! I'm Lisa
I am a highly motivated, detail-oriented and goal-driven leader who is devoted to helping others rise to their full potential and achieve their goals with empathy, mindfulness and purpose.
As an adept cultural translator and strategic thinker, I am passionate about connecting people, culture and technology across brands, industries and professional disciplines. My work thrives on pushing the boundaries to innovate on future-driven products and experiences. In making sense of the present to anticipate change in the future, I aim to help global companies gain a competitive edge by crafting the vision of their business more effectively.
Having grown up in the East with an in-depth knowledge of working in the West, I am in an opportune position to understand both worlds. My multicultural background fuels my passion for diverse viewpoints and discovering the why’s of human emotions.
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My passion in life has always been about making sense of chaos and connecting the dots to see the bigger picture in harmony. I have a genuine curiosity for learning and problem-solving, with a deep love for discovering and understanding people and cultures around the world. Cultural immersion is very important to me. It puts my own life into perspective and helps me become a more compassionate individual with empathy for others.
Critical thinking and constructive planning are core to my professional experience in finding the right balance between innovation and functionality. I believe in bringing clarity, intent and meaning to experiences that delight and inspire people to engage and do more.
With over 20 years of design experience spanning Asia, Europe and USA, my intuition is on point with impeccable insights on the futurescape of automotive, consumer electronics, food technology, robotics, Internet of Things, travel and hospitality, health and wellness.
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EXPERIENCE
2005-Present
Chief Sense-Maker
2005-2015
Features Contributor
2003-2005
Research Director
Y STUDIOS | SAN FRANCISCO
Spearheaded research programs using Culture-Driven Intelligence that informs and communicates the vision and sense-making on our clients’ projects, giving them a competitive edge with culturally appropriate business and design strategies for product and service design development.
WGSN.COM | LONDON
WGSN.com is a London-based online design intelligence and research service for fashion and lifestyle industries. As features contributor, I was commissioned to write special themed reports for WGSN-Homebuildlife and Opinion USA. I also participated in their annual trend workshops, and provided design research and analysis for their client advisory projects. Selection of WGSN reports at www.ystudios.com/insights-perspective
MOTOROLA ADVANCED CONCEPTS GROUP | BOSTON
Directed research and analysis of emerging global socio-cultural and aesthetic trends, and implemented research insights for the development of breakthrough, integrated solutions that influenced the product planning of Motorola Personal Communication Sector (PCS) portfolio.
1996-2003
Designer and Researcher
PHILIPS DESIGN | GLOBAL
Managed projects and worked on different programs in Europe, Asia and USA, ranging from Interaction Design, Design Research, Industrial Design to Trend Analysis and CMF. Also worked on advance design research into the Future of Living in Asia to create new concept paradigms and new business opportunities for Philips.
EXPERTISE
FUTURE INTELLIGENCE
Futurescoping
Cultural Immersions
Innovation Workshops
MARKET PULSE
Comparative Landscape
Opportunity Mapping
CONSUMER INSIGHTS
Consumer & Expert Interviews
Lifestyle Personas
Futurescoping is the quintessence of innovation. It is intrinsic and central to the core of consistent monitoring of emergent macro socio-cultural movements that drive paradigm shifts in cultural behaviors, values and belief systems. I have an instinctual comprehension of key change agents in industries that steer new business opportunities, consumers and product categories of growth for my clients. It is always exciting to discover new ways of thinking, using future-inspired research that incorporates macro deep dives, Cultural Immersions and Innovation Workshops for clients like Barilla, Chrysler, LG Electronics, Samsung, Schumacher Electric, Sony America, WGSN.
My intuitive knowledge of emerging macro trends, market needs and consumer expectations provide valuable input for conducting effective Needs Analysis that explores new interpretations on branding experiences that challenge existing expectations and attitudes. New growth areas and business opportunities can then be identified by translating key influences – markets, consumers, culture, aesthetic expressions and new technologies – into a cohesive Brand and Design Strategy for clients like Barilla, Microsoft, Pepsi-Co, Philips Electronics, Schumacher Electric, VAVA, WGSN.
