Alan Tan, PhD
UX Designer & Researcher
Bridging psychology and design to create intuitive, user-centered products that solve real-world problems and delight users.
About Me
A dedicated UX professional with a passion for understanding human behavior and translating insights into impactful design solutions.
UX Manager for Design and Research at Telenav
UX Designer with 20+ years in mobile, advertising, 3D spatial computing, and infotainment systems at Motorola Mobility, Razorfish, Matterport, and Telenav.
UX Researcher for 6 years at Matterport and Telenav applying mix-method approaches to shape next-gen products and services.
Ph.D in Cognitive Psychology with a Cognitive Science minor
Experience
Telenav
User Experience Manager for Design and Research | 9 years
UX Design Manager for several high-profile programs, including:
Novo Ride Safe – a driver safety app that tracks safe driving behaviors, designed and built for vehicle infotainment system.
Scout Launcher – a custom in-car infotainment platform, designed and built by Telenav, similar in function to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Voice Assistant – a technology layer enabling voice-controlled access to infotainment features within Scout Launcher, enhancing driver convenience and safety.
Ford Navigation – in-vehicle navigation solutions tailored for Ford vehicles.
UX Research Manager driving strategic research for key initiatives at Telenav, including:
Quote-to-Bind Process for Novo Insurance – designing seamless insurance onboarding and policy activation flows.
Novo Insurance App – mobile app for telematics-based auto insurance with safe-driving rewards.
Future Concept Development – Exploring next-generation mobility and infotainment experiences (e.g., driving and navigation as a game)
Matterport
UX Design Manager | 2 years
Member of the Product Marketing team, responsible for shaping product features from a UX perspective across Matterport’s core product suite.
Defined design strategy, conducted user testing, and managed a small design team to deliver high-quality user experiences.
Led design and research for:
3D Camera Capture and Editing Software – tools for creating and refining immersive 3D scans.
3D Web Player Browser Plugin – enabling seamless 3D content viewing within browsers.
Online Content Creator Management Tool – platform for managing, organizing, and publishing 3D assets.
3D Mobile Viewing App – application for exploring immersive spaces on mobile devices.
Mobile 3D Capture App – early mobile solution for capturing 3D environments directly from smartphones.
Motorola Mobility
Principal User Experience Designer | 5 years
I returned to Motorola in 2010 and led the design of multiple flagship projects, including:
Connected Music Player — one of the first social mobile music apps.
MotoCast — enabled seamless access to media and documents from a remote computer.
Moto X Camera — streamlined UI for faster capture and intuitive controls.
Motorola Assist — a smart automation app that adapted phone behavior to driving, meetings, and sleep.
Motorola Alert — a personal safety app for location sharing and emergency notifications
-
Senior User Experience Designer | .5 years
I was a member of the team involved in the redesign of Target.com for Sapient.
-
Senior User Experience Designer | 1.5 years
While at Razorfish, I primarily worked on the JCPenney account helping to drive the concept development and user interface designs for the JCPenney.com e-commerce site.
Motorola
Senior User Experience Designer | 4.5 years
I performed multiple roles during my time at Motorola:
Lead Designer for Music Products — developed a portfolio of apps and services that expanded Motorola’s presence in mobile music.
Signature Product Experiences — partnered with industrial design and product marketing to select, define, and design hallmark experiences for devices such as the ROKR and Cliq.
Research: Theoretical and Applied
-
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Doctoral Student in Cognitive Psychology
My dissertation investigated the development of concepts for environmental settings (e.g., houses, airports) and the subsequent impact that such knowledge structures have on wayfinding.
-
Honeywell Technology Center
Human Factors Intern
While at Honeywell, I performed many different tasks including usability testing, UI design, statistical data analysis & interpretation, and website design.
-
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Human Factors Research Associate
While at the HFRL, I worked with the Minnesota Dept of Transportation to develop solutions for reducing traffic speeds around work zone areas.
Education
Ph.D. - Cognitive Psychology
University of Minesota - Twin Cities
B.S. - Psychology
- Idaho State University
- Wabash College
Academic Scholarship & Honors
- University of Minnesota
NSF Fellowship (3 yrs), NIMH Training Grant (2 yrs)
-Wabash College
Wabash Honors Scholarship (4 yrs)
