With mobility restrictions finally easing on all its branch offices, User Experience Researchers Singapore (USER) held its second virtual quarterly townhall assembly on the 29th of July, 2022 to celebrate the company’s F2F activities and future plans. 

“It’s really refreshing to see how our community is finally getting to meet, work, and have fun together again. Thankfully we are now easing into a new phase of growth after the pandemic, and it is a welcome change. As we celebrate our wins as well as our strong bonds, we will continue to optimise our operations processes, so we may be able to take better care of ourselves, our clients, our company, and more importantly, our families.” said USER CEO Frank Qiu. 

The virtual get-together brought USER employees from Singapore, Vietnam, China, and the Philippines together for a warm reunion. 

Resuming F2F Activities and More 

The company’s drive to create a “better normal” for its employee community began to pick up in the second quarter of the year, with more face-to-face activities being held across all its country offices. From Vietnam and the Philippines and soon with Singapore and China, USER has resumed onsite work for some offices and held F2F programs such as co-working and casual meetup activities. 

For the Vietnam team with RTO (return-to-office) plans soon, they enjoyed a day out together at Nice Karaoke and dinner at Tri Ky Goat Hotpot in Ho Chi Minh City after more than a year of remote work. The Philippine office had more F2F activities, beginning with a co-working session and a game of bowling at the SM Megamall and Tower complex, followed by dinner afterwards. The Video Analysis team also conducted teambuilding activities led by Team Leaders Santiago Celestial, Martin Joshua Caraan, and Jennifer Abanto, with the assistance of Dept. Head Jasmin Lansang and Account Supervisor Desiree Dineros, combining leisure and strengthening work cooperation goals. Team China and Singapore are scheduled to have their own meetups and get-togethers soon.  

These activities were showcased in a video presentation during the townhall meeting. 

A Job Well Done 

Mr Qiu addressed everyone in attendance with heartfelt gratitude for the company’s recent successes: “Half the year has passed and I would like to thank everyone for our new achievements and milestones met over the past two quarters. We have many new projects and clients, especially government accounts. We’ve also had the opportunity to serve Fortune 500 companies and gain their confidence, and this is all thanks to your dedication at work. We all did a great job, and I hope we will continue being of great service to our partners and clients,” he said. 

Indeed, USER has grown significantly over the past six months of 2022, acquiring many new projects from current clients as well as new ones, and is in the process of negotiating with even more new prospects. The company added more finished projects to its portfolio of finished products and rendered new services to its clients.  

To celebrate these successes, the successful projects and team members were recognised during the Townhall meeting, followed by a fun game of online Family Feud. Several teams were organised to square off their wits against each other, from the combined teams of HR, Finance, and Digital Marketing to the Video Analysis team. In the end, the Digital Solutions team won the epic showdown in the final round against the Video Analysis team, bagging both bragging rights and cash rewards. 

Looking Forward to a Bigger USER Community 

The USER community is a growing family, and as with all communities expanding are growing pains to consider and address. Ms Tina Orge-Macatangay, USER Operations Head, addressed the assembly with praise and a call to maintain their work integrity and drive to serve clients with passion and dedication.  

“I’m thankful to everyone for giving their all as we start working in the new normal, with some of our fellow USER employees already returning to office. I could say nothing short of congratulations for doing a job very well-done and hope that we can continue this practice of being proactive, eager to learn, and doing our best. We will be rolling out tools soon that can help our operations and increase productivity,” she said. 

“We hope we all continue to work together as a family and show our mutual respect and appreciation for each other and improve ourselves with discipline and enthusiasm. Truly, the first half of the year has been good to us, and we’re just getting started! Let us look forward to finishing 2022 in high spirits,” Ms Tina added.  

Just as the company is celebrating its wins, USER is also opening its doors to more prospective technology professionals and visionaries. The 190-strong tech leader from Singapore is now accepting applications for Full-stack developers, automation testers, Senior NET developers, Solutions Architects, and many other positions in its four country offices. For a complete list of job openings, please visit https://www.user.com.sg/join-ux/.