HTC Creative Labs User Researcher:
XR Research & Design Impact
During my time at HTC Creative Labs, I worked across multiple XR-related initiatives spanning post-launch headset research, interaction design evaluation, creator tools exploration, and accessibility-focused technology research.
Rather than focusing on a single feature, my work centered on understanding how people actually use XR devices and platforms in real-world contexts, and translating those insights into actionable product opportunities across software, UX, and hardware teams.
Role
User Researcher
Overview
Duration
Jul 2023 - Jun 2025
Methods
Survey Design / User Interview / Research Analysis / Usability Testing / Case Study
At a Glance
6+
XR research projects across VR headsets, metaverse platforms, and AI wearables
1000+
users engaged through surveys, interviews, and usability testing
4+
usability testing studies evaluating multimodal XR interactions
7+
competitive studies benchmarking XR platforms, creator tools, and AI devices
15+
internal events & workshops supporting knowledge sharing and cross-team alignment
Accomplishments
Translated fragmented post-launch feedback into clear, prioritized opportunity areas, enabling teams to move from anecdotal reactions to evidence-based product discussions.
Influenced cross-functional decision making by reframing usability, comfort, and accessibility issues as system-level experience risks, rather than isolated UX bugs.
Supported product teams in distinguishing short-term UX improvements from longer-term hardware or algorithmic investments, helping align expectations across design, engineering, and hardware constraints.
Elevated accessibility considerations from edge cases to core experience discussions, shaping how teams evaluated comfort, interaction reliability, and everyday usability in XR products.
Helped establish a shared research language across teams by synthesizing findings into clear narratives, frameworks, and artifacts that were reusable beyond a single project.
Enabled more confident post-launch iteration by providing teams with a structured understanding of real-world usage contexts, reducing uncertainty in prioritization decisions.
Learnings & Takeaways
Creating and maintaining systems at scale
Approached the design system as a living product rather than a static library. Learned how to define core elements, build customizable components, distribute shared libraries, and support adoption by assisting and onboarding team members.
Balancing speed and quality
Worked in a fast-paced environment where deadlines required rapid progress, while still maintaining attention to critical details. Learned to make informed trade-offs between speed and polish without compromising system integrity.
Navigating ambiguity
Moved projects forward without having complete or perfect answers upfront. Explored multiple directions, tested assumptions quickly, and iterated through uncertainty to arrive at practical solutions.
Feedback-driven iteration
Continuously collaborated with designers, engineers, and stakeholders to gather feedback on constraints, requirements, and limitations, using that input to refine and evolve system components over time.
Want to know more about the XR project?
Let’s chat!
Process
Research at HTC was approached with the same rigor as a product.
Rather than treating studies as one-off efforts, I followed a structured yet flexible research process that supported continuous learning, iteration, and decision making across projects.
Due to NDA restrictions, I’m unable to share detailed workflows or internal artifacts. However, a high-level overview of the research process I consistently applied is outlined below.
Problem Framing
Method Selection
Synthesis & Opportunity Framing
Communication & Alignment
Special thanks to my amazing teammates, Christina, Henry, Janet, and Candice!
Thank you for visiting my portfolio! :)
Copyright © 2026 Tim Tang