The Go-Between
Where Human-Digital Intersection Happens
I’m Ulysse Ha, a qualitative (ethnographic) researcher trained in Anthropology (MSc) and Sociology (BSc). This website is dedicated to documenting my projects, observations, and thoughts.
It all began with a heuristic in Anthropology: what we create changes who we are. In today's world, how are worldviews and behaviors reshaped by our daily interaction with different technological systems? Throughout my formative academic training, looking at the intersection of human and digital allowed me to understand how behavioral change is induced and sustained by a change in perception of reality. And it will continue to serve as my anchor as I now navigate my professional pursuits.
Taken from Recursivity and Conteingency (Yuk Hui, 2019), where I was first exposed to the idea of recursivity and recursivity. Ontogenesis refers to the beginning of an evolving ontology. Within the context of my question, it embodies the process of iteration that is dynamic and recursive in nature.
Human Insights
What do people want? Do they even know what they want? Build with insights. Let me help.
Writings
All about human-technology interaction: dynamics, culture, emotional experience, perception, and beyond.
Bio
Past Projects
User Research
2023 - Present
ROLE
UX Researcher @ Carlsberg Group Digital Studio
Objective
To help design, coordinate, execute, and deliver a research project for Carlsberg's B2B e-com platform (>€800M yearly volume). The objective is to validate the marketplace model of including 3rd party vendors by conducting detailed desk research as well as field work in a pilot, including Vietnam and Denmark.
Challenge
TIMELINE
(1) Local market facilitation due to language barriers.
(2) Significant project management efforts in user recruitment due to EU GDPR regulations.
ACTION & OUTCOME
(1) In-depth interviews and surveys of both customers and potential sellers.
2023 - Present
ROLE
UX Researcher @ Carlsberg Group Digital Studio
Objecitve
We wanted to understand how the role of sales people is evolving as Carlsberg continues to digitise its order placement channels. By researching local strategies and trends (6 European markets) as well as the relationship between ordering channels, I led a project to inform the strategic direction of our internal SFA tool in the next 2 years and prototype future features.
Challenge
TIMELINE
(1) Project execution heavily relied on market coordination and thus buy in from local market leads
(2) No internal data to support hypothesis
ACTION & OUTCOME
(1) Designed, mobilized, coordinated, and executed a 3-part research project, covering 6 markets (>500 sales force)
(1.1) 1st phase: used interviews, surveys, and internal sales data to build an overview of market strategies and trends.
(1.2) 2nd phase: observed sales reps in action to gather insights and inform prototype.
(1.3) 3rd phase: user tested prototypes
(2) Identified functional opportunities (edit/cancel/rush/push additional orders)
2023 - Present
ROLE
UX Researcher @ Carlsberg Group Digital Studio
Objective
To build Carlsberg Group's first E2E customer journey with over 30 markets in scope (Western and Central Europe as well as Asia).
Challenge
TIMELINE
(1) We needed to sufficiently address huge market differences due to local business model variations with limited resources.
ACTION & OUTCOME
Coming Soon
2019-2021
ROLE
MSc Anthropology student @ University College London
Responsibility &
Projects
As a grad student, I conducted 4 qualitative research projects, first two alone, the rest as a team.
(1) Fitness trackers and behavioral change (MSc thesis): examined how people change their behavior as the use of fitness trackers gradually instills a new set of metrics in them to examine everyday life decisions. Methods include recurrent interviews and digital diaries/ N=6 (US/UK/DE/NE/SG)
(2) Science communication: an investigation of how proponents of psychedelics formed networks around academic institutions to legitimise the perception of psychedelic substances and their therapeutic application. Methods include ethnography and formal interviews. N=6 (UK)
(3) Remote work change management: investigated employee adaptation to remote work during Covid lockdown for an Accenture agency, with a focus on mental health. Methods include formal interviews and digital diaries. N=8 (UK)
(4) Affective app design: proposed user retention feature for dating apps based on emotional UX. Methods include focus group, interviews, and surveys. N=40+ (UK)
Challenge
TIMELINE
Entering Anthropology, I had little experience in primary research, both in terms of methods and running research projects. This was a major obstacle as my objective is to study human-technology interaction with original data points and not rely on high-level literature.
