Alex M. Chong🇨🇦

About Alex M. Chong

Director, User Experience at Hudson's Bay

Alex works professionally as a interaction & service designer, specializing in complex problems that exist outside of typical processes or frameworks. Leveraging a blended approach between design and product management, Alex has been designing and strategizing products over the last 10+ years; leading, managing, training, and building teams that deliver complex product and service offerings.

Alex has been building UX curriculum, workshopping, teaching, and professionally coaching for the last 3 years to adults who are transitioning their careers – and specializes in optimizing creative processes and building intentional, mindful, and value-driven living.

In his after-hours, he supports his design community as co-founder of the Makeshift Collective (https://wemakeshift.com).

https://alexmchong.ca/

Tips to prep for your mentor session:

• Review your mentor's professional profile in detail (before booking, and again before your session)

• Come prepared with a list of specific questions, that are tailor to your mentor's expertise or strength

• Avoid asking for general feedback/tips

• Avoid asking for anything you can Google online or read in a Medium article

Note the difference between mentoring and coaching: • ADPList mentoring is about asking quick questions to discuss roadblocks in your career; while career coaching provides an intimate and personal actionable plan to keep accountable to very specific career goals.

Expertise

Sessions with Alex M. Chong

• Thought Exchange/Networking (40 min): These sessions aren't mentorship sessions – but rather conversational exchanges to learn from counterparts in similar or equivalent roles at other organizations. The intention is to enrich our own respective practices by learning from one another as peers. These sessions are also opportunities to determine ways to potentially work together on interesting projects.
• UX Coaching: Find Out More (25 min): Book a 25-minute complementary (free) session to learn more about how professional paid coaching engagements work with Alex. Coaching differs from mentorship. Where mentorship focuses on gathering general perspective, coaching is an active engagement that uncovers career-awareness (awareness of existing skills and positioning), develops and clarifies career goals, and builds an actionable plan with targeted activities to ensure active progress to those goals. Alex has been mentoring and supporting the career growth of emerging or established designers for over 10 years, looking to build intention and direction to their design career and craft. He has been working closely with students and developing and delivering design-learning curriculum reaching an audience of over 300+ learners.
• Mentorship Session (20 min): General mentorship

What mentees say

“The feedback I received from Alex was very helpful and insightful. I learned much more than I expected from our call. I would recommend him 100% to any designer! :)”

“I’m so happy I was able to speak with Alex in regards to my portfolio and recent career change! He was able to provide valuable information and in a way cause me to revisit why I am choosing to change my career. I’m excited to redo my portfolio to make it more me and am looking forward to reaching out again for feedback! Thank you so much Alex!”

“I booked a call with Alex with my questions regarding systems thinking and design systems, and immediately I felt a calm and reassuring energy from him. He asked to get more context on me and my background so he could better tailor his feedback.”