After finishing his master’s degree at The University of Electro-Communications, Kusano joined the research lab of a telecommunications company and worked as a consultant, utilizing his research on and experience with design methodology. During this time, he also completed his doctorate in Keio University’s Graduate School of System Design and Management. He joined Merpay as the company’s first-ever UX researcher in November 2018, where he has been working on service design that leverages UX research.