Hi! I'm Daeun (Dany).
I'm a UX Researcher who bridges the gap between technical systems and human-centered insights. My goal is to design 'experiences' that have a positive impact on users' lives, not just 'features' that work more efficiently.
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With a deep interest in educational technology and gamification, I'm currently exploring how to make technology more playful and engaging tool for creativity and learning as a Ph.D. student at the University of Washington.
Work Experience
Incheon Start-up Park / June 2021 - Nov. 2023
UX Researcher
• Led and participated in product UX consulting for 6 different start-up companies
• Provided strategies for successful overseas launching of the products
• Conducted various UX research including 5+ field studies, 20+ usability testings, 10+ scenario-based observational studies, 5+ surveys, etc.
Korea Food for the Hungry International (KFHI) / July 2021 - Dec. 2021
System Consultant
• Implemented Objectives and Key Results (OKR) system into KFHI for the first time
• Created overall template and structure to record and to keep tracking
• Analyzed employees’ experience and overall interaction with the OKR system
DoBrain Inc. / Nov. 2020 - June 2021
Global Marketing Intern
• Achieved 1st quarter OKR of on-boarding first 100 global users through initialization of social media accounts
• Conducted various user research (in-depth interviews, observational studies, etc)
• Analyzed daily user funnel using mySQL
• Produced advertisements which led to 12% increase of the sales
Publications
Journal Articles
• Liang, Z., Melcer, E., Khotchasing, K., Chen, S., Hwang, D., & Hoang, N. H. (2024). The Role of Relevance in Shaping Perceptions of Sleep Hygiene Games Among University Students: Mixed Methods Study. JMIR Serious Games, 12, e64063. https://doi.org/10.2196/64063
• Ryu, H., Bang, H., Hwang, D., & Kang, Y. (2023). Exploring the Extent of Usability for Augmented Profile Interfaces in Enhancing Conversation Experiences. Interacting with Computers 2023.
https://doi.org/10.1093/iwc/iwad045
• Hwang, D., & Kang, Y. (2023). How Does Constructive Feedback in an Educational Game Sound to Children?. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, 36, 100581. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcci.2023.100581
Conference Papers
• Hwang, D., & Melcer, E. F. (2024). Mindfulness Techniques Taught Through Game Mechanics. In Companion Proceedings of the 2024 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play. (pp. 300-305). https://doi.org/10.1145/3665463.3678839
• Hwang, D., & Melcer, E. F. (2024). Exploring engagement in Idle Game Design. 2024 IEEE Conference on Games (CoG), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1109/cog60054.2024.10645671
• Hwang, D., & Park, S. (2023). EMO100DB: An Open Dataset of Improvised Songs with Emotion Data. International Conference of Music Perception and Cognition 2023.
• Hwang, D., Oh, S., & Jun, S. (2022). Does Interactive Media Art Engage an Audience More Than Non-Interactive One Does?. KSDS 2022 Conference Proceeding, 220-221.
• Hwang, D., Choi, M., Jung, H., Baek, Y. J., Lee, H. B., Lee, Y., Ho, J., Lee, J., & Jun, S. (2022). Meari: Interactive Smart Screen Designed to Tailor Personal Hiking Routes. KSDS 2022 Conference Proceeding, 262-263.
• Hwang, D., Chung, Y. J., Yoo, Y. M., Jun, S., & Holoubek, T. (2020). Sbin: Smart, Interactive and IoT-Based Rotating Garbage Classifying Bin. KSDS 2020 Conference Proceeding, 172-173.
Poster Presentations
• Hwang, D., & Hwang, H. Understanding Human Perception of Music Plagiarism Through a Computational Approach. Poster presented at: 25th Conference of the International Society for Music Information Retrieval (ISMIR); Nov. 14, 2024; San Francisco, CA.
• Hwang, D., X, Cai, E. Melcer, & E. Carstendottir. (2024). A Music Information Retrieval Approach to Classify Sub-genres in Role Playing Games. Poster presented at: 25th Conference of the International Society for Music Information Retrieval (ISMIR); Nov. 14, 2024; San Francisco, CA.
Let's connect!
hdaeun (at) uw . edu