My name is Sarah and I am based in Southern California. I tell compelling stories through data by leveraging my multidisciplinary background. I care about improving people’s lives through technology.
I enjoy kayaking, knitting, and going on food adventures when I can.
Here is a list of my other favorite things:
📖 Books: Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Infinite Country by Patricia Engel , The House by the Cerluan Sea by TJ Klune
🎭 TV Characters: Ben Wyatt from Parks and Rec., Randall and Beth Pearson from This is Us
🎓 Learning apps: DataCamp, Rocket Language
🎥 Movie: Kung Fu Panda
If you want to know more, feel free to download my resume or scroll through the web version on this page.
Answerlab / Senior Researcher + Program Manager
March 2022 - Present
Managed Google’s program pipeline, serving as a strategic partner to client and internal leadership while driving cross-functional alignment across PM, UXD, & UXR teams.
Improved program health by reducing project attrition from 50% to 10% and increasing research output 3x through operational leadership and stakeholder management.
Crafted AI agents and automation processes to ensure delivery excellence for Google’s CoreUX program and accelerated AnswerLab’s pipeline turnaround time.
Pioneered AI solutions for Google’s Research Archive that improved insight visibility and maintenance for research teams across the Google portfolio.
Mentored multiple UXRs on best practices for study design, analysis, and stakeholder communication, while doing quality control of peer reports to increase client satisfaction.
Led research strategy, with 100+ exploratory and evaluative studies for FAANG partners to help client leadership with feature prioritization and product roadmaps.
Owned a rolling research metrics program for YouTube, evaluating AI video output quality and workflow integration; insights drove model training improvements and feature entry point changes that contributed to a 20% increase in adoption.
Increased revenue streams within the research program by increasing capabilities in research methodology (i.e., surveys) and launching new programs.
Involved in early experimentation of an ad burn-down research program to help customer success leads identify the effort-to-profit ratio for AnswerLab product offerings.
University of California – Irvine / UX Researcher & Educator
August 2015 - August 2020
Managed a multidisciplinary design research team across engineering, informatics and art, that pioneered technological approaches to tangible cultural heritage preservation.
Co-chair of late breaking work that evaluated and reviewed innovative research for the Association of Computer Machinery (ACM) in 2019.
Authored an influential journal article in Transactions of Computer-Human Interaction on women’s health inequities and design disruption that was cited 20+ times across academia.
Performed accessibility research to drive opportunities for private disability-related funding.
Trained 170 design students in research, accessibility, and product design; supervised teams partnering with companies and nonprofits to deliver stakeholder-driven outcomes.
Blackbox @ Cards Against Humanity / Design Research Intern
June 2017 - September 2017
Identified accessibility issues that enabled use of the dashboard and reduced need for human and tech support.
Mapped end-to-end logistics workflows through IA audits, card sorting, and contextual interviews to identify and resolve cross-team bottlenecks and redundancies.
Drove product prioritization through competitive analysis and strategic frameworks (e.g., Business Model Canvas), strengthened market differentiation against competitors.
Assisted in A/B testing of the Cards Against Humanity Lab site.
Indiana University / UX Researcher & Associate Instructor
August 2015 - May 2017
Conducted business strategy and product innovation workshops at the Kelley School of Business and managed the School of Informatics Fall symposium event.
Recognized for top 5% of submissions in ACM CHI 2017 with an Honorable Mention Award for contributions to inclusive product innovation.
Managed and maintained makerspaces for physical product design and prototyping, while conducting safety training for teaching assistants and students.
Taught prototyping, experience and service design of 40 graduate professionals.
Notionfront / Video Production Assistant
April 2014 - February 2015
Image taken for Daym Magazine
Helped build websites using Wordpress and Joomla.
Created promotional videos for the Community Health Systems in Missouri.
Curated and photographed features section for the Daym Magazine.
World Vision USA / Graphic Design Intern
June 2013 - August 2013
Established methods of engaging the Korean and Chinese community in the West Coast region to become child ambassadors.
Copy edited content written in English and Mandarin and created monthly adverts in Korean.
Designed flyers, posters and postcards for a campaign in Mandarin, Hangul and English.
Columbia Missourian / Staff Photographer and Journalist
Jan - May 2013 & Aug - Dec 2013
Captured moments on camera through the observation of surroundings and archived metadata of photographs for easier accessibility.
Produced multimedia videos for the online news edition.
Worked in the urban community for the public life beat and built good rapport with the assigned local community.
University of California – Irvine / M.S. Informatics
September 2019 - August 2020
Indiana University / M.S. Human-Computer Interaction Design
August 2015 - May 2017
University of Missouri / B.A.J in Photojournalism
January 2011 - December 2013
University of Missouri / B.A. Religious Studies
January 2011 - December 2013
Sarah Ng, Jeffrey Bardzell and Shaowen Bardzell. (2020) Menstruating Entrepreneur:
Kickstarting the New Politics of Women’s Health. in 2020 Transactions of Computer Human
Interaction Special Issue: Women’s Health. New York, NY.
Shaowen Bardzell, Jeffrey Bardzell, and Sarah Ng. (2017) Supporting Cultures of Making:
Technology, Policy, Visions, and Myths. in 2017 Proceedings of Computer Human Interaction. New York, NY. DOI: https://www.doi.org/ 10.1145/3025453.3025975
Presentation
Sarah Ng. (2019) Neocolonial Databases and Negotiated Bodies. HASTAC 2019: Decolonizing Technologies, Reprograming Education. Vancouver, Canada.
Sarah Ng. (2020) Seizing Precolonial Nostalgia for a Transnational Future. in Center for Media, Religion and Communication at Imagined Borders, Epistemic Freedoms. Boulder, Colorado, USA.
Workshops
Sarah Ng & Noopur Raval. (2019) Inequalities of Global Knowledge Production. Accelerated
Academy Symposium. Lansing, Michigan
CHI Conference Late Breaking Work for ACM / Associate Chair
2020
Reviewed late breaking papers for human computer-interaction concerning design, culture and computing.
Coordinated and assigned reviews in the field.
Peer reviewed papers for rigourous research methodology, empiricism and research takeaways. courses.
DECADE / Head of Recruitment
2018 - 2020
Supervised recruitment for the Diverse Educational Community and Doctoral Experience group at the UC - Irvine.
Helped inspire talented undergraduates to apply for PhD programs at UCI.
Provided informational support for minority and first generation students.
Coordinated programs to support graduate students.
University of California - Irvine / Diversity Ambassador
2018 - 2019
Coordinated diversity activities for all current and incoming students in the fields of Informatics, CS and Engineering.
Developed a mentorship program between HBCU & UCI to increase the pool of talented PhD students. The efforts led to a noticeable increase in diversity the following year in the department.
Conducted webinars for prospective students and provided advice on the application process.
Business is Global / Mentor
March 2016 - March 2017
Taught students from rural communities in the US about design and innovation at Indiana University’s Kelly School of Business.
Indiana University Spring Research Symposium / Coordinator
2016
Organized the Spring Research Symposium where students showcased their project work.
Provided research support and coordination for students on site.
Designed the awards for winners using laser cutting.