Helen Yin Chen is an interdisciplinary strategist and researcher working at the intersection of technology, culture, and ecology. She helps organizations and brands navigate futures in flux through rigorous research, systems thinking, and creative experimentation. Previously, she worked in design and innovation with the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General, R/GA, IDEO, and Arup Foresight. Alongside her strategic work, she is a research-based artist collaborating with living systems (fungi, algae, and bacteria), to explore transformative frameworks that deeply enrich both her art and strategy practice.

Select Experience

Strategy Lead
Office of the U.S. Surgeon General, 2024-2025

Senior UX Designer & Researcher
Office of the U.S. Surgeon General, 2021-2024

Experience Strategist & Designer
R/GA, 2020-2021

Design Fellow
IDEO CoLab, 2019-2020

Foresight Strategist
Arup Foresight, 2019

Project Coordinator, Google Projects
Bjarke Ingels Group, 2015-2016

*CV available upon request.


Select Clients

Google

Nike 

Mercedes Benz 

Verizon
Delta Airlines 

Target
e.l.f. Beauty

McDonald’s

Dunkin’ 

Chipotle 

New York Public Library
Hyperice

Awards & Honors

Fast Company World Changing Ideas
Honorable Mention, Workplace Category,
U.S. Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being, 2023

The Webby Awards
Honoree, Government & Associations Category, Website of the 21st U.S. Surgeon General, 2023

Core77 Design Awards
Student Winner in Strategy & Research, 2020
Student Runner-Up in Speculative Design, 2020

SVA Paula Rhodes Award
Exceptional Achievement in Design, 2020


Press

Trend Alert! Raw Milk, Luxe Travel, and Knitting
The New Yorker, 2025

A New Campaign Against Loneliness Starts With a Potluck
The New York Times, 2024


Education

School of Visual Arts
MFA in Products of Design, 2020

Columbia University
BA in Art History (with a focus on New Media Studies and East Asian Languages and Cultures), 2013