I love to dig deep into fully understanding market and consumer needs by conducting informal discussions with industry experts and end-users for their candid opinions on market trends, socio-cultural and economic needs. These insights uncover consumer attitudes that drive new cultural behaviors. Contextual visualization of Lifestyle Personas also helps define various aspects of consumer personalities and aspirational needs that are relevant for clients like Compound Eye, Hyundai, Peregrine Gaming Glove, Samsung, Schumacher Electric, Sony America, WGSN.
EXPERIENCE DESIGN
Brand Design Strategy
Concept Validation Interviews
Vision Boarding
CMF Design Strategy
Good design does not exist in a vacuum, it needs to fulfill a purpose and provide meaning to how consumers use a product or service. I work effectively with cross-functional teams to validate concept ideas and verify feasibility for design development and production. My synthesis of research insights establishes a cohesive Brand and Design Strategy that communicates a compelling brand story with inspirational design guidelines that ensure optimal success on a viable user experience from start to finish. This integrated Experience Design approach has been effectual for clients Baidu, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Netgear, Philips Electronics, Samsung, Sonos.
SKILLS
INNOVATION LEADERSHIP
Critical decision-making, strategic analysis, complex problem solving, process innovation, creative direction, brainstorm facilitation
ANALYTICAL REASONING
Cultural research, consumer insights, trend forecasting, business and market analysis, needs analysis, strategy synthesis, content strategy, data analysis and management
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
New business development, strategic planning, project management, process management, project planning, operations management, budgeting, forecasting, business goal visioning and planning, client relationship management
COMMUNICATION & PRESENTATION
Public speaking, persuasive storytelling, visual communication, graphics design, data visualization and reporting
CONTENT MANAGEMENT
Report writing, blog writing, proposal writing, presentation writing, social media and digital marketing management, CMS Content Management Systems
TEAM BUILDING
Active listening, cross-functional collaboration, conflict management, problem-solving, mentoring, transparency
INTERPERSONAL
Emotional Intelligence, empathy, negotiating, recruitment, interviewing, knowledge-sharing, teamwork, persuasive articulation
METHODOLGY
FUTURESCOPING
Macro socio-cultural movements drive significant paradigm shifts in cultural behaviors, values and belief systems. Insights on sub-cultural influencers and emerging aspirational needs help identify important change agents that drive new business opportunities and growth categories. An annual mapping of these insights provides an overview of noteworthy cultural phenomena that play a significant role in the way we live, work and play.
COMPARATIVE LANDSCAPE
The ecosystem of socio-cultural influencers affects our relationship with the environment, our sense of identity, and our lifestyle choices. A comprehensive view of the ecosphere enables us to gain new perceptions on the business and cultural landscape of experiences, with regards to market needs and consumer expectations that influence lifestyle choices.
CONSUMER INSIGHTS
Consumer behaviors continually evolve with lifestyle influencers around fundamental differentiators in generation, gender and geographical diversity. Insights can be derived from Needs Interviews with industry experts and consumers for candid opinions on market trends, socio-cultural and economic needs, as well as consumer attitudes that drive new cultural behaviors. New categories of consumers can be defined by visualizing distinctive consumer characteristics and lifestyle needs in Lifestyle Personas within the cultural context of their lifestyle environments. Concept Validation Interviews with target consumers can also be conducted to gain feedback on initial design concepts and provide meaning to how consumers use a product or service.
CMF DESIGN STRATEGY
Holistic synthesis of research, design and CMF* insights into a cohesive methodology that provides vision and guidelines for the development of a robust design language. CMF Design Strategy is fundamental to the Industrial Design process. In order to create product differentiation and increase success rate in a competitive market, it needs to be at the front end of the design development cycle. CMF design guidelines come from Aesthetic Themes and Material Sample Boards that communicate how innovative CMF concepts can be applied and implemented in the development cycle for final production.
