Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Staff User Researcher

May 2021 - Present​

• Own research strategy, execution, and  implementation for the Single Cell Technology Team.

• Build and maintain a research roadmap for a suite of tools.

• Play a major role in the strategic development and thought leadership of our tools..

• Facilitate  alignment among product managers, designers, subject matter experts, analytics, dev, and  program team.

• Collaborate with analytics to design monitoring approaches,  build  analytics dashboards to track  tool performance, identify research questions based on metrics,  and communicate  progress with  stakeholders and leadership. 

• Lead, manage, coach and mentor subject matter experts, designers, and interns to deliver insights.

• Led cross functional team in developing foundational user archetypes and workflows including product, design, and SMEs.

• Collaborated with product to develop a  feedback tracker to standardize feedback submission process, house  feedback in one central location, organize feedback by product, and prioritize needs based on user feedback.

• Create positive remote culture for both functional and UX  teams by planning gatherings and  remote activities.

•  Guide teams in developing  remote working norms  that are supportive and sustainable.

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Kaiser Permanente. UX Research Lead

October 2018 - March 2021

• Conduct 30+ studies using qualitative and quantitative research methods for customer-facing and B2B tools including: interviews, surveys, participatory design, card sorts, SUS, end-to-end, click, A/B, remote unmoderated, and moderated usability testing. 

• This experience has developed a strong understanding of the strengths and shortcomings of different research methods, including when and how to apply them during the product development process and given various project constraints and timelines.

• B2B work provided experience in understanding and planning research targeting specific, complex user groups with professional requirements.

• Served as lead Shared Services Researcher, taking on 7 user research for projects outside of the customer-facing UX department. This included working with stakeholders who had not previously been through user research and explaining and co-creating a work process that made sense to them and met the needs of their projects.

• Collaborate with design and  product stakeholders to plan research roadmap in alignment with product and development deadlines. Communicate  user research findings with cross functional partners and senior leadership to drive impact.

• Lead team of three in strategy planning and implementation of  a three-year old program, resulting in a year-round, bi-weekly field study with defined goals, quarterly reporting, improved visibility, and roadmap impact. 

• Served as Lead Researcher for a pod of three being the main point of contact for research inquiries related to that focus area, method and tool consult for the three researchers assigned to that pod, monitored and was able to speak to all research assigned to and completed by pod members.

• Lead internal work on the role of research in transitioning to a functional Agile model that increases member voice in solutioning and product development, building a process that delivers greater value to users.

 

Microsoft. UX Researcher -Civic Tech Fellow

June 2017 - August 2018

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• Led Civic User Testing (CUT) Groups in researching digital tools for City of Detroit, Detroit Public Library, Data Driven Detroit.

• 1-year+ ethnographic study of digital literacy in Detroit: 30 field interviews, 50+ hours of observation.

• Developed and moderated 10 rapid user tests on Data Driven Detroit website and validated results.

• Designed hi-fidelity prototype for Data Driven Detroit website integrating research findings.

• Created usability research + evaluation workshop for National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership.

 

 

 

GE. UX Researcher - Digital Innovation Co-Op

Jan - June 2017

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• Researched executive leadership development processes & increased understanding of UX within GE’s HR executive team.

• Created 4 journey maps and 3 scenarios based on qualitative data from 12 user workflow interviews.

• Performed competitive analysis on existing processes

• Designed 3 high-fidelity, interactive prototypes for web and mobile informed by research findings.

• Directed software engineers during agile development process

• Presented on empathy and design thinking to introduce human-centered approaches to US HR Team.

 

 

University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. Human Factors  Research Assistant

September - December 2016

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• Conducted 35 laboratory autonomous-driving feature usability tests for Chevy and Honda.

• Managed recruitment, scheduling, and payment.

• Maintained vehicles to ensure they were ready for tests.

• Monitored equipment output and supported data entry.

 

 

Wayne State University. Research Assistant

2010 - 2016

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• Preserved and restored the Freer House and increased awareness of Freer’s legacy.

• Researched and designed 6 exhibits on Charles Freer.

• Led large-scale research and documentation projects.

• Planned annual lecture series with world-renowned scholars and historians.