MORE ABOUT ME: THE 60-SECOND VERSION
Exploring new futures through creativity and curiosity.
ABOUT ME: THE 15-SECOND VERSION
Hi, I’m Nicole
I’m a design anthropologist, ethnographer, service designer and sketch illustrator. I grew up in Ontario, and after living abroad for 3 years in both London and Amsterdam, I’m now based in Vancouver, Canada. I love my work as a design researcher and service designer with the Government of British Columbia. Always curious and eager to learn more about others, you might say —I’m a people person.
HOW DO YOU SAY MY NAME?
Aleong “AH-lee-ong” is a Trinidadian surname, and very likely a variation of the Cantonese surname ‘Leung’, which ties to my ethnic heritage as a descendant of Chinese West-Indian immigrants.
For me, asking questions and spending quality time are the best ways to truly and deeply get to know someone. By watching how we curate certain objects in our home, or reflecting on why we value certain rituals and routines in our lives — I end up coming back to one thing: what makes us human?
Anthropology — the study of human culture through time and space — has always been a critical foundation to answering that question. Over time, I’ve become more fascinated by the role of design, technology, and most recently, futures thinking.
For most of my career, I worked either at an agency, Lux Insights, or freelance, as a research consultant conducting custom-tailored research projects for clients ranging from global tech brands (i.e., Amazon, Google, and Nintendo) to tech start-ups, federal and provincial bodies of government, and local NGOs.
Albeit, no stranger to a good survey, I’ve gained expertise in qualitative and UX methods and have conducted research in-person and remotely alongside folks in Canada, China, Denmark, India, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, and the USA.
In July 2022, I graduated with my MSc in Cultural and Social Anthropology from the University of Amsterdam. My research brought issues related to forced migration, economic integration, the creative economy, and future-making into a single frame. Asking: what can we learn about crafting desirable futures from those navigating deep uncertainty? From there, I joined TPXimpact, a digital transformation consultancy, to bring foundational human insights to improve the delivery of digital services.
As much as I love travel and where the last few years have taken me, I’ve moved forward to Canada. As of January 2025, I’ve joined the BC Government’s Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs as a Senior Service Designer with the Housing Innovations Division to find new ways to address the provincial housing crisis in collaboration with First Nations and Indigenous communities.
Eager to investigate how to democratize more regenerative, inclusive, and desirable futures, I am following where my curiosity leads.
Rather read a PDF? (Coming soon)
WHAT PEOPLE HAVE TO SAY
Nicole has a form of leading by example that I’m sure others will be drawn in!
– Senior Insights Manager, Lux Insights
Bringing a global perspective to problem solving
AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
Exploring radical
imaginations of the future
Investigating how asylum-seekers and refugees navigate the legal intricacies of forced migration through creative practices marked a turning point in my career towards exploring the plurality
of futures and the impact of poorly designed public services.
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
Developing new methods
and frameworks
The emerging discipline of futures anthropology has propelled my work further by examining the nuances of different future orientations to everyday life. I’ve applied this to my research design, analysis, and synthesis to uncover rich details in user experiences with the UK government.
NEW YORK, USA
Advancing research and sharing my learnings
I am very enthusiastic about sharing my work with the wider research and design community, especially on what UX research can learn from other disciplines. I have presented in front of international audiences in the USA, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK.
Let’s talk
Now that you know more about me, I’d love to hear more about you! Send me a message and we’ll see what happens next.
Thank you for your response. ✨
Nicole Aleong 