Relentlessly curious
Well hello there! If you’ve made it this far, then you may have noticed from my resume that I’m a non-traditional UX researcher. For the past five years, I’ve used UX research to inform design, resulting in improved products and experiences across industries.
My path to UX started with an intense curiosity for new cultures and language, which led to living abroad in 5 countries. It was shaped by an academic background in digital ethnography, seeking to understand how users interact in online contexts.
My non traditional experiences means you can drop me into any research scenario and I’ll deliver insights that impact your business.
.
My superpowers in action
I’m a natural researcher with a relentless curiosity about people. My superpower is my communication skills. I use writing, storytelling, and teaching to super charge my analytical and research skills.
In 2020, I wrote a book which synthesized two years of research on workplace automation and alternative education paths for working adults. Now, I use storytelling to persuade employees to learn new skills to adapt to the future of work.
I design research that informs product design across industries.
Here’s how I do it.
Research goal: Increase chatbot conversation completion rates for users who mention sensitive topics like death and sickness
Role: Lead researcher for an AI engineering team
Research type: Evaluative
Tools: Content analysis, usability testing, facilitation
Impact: ~ 15,000 users
Reporting to: Engineering, Product, Executive Team
Biggest challenge: Defining empathy for an intelligent assistant
Research design:
- identify how users react when a chatbot ignores sensitive issues like death/sickness
- quantify impact on users and conversation performance
- suggest design and NLP updates for future product updates
This project centered on the question of how intelligent assistants (like chatbots) should show empathy in sensitive contexts. In prior research, I had identified that the chatbot was ignoring users who mentioned death and sickness, a problem that led to decreased user completion rates, a key metric for clients.
Design process:
- Lead facilitation with engineering, product, and executive teams to define empathy in intelligence assistants
- Design research process to analyze sensitive content in conversational data
- Use qualitative research/content analysis to understand context
- Annotate sensitive data for categorization
- Quantify results of sensitive instances and categories
- Communicate results to engineering and product teams using visual and stories
- Recommend design improvements and NLP adjustments
As a result, my research improved a key product metric: conversation completion. My research increased conversation completion on conversations with sensitive content by 72%.
More importantly, my research resulted in changes to the algorithm, ensuring users were treated kindly in sensitive situations.
Product 2: A hybrid training curriculum for a global audience (combining digital + physical experiences)
(Learn why global audiences add complexity to any project)
Research goal: Create a framework for a hybrid curriculum that increases learning outcomes for global audiences
Role: Designer and Researcher at a university
Research type: Generative
Tools: In-depth interviews, surveys, secondary research, concept testing, user journey mapping, field research, ethnography
Impact: 63 users from 32 different countries
Reporting results to: Director and Dean
Biggest challenge: Getting buy in from leadership
Research design:
- Understand international student communication behavior in American business environments
- Define the pain points for international students interacting with American professionals
- Identify cross-cultural communication frameworks for global audiences
- Select online applied learning methodologies to increase online learning outcomes
When you’re an international MBA student who has dropped $120,000 on an Ivy League education, you expect online learning experiences beyond a PowerPoint online.
I played the role of both researcher and designer for this six month project. My research served as the foundation for a hybrid training curriculum to increase employment outcomes, a key metric for MBA rankings.
Design process:
- Create surveys to quantify pain points
- Conduct in-depth interviews to capture impactful stories to
- Combine survey and interview data to persuade leadership for buy in
- Design research process to map international student behavior in an American business contexts
- Conduct ethnographic and field research to capture the nuance of individual student experiences and attitudes towards learning
- Synthesize findings into journey map to inform product design
- Build prototype
- Interview students to capture initial feedback for improvements
As a result, the research informed the design of a hybrid training curriculum that received a 4.8 out of 5, the highest rated learning experience out of all orientation.
Later, I taught higher education professionals at conferences in the US and Ireland how to conduct UX research in higher education.
Lightening round: Flash examples of applied UX research
Quantitative Research
Qualitative data is my jam but I can wrangle quantitative data. I built a data-driven global employment outreach strategy by analyzing historical employment outcomes and LinkedIn data.
Skills used:
- Data cleaning
- Tableau
- Storytelling
Guerilla Field Research
This quick and dirty field research works wonders for limited budgets and time. I built a executive training based on observational research and small talk at executive networking events.
Skills used:
- Creativity
- Communication
- Experimentation
Subject Matter Expert Interviews
UX research for product design saves time and money. I interviewed surgical teams to understand how they might Alexa for medication reminders. The project didn’t go forward because I surfaced issues with liability, saving time and money.
Skills used:
- Open ended interviewing
- Observation studies
- Storytelling
My UX research toolkit is full of options.
I specialize in applying the right tool for the job.
Research Design
User Interviews
Usability Testing (Remote/Unmoderated)
A/B Testing
Prototyping
Content Analysis
Survey Design
Data Analysis
Ethnography
UX Writing
Field Research
Experience Mapping
Collaboration is the foundation of my UX research.
In every role, I’ve collaborated across teams to produce actionable insights.
Collaboration is:
- Adapting communication styles
- Asking curious questions
- Seeking out new perspectives
- Experimenting with new ways to accomplish goals
My role as a UX Researcher at Mya
Good UX research deserves to be shared.
Storytelling is my superpower.
Design artifacts aplenty
I was a content creator before I was an official UX researcher. I can whip up artifacts that inform design:
- Presentations
- Prototypes
- Journey maps
- Usability test reports
- Sketches
Communication is key
I produce visuals that capture audiences and tell stories that give context. Below, I teach audiences how to see the landscape of opportunities in remote work.
I’m always learning new skills for my UX toolkit.
We can all agree that 2020 is a weird year. I was part of the Great Coronavirus Layoff. Instead of immediately looking for work, I dove into the world of Voice Design, taking my conversational AI skills to the next level by learning how to build Alexa skills. I’m also learning Python and SQL to upgrade my quantitative analysis skills.
Outside of work, I’m teaching myself ukulele by YouTube and learning how to dance on roller skates without breaking my face. Maybe I’ll be able to combine the two in 2021? #Goals
