Meet Cochl.’s Team: Yunji Chung, UX/UI Designer
By: Yoonchang Han
Tags: Internships, Design, Startup, Life, UX

Meet Cochl.’s Team: Yunji Chung, UX/UI Designer

What does Cochl.’s design team do?

Could you briefly introduce yourself, please?

My name is Yunji Chung, a recent BBA(Bachelor of Business Administration) graduate from Emory University. I originally planned to start MHCI (Master of Human-Computer Interaction) at Carnegie Mellon University but decided to defer the offer due to COVID-19. Now, I’m working as a UX/UI Designer at Cochl. for a year, and also preparing for my own startup.

What is your role in the company?

My role is designing a product that can relieve the pain points of users using Cochl.’s machine listening technology. Currently, my primary focus is… ( blinded — because it is a secret project!). A project for controlling Phillips Hue using Cochl.Sense Human-interaction also really interesting, although there's still quite a long way to go.

This position is meaningful because the concept of “machine listening” might be still quite difficult for a general audience, and I can give a positive impact on people’s lifestyle by making this technology easier to approach in their daily lives.

What made you apply for an internship at Cochl.?

I was always interested in AI, but I was a business school student and had no access at all to it. Emory University is strong for business and medical school, but there’s no engineering department in the university, so obviously there are no professors and lectures in AI-related fields. So, I wanted to spend some time on AI during my stay in Korea.

What is your favourite part of daily life at Cochl.?

Every day is new, not repeated, and having quite a lot of freedom so I can manage myself to be productive. Also, Hyojeong (Cochl.’s UX/UI designer)’s seat is right beside me and she is really helpful for me in many ways. She is a good listener and mentor which I could not have around me when I was at Emory. I am still a student with lots of curiosity, wishing to try out many different things. It is happy that everyone is very supportive.

Yunji, Hyojeong, Donmoon, and Jeongsoo

What made you move from business to UX design?

Actually, I really loved designing things since middle school, so I played around a lot with Adobe Photoshop and After Effects. I decided to study Business administration because I was interested in consulting as well, then I came across the design thinking methodology which made me want to be a UX designer. It is quite a different field but I was thinking my background in business administration can create great synergy with UX design.

What do you think is the most important thing in UX design?

It is empathy, I believe. Good design comes from sincerely listening to others to understand what are their pain points and gain points. I try to not get influenced by any prior information or knowledge about the user when I listen to them. Along with user empathy, empathy for coworkers in other roles also very important. Especially, I am trying hard to improve my empathy with developers, so I spend some time studying programming which is extremely helpful for communicate with developers.

What was the most memorable event during your time at Cochl.?

It was the day when Apple released sound recognition functionality for iOS14. We were making a comparison video with Cochl.Sense, and it was just so fun to do this with everyone.

What do you want to study for your masters?

Studying HCI will be interesting and having a chance to meet people from various background will be even more exciting. I think I will learn a lot from people with new perspectives. CMU’s MHCI has a program called Capstone which is about doing a project with companies and it’s gonna be so fun I think.

What do you want to achieve in the future?

Well, I want to do something that can make most of my BBA and MHCI study. I think it is going to be super cool to establish an influential design consulting company like IDEO in Seoul.

What do you normally do in your free time?

Reading books, really a lot these days, and going to the gym every day. I am a member of two book clubs, one is about design and another one is about why we need side-hustle. Because I’m in Korea now, I enjoy hanging out with friends to visit café and restaurants in Seoul. Recently, I started to practice golf as well.

What’s your favourite food?

Olives!! I love olives so much and I think it goes well with any kind of foods.

Heaven for Yunji

One last word you want to say to readers?

I want to tell undergrad students that university major can’t decide the future, just because you’ve been studying it. I think people are allowed to keep seeking what they really like. I had a chance to work that is not related to consulting, and thanks to that courage, I could find what I like. Also, I think people should not hesitate to contact a stranger. I sent lots of cold emails and led me to luckily meet lots of good people. Courage is the most important thing, I believe.