Resume

MARYMOORE PATTERSON

Summary

Design Researcher and Strategist. Leads collaborative teams to create transformational experiences for users. Connects ethnographic insights to actionable product decisions, aligning business goals with user and market needs while building a sense of purpose and meaning through empathy for all stakeholders. Works in international, startup, and corporate settings, implementing research strategies in a multifaceted, multidisciplinary way.

Skills

  • Formative Research: Problem Framing/Webs of Abstraction, Contextual Observations, Interviews, Exploratory Card Sorting, Stimulus Exercises.
  • Analysis/Synthesis: Affinity Diagramming, Personas, Ethnographic Videos, Journey Mapping, Ecosystem Mapping, Value Proposition Canvas, Business Model Canvas, Competitive Analysis, Red Route Task Prioritization, Information Architecture, Lean UX.
  • Prototyping: Co-creation Workshops, Experience Prototyping, Behavioral Displacements, Paper Prototyping, Storyboarding, Wireframing, HTML.
  • Evaluative Research: Usability Testing, Evaluative Card Sorting, A/B Testing, Surveys.
  • Communication: Storytelling and Leadership Presence Trainer, Concept Pitching Coach.
  • Languages: Fluent Mandarin Chinese and Japanese.

Experience

Design Research and Strategy Consultant and Founder, 2015 to Present
Culture Loft LLC, San Francisco, California

Consultant conducting full experience research process from problem definition and foundational studies to task flows and usability testing. Qualitative expert with working knowledge of quantitative methodologies.

Clients: Panasonic, Quotient Design Research, Renesas, SoftBank, Bloomlife, MotorCrew.com, Appamark.com, PenguinSmart, Sumitomo Bakelight, Shop.co, STAND! For Families Free of Violence, Zero1 American Arts Incubator, UC Berkeley-Haas, Stanford University, SF BUILD, Osaka Institute of Technology

Example projects:

  • Ethnographic user study for a mobile browser and NFC tag medication adherence system. Helped founders focus product and align message for successful funding and launch.
  • Conducted formative research and created user personas, competitive market analysis, and feature prioritization for app that assists mainland China parents of children with autism. Currently prototyping and testing app task flows.
  • Pitch judge and mentor for 200+ startup and new concept teams, helping align business goals (growth, profit, branding, funding) and product definition with user needs and aspirations. Products range from social impact to robotics and eCommerce.

Primary courses taught:

  • Applied Innovation: Immersive, experiential Executive MBA course, guiding teams through problem framing, research, ideation, prototyping, testing, and pitching.
  • Collaborative Innovation: Undergraduate course integrating business, art, and theater ethnographic, ideation, and development processes. Incorporates teaming tools and coaching. Several teams launched social impact initiatives beyond course.
  • Storytelling for Leadership: Experiential workshop developing brief and deep personal stories for sharing values and goals.

“Marymoore’s experience was incredibly helpful in taking the theory of what we were learning into practical application.”
– Berkeley-Haas Executive MBA student, December 2016

Senior Manager, User Insights and Experience Design, 2014 to 2015
Panasonic Corporation of America (PNA), Cupertino, California

Directed design research and ideation as part of the CEO-led initiative to re-invent Panasonic’s innovation and new business design in North America. Worked with product managers, designers, engineers, and business developers, both internal and external, leading user ethnography and stakeholder research to provide ongoing, actionable design constraints for products, services, and solutions at the conceptual stage, during prototyping and iteration, and in sync with the agile development process. Guided business strategists in exploring opportunity areas and technologists shaping technical requirements.

Key research areas:

  • Products to support aging in place. Solutions ideated and developed include family communication IoT devices and safe home designs.
  • Dynamics between grandparents and grandchildren to support cross-generational connections. Shared activities mobile application, HomeTeam(TM), launched in spring 2015.

Innovation Strategy Manager, 2011 to 2014
Panasonic R&D and Innovation, Osaka, Japan and Cupertino, California

Led teams across Panasonic technology and business domains to create customer-centric business concepts that incorporated emerging technologies and business themes, such as the convergence of digital and physical lives, contextually aware environments, and automobiles as CE devices. Partnered with universities, consultants, startups, and top design firms to bring leading-edge research processes and results in-house to Panasonic.

In the US, directed research and design for:

  • Digital health technology to support aging in place in changing healthcare market.
  • Future retail experience using emotional technology, as shopping values evolved.

In Japan, initiated and directed ethnographic research for new business teams within Corporate R&D. Led engineering teams to define target users and to conduct ethnographic studies and ideation. Analyzed and synthesized insights into mental models, journey mapping, and frameworks, applying to prototyping and testing. Developed product insights for:

  • Young Japanese women’s mental models of beauty and technology.
  • Japanese mothers’ view of household chores for children. Result: co-author on patent for mother-and-child cooking app for smart appliances.
  • Asynchronous communication between Japanese couples for smart furniture design.

In China, launched open innovation program as part of new business strategy. Led design collaborations in China for Japan-side business units, including:

  • Indoor air quality solution for urban residents in China. Result: validated prototype of connected, sensored, social window/display with smart filtering and ventilation. Integrated into product roadmap for Japan-based Housing group.

In Finland, Germany, UK, and France, led university collaborations in design research, tailoring projects to the business needs and technology directions of business units in Osaka headquarters. Prototyped concepts for:

  • Digital health solutions for UK seniors.
  • Finnish and German needs and desires for smart appliances.
  • French and German TV behaviors for future TV design.

Technical Marketing Manager, 2007 to 2011
Panasonic Semiconductor, San Jose, California and Osaka, Japan

Working with Japan, China, and US teams, defined market trends, promoted customer insight, and enhanced Panasonic’s cleantech, semiconductor, and consumer electronics offerings.

  • Spearheaded US-Japan smart grid collaboration, developing new growth area in US home energy management.
  • Developed seminar on user-centered communication design for Japan engineers; added to core training curriculum for system-on-chip designers.
  • Researched, created information architecture for, prototyped, and tested XML-based content reuse system for System LSI division, as it developed a global customer base. System scaled as a major cost reduction, with enhanced customer interaction.

Technical and Marketing Communications Manager, 1996 to 2007
Panasonic Semiconductor R&D, Cupertino, California

Launched 6-person communications team. Designed market introductions for microcontrollers and serial communication devices. Researched, structured, tested, and managed websites, marketing collateral, trade shows, and training materials.

  • Reduced documentation and localization time by over 50% by mapping to product design phases, reusing content, and improving processes.
  • Won back $5M customer based on improved microcontroller documentation.
  • Developed courses for engineers to instill user orientation and shared knowledge base; presented in Japanese and trained local coaches in Japan.
  • Created Panasonic’s first intranet site, which became blueprint for company sites worldwide.

Education

MS (Candidate), Human Factors in Information Design, Bentley University

MBA
Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, and Columbia Business School

  • Graduated with Honors; Beta Gamma Sigma, Berkeley Board Fellow

MA, Translation of Chinese and Japanese, Monterey Institute of International Studies

  • Dean’s Honor List
  • Thesis translation: Memoir by Mao Zedong’s bodyguard, Down from the Pedestal

BA, Chinese Language and Literature, Pomona College

  • Graduated Magna Cum Laude; Phi Beta Kappa
  • International exchange program in Nanjing, China
  • Awarded two 6-month grants to research modern drama and ethnic minorities in China; Publication: “The Goddess’s Mirror: Alumna Recalls Trek to China’s Yunnan Region”