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Becher Ku

Hello, 你好, こんにちは, 哈囉, Apa khabar

Design leadership, hands-on design, AI infrastructure

I lead a team of 6 designers, researchers and localisation specialists across Singapore, Vietnam and China. 14 years in, from agency art direction to design systems to multi-market B2C and B2B products. I believe the best design leaders keep making things after they start managing.

Right now most of my effort goes into AI-native design practice. I lead a cross-disciplinary AI infrastructure team, build with AI, and run automation pipelines that change how the product team works, supporting the whole product org's transition to builders.

Work

Product Design Manager, ShopBack2024 – Present
Design AI infrastructureEnabling non-designers to design
Team leadership6 across design, research and l10n
Travel Planner0 to 1 launch across 12 markets
Mission ControlSaves 900+ man-days a year
Senior Product Designer, Design Systems, ShopBack2022 – 2024
ShopBack Design SystemScaled adoption from 30% to 80%
Product Link ConverterSaved 60% of ~S$8M at-risk revenue
Experience Designer, Consultant, Thoughtworks2021 – 2022
Healthy 365Fitness goals for 140k users
Senior Experience Designer, SP Digital2018 – 2021
GreenUPLoyalty programme, +40% MAU
Tengah counter experience90% sign-up rate
Digital Art Director, MRM//McCann and Cheil Worldwide2012 – 2018
MastercardPayments
MicrosoftSoftware
SamsungConsumer tech
CitibankBanking
Disney Channel SEABroadcast
Unilever Food SolutionsFood service
Fox SportsBroadcast

Thoughts

Speaking

  • Singapore Product Design – Beyond the Prompt 3.0 · Aug 2026

    We put AI into every stage of our design process. Here is what we had to unlearn

    ShopBack rebuilt how they work across research, design and localisation around AI. Turns out the tools were not the problem. How we collaborate, who owns what, and when something is actually done were the real blockers.

    A large audience seated in rows of chairs, smiling and waving at the camera after the talk
    Becher in an orange cap speaking into a microphone on a panel, beside a laughing co-panellist

  • Into Design Systems · Sep 2024

    Design Systems: My Unexpected Mentor

    Design systems are often seen as technical frameworks but can be so much more. Becher’s unconventional journey as a design system designer unexpectedly became the perfect mentorship, shaping his design career.

    Becher presenting at a lectern with a microphone, in front of a projected slide
    The Into Design Systems title slide projected before the event, with emoji characters and a pizza invitation

  • HaloDesigners · Aug 2023

    Design System Team of One

    Dive deep into the world of Design Systems, gleaning insights from Shopback‘s journey of creation and governance.

    A monitor showing the slide: We have been developing software without design systems for the past 40 years
    Event card for Design System Team of One, with portraits of Naning and Becher

Contact

Email · LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)