* CMF – Colors, Materials, Finishes
CULTURAL IMMERSIONS
Bespoke, curated experiences that provide an insider’s guide to experiencing city cultures, lifestyle environments and first hand encounters with key influencers in market-specific industries of interest. These individually crafted excursions enable participants to observe the latest business, cultural and technology trends, as well as gain exposure to unique insights that can stimulate innovative ideas for new business models and opportunities. Cultural Immersions are often combined with Innovation Workshops to translate learnings into an actionable business strategy and new product portfolio for the brand.
INNOVATION WORKSHOP
Discussion platform for sharing research insights that identify opportunity areas, enabling all key stakeholders to align expectations and define together a coherent approach to a viable business and design strategy. Output from the Innovation Workshop aims to inspire new business strategies and innovative ideas that can be developed further into product concepts for prototyping and manufacturing. Cultural Immersions are often combined with Innovation Workshops for a cohesive learning experience across multi-functional teams to engage in stimulating discussions. Learnings are translated into an actionable business strategy and new product portfolio for the brand.
CLIENTS
TESTIMONIALS
TOSH ARAKI
CLIENT
Former Senior Design Producer at Sony Creative Center
I had a great pleasure working with Lisa for the Design & Technology trend research project at Sony. From the inception, Lisa showed her exceptional communications to capture and distill client’s goal into concrete research plans. Not only Lisa has very sensitive antenna to the culture/design/tech trends, she is also thorough and articulate in compiling her insights along with the client’s business context, which makes Lisa a unique and outstanding researcher. I highly recommend Lisa’s professional services and look forward to working together in the future again.
NICHOLAS LARKINS PEREZ
CLIENT
Innovation Manager at Samsung Product Innovation Team
Lisa is an truly kind and comforting voice in a tech world I’ve felt to be almost always colder than it presents itself. Her empathy leads her research toward *truly* valuable insight.
MONI WOLF
CLIENT
Principal Design Manager at Microsoft
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Lisa while at Motorola and now at Microsoft as well. She is exceptional at communicating top quality research insights in a manner that is easy to understand and inspirational for new thinking in brand, product and CMF strategies. The combined efforts of her Mesh Collective team, brought a fresh perspective to trend forecasting, CMF research and development, and manufacturing technology. We are very pleased with the results of their recent CMF work for us, which have exceeded our expectations and was very well-received. They were very professional, forward thinking, easy to work with and efficient in producing usable solutions that embrace our immediate and future needs. I would highly recommend Lisa Yong and Mesh Collective anytime.
REIKO MORRISON
COLLABORATOR
Color, Material and Finish Expert
Lisa has been a real pleasure to work with and I can highly recommend her talents. Lisa did an exceptional job on all of the projects that we worked on together and she was a supportive, caring teammate. She is passionate, detail oriented, insightful, deadline oriented and highly professional. She has travelled the world and gained vast knowledge of cultural trends and is an inspiring design strategist. Thanks to her interpersonal skills, Lisa has great relations with clients and co-workers. I'm very proud of the work she has accomplished during her career and I'm always excited to learn about what she does next.
KITTY SUIDMAN
COLLABORATOR
Director of Color, Material, Finish at Sonos, Inc.
I have had the honor of working together with Lisa both at Philips Design and Motorola -- in the area of Visual Trend Analysis and Socio Cultural Trending. Lisa is by far the most talented individual I have come across within this area of expertise! With her international background and travels, she has a keen sensitivity to spotting emerging trends across the globe and translating them into business strategies and design solutions for different markets.
