Allen Wang
I'm a service designer, researcher, and strategist fascinated by how people navigate the complex technological, institutional, and ecological systems they find themselves immersed within. I help organizations better understand the people they serve, make sense of ambiguity, and align around actionable paths forward.
Senior service designer, University of Alberta (2025–present)
• Aligning interdepartmental teams on actionable problem framings to create the conditions for service improvement.
Master in Design Studies (Ecologies), Harvard University (2023–2025)
• Fieldwork & thesis on ecotourism in Nepal, researching lived experiences of & industry responses to ecological change.
• 2024 Bloomberg Harvard Summer Fellow (GenAI transformation roadmap for the City of Newport News, Virginia).
Service designer, Government of Canada (2021–2023)
• Guiding organizational transformation initiatives with deep insights into client, provider, & institutional needs.
Freelance research consultant (2021–present)
• Equipping nonprofits with qualitative and quantitative research to drive equitable & impactful program allocation.
Bachelor of Design in Industrial Design, OCAD University (2016–2020)
• Thesis on hacking everyday products to restructure cartesian systems of measurement through the human body.
• 2019 exchange semester to Designskolen Kolding, Denmark.
Outside of work, you'll find me playing in orchestras, taking photos around the world, writing essays, and perusing Wikipedia.
HIGHLIGHTED PROJECTS
Improving waiting room experiences at Kolding Hospital, Denmark (2019). The experience of "waiting" is defined less by the experience itself and more by how it ends. Through patient surveys, staff interviews, and site observation, we identified breakdowns in the flow of information and connection between staff and users as leading to a perceived lack of care. We proposed three solutions: a communications handbook for staff, a redesigned waiting room layout, and a volunteering program for non-medical support.
"A corporeal instrumentality project" (BDes thesis, 2020). Content coming soon!
An AI transformation roadmap for the City of Newport News, Virginia (2024). Content coming soon!
A public space proposal for New York City's Rockaway Peninsula (2024). Content coming soon!