Personal Professional

Iju Hsu 許逸如

Product Manager · UX Researcher · Linguist

Understanding users is my trade — I don't just read the research, I build the AI systems my product org runs on.
Product Manager at ShopBack, owning Membership, Identity & Verification and building the AI platforms the product org runs on.
Cognitive Linguistics PhD (National Taiwan University) → media & podcasting → UX researcher → PM — "understanding human cognition and behavior" has quietly threaded my career together.

Selected Works

LinguaPass

An exam-prep platform for Taiwan's TCSL certification (linguistics section) — past-question drills, mistake tracking, weakness analysis. Built 0-to-1, live and monetized.

Side ProjectProduct

iju-brain — Personal AI Assistant

A personal & family AI assistant: LINE/Telegram remotely triggers Claude Code over a private wiki, built on n8n + GitHub Actions for ~$10/month.

AIAutomation

ijuhsu.com Rebuild

WordPress → Astro migration: 260+ bilingual posts, a game-style homepage, custom comments and publishing pipeline.

WebAI-assisted

UX Research Consulting

UX research consulting for APAC-focused startups: interviews, usability testing, AI-powered research setups.

UXRConsulting

Linguistics Podcast

A popular-science linguistics podcast — planning, hosting, and production.

PodcastLinguistics

Full portfolio →

Experience

ShopBack
  • Product Manager2025/05 – Present
    • Built and launched Micro Survey (LLM pipeline): response rates from <0.01% to 10%+ across 13 markets, analysis time from 2.5 days to 2 hours. Winner of the ShopBack AI TrA.I.blazers Award 2025
    • Applied Micro Survey insights to overhaul account systems: self-service mobile OTP replacing a broken email-verification path, plus sentiment-aware routing to support — CS tickets -75%, 230+ man-hours/month saved, App Store rating 2.6 → 4.1
    • Shipped Badge & Tiering system; difference-in-differences against non-exposed users showed a 4× engagement lift and ~10% of users returning specifically to earn badges, including long-dormant accounts
    • Designed and led a multi-agent research pipeline — research-plan turnaround from 1 day to 15 minutes, built by three and now shared across a 50+ person product org; currently building Builder Agent (Slack): spec drafts, design-system checks and review, with product decisions harvested back into the company knowledge base
  • UX Researcher2022/02 – 2025/05
    • Led strategic analysis across 11 APAC markets, influencing the company's 2024 business strategy through quantitative modeling and user segmentation
    • Co-led ShopBack Mart growth to 100K+ weekly users
    • Established the org-wide user research practice: contextual inquiry, usability testing, behavioral analysis
  • UX Researcher Intern2021/09 – 2022/01
Mirror Media
  • TV Arts Reporter — Mirror TV2020/08 – 2021/02
  • Project Manager — Podcast "Play It Fun"2018/09 – 2020/08
  • Host — "Language Is Fun" science podcast2018/09 – 2020/08
    • Reached #1 on Apple Podcasts and earned an Apple HomePod editorial feature — one of the few early Taiwanese podcasts to do so

Independent Products

LinguaPass
  • Certification exam-prep platform for Chinese-language teachers
    • Designed, built and shipped solo (Supabase/Vercel): past papers and explanations across four subjects, with live payments and paying customers
Roto Board Game
  • Monopoly-style classroom game for Chinese-language teaching
    • Rebuilt from a 2021 PowerPoint template into a multiplayer web app; 100+ registered teachers, 55+ distinct visitors weekly

Education

National Taiwan University
  • PhD in Linguistics2014/09 – 2023/01
National Cheng Kung University
  • MA in Chinese Literature2011/09 – 2014/06
National Central University
  • BA in Chinese Literature2007/09 – 2011/06

Teaching & Training

Chung Yuan University
  • TCSL Training — Synchronous & Asynchronous Online Teaching2022 – Present
National Taiwan Ocean University
  • TCSL Training — Chinese Linguistics2025/06 – Present
Wenzao Ursuline University
  • Online TCSL Certification — Synchronous Teaching with Slides2020 – 2022
  • TCSL Training — Introduction to Chinese Linguistics2020 – 2022
  • Applying Digital Resources in Online Culture Classrooms2022/08
OCAC
  • Online Teacher Training — Asia-Pacific Digital Mandarin Program2021/07
Other Institutions
  • Hsing Wu University — Introduction to Chinese Linguistics2019/07
  • Shih Chien University — Pragmatics in Mandarin Teaching2018/07
  • NTNU Mandarin Training Center (MTC-Online) — Distance Instructor2012/08 – 2013

Services

Mat Pilates
  • Instructor — English & Mandarin2026 – Present
    • Online (worldwide) and in-person in Mitaka / Kichijoji, Tokyo
    • One-on-one or small group · Just a mat required
    • Currently completing Balanced Body instructor certification · Accepting a limited number of clients · Ideal for beginners and those seeking a personalized, language-friendly experience

Get in touch to learn more →

Talks (Selected)