TOSH ARAKI
Client
Former Senior Design Producer at Sony Creative Center
I had a great pleasure working with Lisa for the Design & Technology trend research project at Sony. From the inception, Lisa showed her exceptional communications to capture and distill client’s goal into concrete research plans. Not only Lisa has very sensitive antenna to the culture/design/tech trends, she is also thorough and articulate in compiling her insights along with the client’s business context, which makes Lisa a unique and outstanding researcher. I highly recommend Lisa’s professional services and look forward to working together in the future again.
TADEO TOULIS
CLIENT
Vice President of Design at Sonos, Inc.
Every once in a while you meet someone early in your career who has an enduring impact on how you think about your craft. Lisa is one of those people. In her role as Research Director at Motorola’s Advanced Concepts Lab, Lisa was an invaluable collaborator who helped the team strengthen their product proposals with robust cultural research. Our association instilled in me a deep appreciation for the role socio-culture observation plays in helping organizations navigate market shifts. Lisa’s ability to find patterns at both regional and global scale is without rival but what makes her such a valuable addition to any team, is her ability to document, organize, and communicate those findings in ways that engage and enlist others in the findings. Since Motorola, I have had the opportunity to engage Lisa’s expertise to help organizations make sense of emergent behavior and trends. I can say with confidence she remains a formidable resource. If you can attract her to your problem, do so.
NICHOLAS LARKINS PEREZ
CLIENT
Innovation Manager at Samsung Product Innovation Team
Lisa is an truly kind and comforting voice in a tech world I’ve felt to be almost always colder than it presents itself. Her empathy leads her research toward *truly* valuable insight.
TOSH ARAKI
CLIENT
Former Senior Design Producer at Sony Creative Center
I had a great pleasure working with Lisa for the Design & Technology trend research project at Sony. From the inception, Lisa showed her exceptional communications to capture and distill client’s goal into concrete research plans. Not only Lisa has very sensitive antenna to the culture/design/tech trends, she is also thorough and articulate in compiling her insights along with the client’s business context, which makes Lisa a unique and outstanding researcher. I highly recommend Lisa’s professional services and look forward to working together in the future again.
REIKO MORRISON
COLLABORATOR
Color, Material and Finish Expert
Lisa has been a real pleasure to work with and I can highly recommend her talents. Lisa did an exceptional job on all of the projects that we worked on together and she was a supportive, caring teammate. She is passionate, detail oriented, insightful, deadline oriented and highly professional. She has travelled the world and gained vast knowledge of cultural trends and is an inspiring design strategist. Thanks to her interpersonal skills, Lisa has great relations with clients and co-workers. I'm very proud of the work she has accomplished during her career and I'm always excited to learn about what she does next.
KITTY SUIDMAN
COLLABORATOR
Director of Color, Material, Finish at Sonos, Inc.
I have had the honor of working together with Lisa both at Philips Design and Motorola -- in the area of Visual Trend Analysis and Socio Cultural Trending. Lisa is by far the most talented individual I have come across within this area of expertise! With her international background and travels, she has a keen sensitivity to spotting emerging trends across the globe and translating them into business strategies and design solutions for different markets.
MONI WOLF
CLIENT
Principal Design Manager at Microsoft
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Lisa while at Motorola and now at Microsoft as well. She is exceptional at communicating top quality research insights in a manner that is easy to understand and inspirational for new thinking in brand, product and CMF strategies. The combined efforts of her Mesh Collective team, brought a fresh perspective to trend forecasting, CMF research and development, and manufacturing technology. We are very pleased with the results of their recent CMF work for us, which have exceeded our expectations and was very well-received. They were very professional, forward thinking, easy to work with and efficient in producing usable solutions that embrace our immediate and future needs. I would highly recommend Lisa Yong and Mesh Collective anytime.
MARCO BEVOLO
CLIENT
Former Director of Foresight at Philips Design
By means of on-site visual research and workshops, Lisa Yong -on behalf of Y-Vision- crucially contributed to the 2006 Philips Design global trend research program with an organic project, including a number of deep insights about China. The deliverables offered clear, communicative and actionable assets to Philips Design, enabling a superior understanding of Chinese rich texture of diversity and difference, both aesthetic and cultural. I was personally delighted to experience both the carefully designed deliverables and the excellent relationship management, and I remain looking forward to working together with Lisa in the future on wider Asian future explorations.
