About

My name is Michelle Ou (pronounced ‘oh’) and I’m an Australian-born Chinese woman. My pronouns are she/her. Five years ago, I dropped out of optometry with an aspiration to have a more creative, human-centred career. I now live and breathe human centred design in a variety of roles including inclusive design practitioner, design researcher, service designer, mentor, career coach, speaker, teacher and facilitator.

I led human centred design capability building at eHealth NSW so that the organisation could deliver more useful, useable and used digital health solutions to the NSW Health workforce. My program was part of eHealth NSW Digital Academy, the internal career development program helping the workforce gain the digital skills needed for the future of digital health.

Previously, I worked for Centre for Inclusive Design where I supported public and private sector clients to better serve their customers, staff and communities. I did this through inclusive design research to understand how client audiences interacted with their products, services and experiences. I also led the development of a new service offering connecting underserved community members with organisations for design research and product testing.

I have also worked on end-to-end technology implementation projects in cross-functional Agile delivery teams while at Idean Australia (now frog), part of Capgemini Invent. I delivered service design, strategic design, business process design and UX/UI design on Salesforce implementation projects.

I use inclusive design methodology to create culturally safe and trauma-informed space for research and co-design with communities most vulnerable to social exclusion. My superpower is deep listening and making others feel heard, valued and understood.

Curiosity and a growth mindset fuels me to continue learning. I’ve recently completed training in mental health first aid, trauma-informed research practices, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural competency and Graduate Certificate in Social and Service Design.

I pay the kindness I received in my career journey forward by nurturing emerging designers, facilitating open conversations for self-discovery and confidence building, and creating space to uplift underrepresented groups and celebrate diversity.

Outside of work, I’m addicted to trying new experiences but I will always love being by the ocean, practising pilates, and indulging in good food with my favourite people.

Let’s chat about how we can work together? You can also find me on LinkedIn.