UX Design Researcher

How I Got Into UX Research     

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     I found my way into the world of user experience and design research while designing training programs for sales, support and customer success staff in the enterprise software world.  With the emphasis on developing better internal processes, honing business skills and of course improving KPIs, I saw that we were failing to educate folks on one critical dimension:  What does the customer experience look like?  How does it feel to be on the receiving end of our sales and support processes?  What other, wider concerns might customers have about their jobs and businesses that, if we understood them, could help us be better partners?  In short, it occurred to me that there was potential to develop a deeper understanding of customer needs (demand) and use that to inform what was often the disconnected service delivery model (supply). 

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    As I began to incorporate customer interviews and roundtables into the world of training, I was also leaning into the world of user experience and service design.  That led to an opportunity to join an innovation team whose charter was to build a sales coaching product and reimagine the CRM experience.  Functioning as the Product Manager-Researcher on this team, I formally shifted gears into the world of UX:  through a mix of formal education, self-study and a lot of experimentation, I began applying a more robust research approach and got into the business of shaping product roadmaps.

     

     From there I transitioned onto other product teams and became a dedicated, embedded researcher -- conducting foundational, formative and evaluative studies across the development lifecycle.  I've since worked with product and design teams in platform admin, commerce, help center, data insights, and developer tool categories.

   

     Today I pride myself on being a business-minded researcher who delivers practical and plain-to-see insights that help teams make high-quality, confident decisions about what to do next.