SUZANNE GIBBS HOWARD
CLIENT
Partner+Dean & Managing Director of IDEO U at IDEO
We value Lisa’s work and her perspective. It is unique compared to any other person we have found to work with, particularly with her multicultural understanding. Lisa is an absolute pleasure to work with. She is reliable, honest and open. I call her every time I have an opportunity.
SCOTT SMITH
CLIENT
Managing Partner at Changeist
I have had the pleasure of working with Lisa twice - once with her partner Wai several years ago when they briefed my clients for a day on design in Asia, and just recently on a consulting project that required field research, synthesis and analysis. Lisa brings a rare, balanced understanding of the needs of the social researcher and designer to her work, which she completed on time, on budget, and delivered with great results. Her experience, calm, flexibility and vision set me up perfectly to delivery valuable, actionable insights to my client. I look forward to my next opportunity to work with her.
ROGER TREDRE
CLIENT
Former Editor in Chief at WGSN
Lisa Yong is a much travelled and experienced trend analyst with a wide range of skill sets that enable her to immerse herself in cultures and draw original learnings from her research. She combines thorough analysis with exceptional presentational skills, making sense of our culturally complex world in a way that is accessible but never simplistic. At WGSN, her presentations and input into our research work have been hugely valued and brought a new dimension to our research process.
ALI MORRIS
CLIENT
Design Journalist, former Interiors Editor at WGSN
WGSN-homebuildlife has worked with Lisa for just over two years now and she continues to be a key contributor to our content team. Her expert knowledge of both US and Asian consumers provide us with invaluable future consumer reports for our Think Tank directory. Lisa's research is always broad and thorough linking everything from emerging digital technologies to craft to grassroots social movements. In addition she is a pleasure to work with and always delivers on time.
GENEVIEVE FLAVEN
CLIENT
Founder and Managing Partner at Style Vision
Lisa Yong has worked on our Mega Trend reports which deal with the latest developments in trend research. Her contribution to these reports has resulted in sharp, visionary indicators. With her strong dedication to the trend industry, Style-Vision always appreciates her insights, knowledge, and experience. Lisa's expertise in the field provides a solid base for our research and we are very happy that she is part of our network.
EDUCATION
1992-1995
University
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHUMBRIA AT NEWCASTLE | UNITED KINGDOM
BA (Hons), Design For Industry
1989-1991
Polytechnic
TEMASEK POLYTECHNIC | SINGAPORE
Diploma, Product Design
1986-1988
Pre-University
CATHOLIC JUNIOR COLLEGE | SINGAPORE
Cambridge General Certificate of Education 'Advanced' Level
1982-1986
Secondary School
CHIJ | SINGAPORE
Cambridge General Certificate of Education 'Ordinary' Level
PROFICIENCY
Adobe Creative Cloud
Microsoft Office
Squarespace, Wix, WordPress
Fluent in English, Chinese, Cantonese
Apple iWorks, Google Suite
Basecamp, Paper, Slack
INTERESTS
TRAVEL
FOOD
JOURNALING
My cultural identity is fluid – I consider myself a cultural chameleon, a global culturalist – able to adapt and assimilate in new environments easily. I’ve always had a deep curiosity for exploring the soul and spirit of the people through their cultures.
A traveler at heart, I have a fondness for learning new languages, discovering different life perspectives, enjoying culinary adventures and meeting wonderful people from all walks of life who are open-minded and perceptive.
My curiosity in the minutiae of life is an inspirational springboard to a collection of articles that express my thoughts, ideas, opinions and observations from around the world. They energize and stimulate my creative mind.
Selection of my work at INSIGHTS