ACTION & OUTCOME
As a result of focusing on project-based modules (electives):
(1) I learned to independently and quickly develop research plans on open-ended design briefs, capture the right demographics, and recruit research participants.
(2) I also learned to integrate a host of research methods productively to extract meaningful and sometimes non-verbal insights, from ethnography (participant observation) to focus groups, interviews, and gamified self-reported data.
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
Sample integration tracker: from build to data load and unit testing to business validation
2022 - 2022
ROLE
Data integration project manager @ Carlsberg Group
Project goal &
Responsibility
Pilot in Malaysia of a flagship program (total 31 markets) to modernise the company's supply chain planning capabilities.
I worked with technical teams (internal & external) and business (HQ & MY) to build an integration layer, connecting local data sources with two new solutions - RapidResponse and PlanetTogether.
Challenge
TIMELINE
(1) Lack of planning and clarity around asynchronous collaboration between 7 teams across NA/EU/Asia, 4 of which were consultants/vendors.
(2) Constant influx of requests for design requirement changes inherited from previous communication gaps, while available resources remained the same.
ACTION & OUTCOME
(1) Developed project plan and timeline.
(2) Designed delivery flow and ways of working between 7 teams.
(3) Tracked and facilitated delivery from build, unit testing, to data validation.
(4) Established and ran forums to document, process, and execute design changes
2021 - 2022
ROLE
Asia Project Manager & Internal Comms Lead @ Carlsberg Group
Project goal &
responsibility
Pilot in China - part of a larger flagship global ERP rollout (20+ markets).
I was responsible for mobilising and organising subject matter experts from 9 Asian markets to produce a reusable Dynamics 365 system blueprint.
Challenge
TIMELINE
(1) To get buy-in for the new system design from hundreds of power users and middle management across Asia and Europe.
ACTION & OUTCOME
(1) Coordinated the collection, validation, and sign-off of functional requirements from 20+ markets to produce a global system design.
Communication
2023 - Present
ROLE
User Researcher @ Carlsberg Group
Project goal &
responsibility
I started an internal newsletter as a side project to share ready-to-use ChatGPT prompts, use cases, and related news.
Got 70 subscribers on first day.
Challenge
TIMELINE
(1) Lack of engagement from readers to grow reader-generated content and community
(2) Lack of a robust content and community base in turn hinders readership growth
ACTION & OUTCOME
(1) Gamified newsletter to motivate interactivity (quiz, leaderboard, Midjourney professional portrait as prize)
(2) Collected requirements from readers to identify use-cases and co-create make-shift solutions (e.g., anonymized text summary for contract management)
Sample SharePoint Knowledge hub
2021 - 2022
ROLE
Asia Project Manager & Internal Comms Lead @ Carlsberg Group
Project goal &
responsibility
I led internal comms on a global level to promote program progress and create access to practical project information (system requirement workshop details, project timeline & scope etc.)
Challenge
TIMELINE
(1) To build a comms system from scratch (plan, channels, or content) as a one person army.
(2) No single source of truth for project information for both for external stakeholders and project participants
ACTION & OUTCOME
(1) Built, maintained, and updated an internal knowledge hub for employees, senior stakeholders, and workshop participants to access general information as well as workshop-specific instructions.
Ops Optimisation
2021 - 2022
ROLE
Project Manager/ Team Member@ Carlsberg Group
Project goal &
responsibility
I led a team to investigate and improve the standard procedure of application rollout in Carlsberg.
Challenge
TIMELINE
(1) A lack of documentation and standardised procedure around application implementation. No diagnostics of past cases possible - application-specific knowledge is lost due to attribution or exit of project team.
(2) Real change required collective commitment from project, ops, and infrastructure teams.
ACTION & OUTCOME
(1) Conducted ~10 internal interviews to identify final deliverable: create clarity around project guidance.
(2) Developed a checklist on MS SharePoint and incorporated it into the standard project lifecycle in Western Europe.
(3) Planned and led internal promotion checklist through townhalls, internal articles, and drop-in calls. Ran surveys and focus to collect feedback and iterate the checklist before handing over ownership to PMO and ops team.
