Experience Research
MAKING RESEARCH WORK AT SCALE
The organization lacked a comprehensive research aspect. User insights were spread out between departments, there was a lot of personal bias involved, and too slow to influence anything on the roadmap. Worse yet, compliance risk hung over every interview and feedback loop.
We had to create something that had to become a business intelligence pipeline that could fuel our understanding of where to take our products. So I got started in building a research team and framework from the ground up in a highly regulated space. The result was a team that enabled discovery with hard-to-reach users, delivered actionable insights, and shaped product decisions at every level.
Role
Vice President of UX
Duration
Ongoing over 3 Years
Contribution
Ops Design, Research Strategy, Stakeholder Alignment
Target Audience
Organization needing scalable UX research in a regulated space
Actionable User Feedback
Across all platforms that allowed for better prioritization
Zero compliance issues
Aligned with Legal, FCC, or Privacy teams
Validated insights
Directly shaped roadmaps and feature priorities
Enabled discovery at scale
Without expanding the research team, doing more with less
PROBLEM
THE NEEDS OF A FEW
The company served users with diverse needs, including individuals with medical conditions and assistive technology requirements. Regulations and privacy restrictions made reaching these users difficult. Without the right processes, research was slow, inconsistent, and limited in scope. Leadership needed proof that a research team could deliver insights that would make a real impact.
Designed the research operations model, established key partnerships, and embedded discovery into the product lifecycle.
APPROACH
THE REALITY CHECK
Coming into this role I had the thought that doing proper research here would be the same as what I've done in the past. I couldn't be more wrong. At other companies I was able to survey or interview customers as soon as I could round-up some participants. That wasn't the case here, mostly because of regulations put in place. Compliance and Privacy are a bigger deal here than most places, which meant I needed approval on all outgoing communicates, intent on the research, who I intended to talk to, and what I was going to ask them. As you can imagine, this barrier only slowed us down and added to the difficulty of showing that research was an important piece of the product puzzle.
We tried many different approaches, trying to create a research partner program was our first step but that proved difficult with our restrictions as well. We focused on gathering information from internal users, working closely with our field teams, and trying to absorb the feedback coming through customer support.
01.
Built a Compliant Research Ops
Built a Compliant Research Ops
Built a Compliant Research Ops
Created processes and workflows that met strict regulatory requirements while enabling efficient studies.
02.
Formed Academic Research Partnerships
Formed Academic Research Partnerships
Formed Academic Research Partnerships
Collaborated with external experts to broaden reach and strengthen methodologies.
03.
Equipped Teams for Lightweight Discovery
Equipped Teams for Lightweight Discovery
Equipped Teams for Lightweight Discovery
Provided tools, templates, and training so product teams could run quick, ethical studies without waiting for a central team.
04.
Integrated Research into Product Decisions
Integrated Research into Product Decisions
Integrated Research into Product Decisions
Ensured every research insight connected directly to business and product priorities.
This only gave us a portion of the feedback needed. So we started looking at external sources to help gather the data without the same regulatory burdens we had. We talked with academic teams that could help survey and interview our user base, we built templated research plan to start from, we utilized tools like Maze and Pendo to gather feedback and product usage data.
As AI emerged we learned how to automate the time consuming aspects of filtering through the feedback from customer support, double checking our survey questions for bias, and doing competitive research. Understanding the competitive landscape became a large part of our workload as well. I headed up the team who focused on gathering information, condensing the view, and presentation to the executive team on new findings.
All of this together was giving PMs and their teams insights on where to focus their roadmaps. We often headed off issues before others in the company were aware there was even potential for an issue.
OUTCOMES
THE RESULTS THAT ACTUALLY MATTERED
The new research functions delivered insights at a speed and scale the company had never seen. Teams could reach users who were previously inaccessible, and compliance issues dropped to zero. Research moved from being a nice-to-have to a trusted driver of decisions, resulting in products that better served users and reduced risk.
We give everything from full blown reports to quick findings to help push forward. I'd send a team to go and meet with customers who were frustrated with their experiences and have them work through understanding their needs. Often saving the relationship and even increasing their amount they used our services.
Continuous feedback on all platforms, enabling better prioritization
Continuous feedback on all platforms, enabling better prioritization
Zero compliance issues. Aligning with both legal and privacy frameworks
Zero compliance issues. Aligning with both legal and privacy frameworks
Direct influence on roadmap decisions, rather than hindsight window dressing
Direct influence on roadmap decisions, rather than hindsight window dressing
This team does everything; journey maps, competitive landscape, market trends, user interviews, personas, and more.
WHY IT MATTERS
CONFIDENCE IS KEY
In regulated environments, research is often the first thing to be cut or ignored. What we found was that just by going out and listening to our customers we would improve out relationships, get insights that not only made out products better but push innovation, but also taught each of us personally about our customers. By knowing them firsthand it allowed us to design products and features correctly early on in the process. This saved time and money for the company, but all made for great experiences for the customers from the start.
The result was not just better products, but a culture where evidence replaced assumptions. Research became a competitive advantage, giving the company confidence in every decision it made. Where we didn't get a product or feature right the first time, research allowed us to learn quickly and make adjustments with high confidence of success.
More Projects
Experience Research
MAKING RESEARCH WORK AT SCALE
The organization lacked a comprehensive research aspect. User insights were spread out between departments, there was a lot of personal bias involved, and too slow to influence anything on the roadmap. Worse yet, compliance risk hung over every interview and feedback loop.
We had to create something that had to become a business intelligence pipeline that could fuel our understanding of where to take our products. So I got started in building a research team and framework from the ground up in a highly regulated space. The result was a team that enabled discovery with hard-to-reach users, delivered actionable insights, and shaped product decisions at every level.
Role
Vice President of UX
Duration
Ongoing over 3 Years
Contribution
Ops Design, Research Strategy, Stakeholder Alignment
Target Audience
Organization needing scalable UX research in a regulated space
Actionable User Feedback
Across all platforms that allowed for better prioritization
Zero compliance issues
Aligned with Legal, FCC, or Privacy teams
Validated insights
Directly shaped roadmaps and feature priorities
Enabled discovery at scale
Without expanding the research team, doing more with less
PROBLEM
THE NEEDS OF A FEW
The company served users with diverse needs, including individuals with medical conditions and assistive technology requirements. Regulations and privacy restrictions made reaching these users difficult. Without the right processes, research was slow, inconsistent, and limited in scope. Leadership needed proof that a research team could deliver insights that would make a real impact.
Designed the research operations model, established key partnerships, and embedded discovery into the product lifecycle.
APPROACH
THE REALITY CHECK
Coming into this role I had the thought that doing proper research here would be the same as what I've done in the past. I couldn't be more wrong. At other companies I was able to survey or interview customers as soon as I could round-up some participants. That wasn't the case here, mostly because of regulations put in place. Compliance and Privacy are a bigger deal here than most places, which meant I needed approval on all outgoing communicates, intent on the research, who I intended to talk to, and what I was going to ask them. As you can imagine, this barrier only slowed us down and added to the difficulty of showing that research was an important piece of the product puzzle.
We tried many different approaches, trying to create a research partner program was our first step but that proved difficult with our restrictions as well. We focused on gathering information from internal users, working closely with our field teams, and trying to absorb the feedback coming through customer support.
01.
Built a Compliant Research Ops
Built a Compliant Research Ops
Built a Compliant Research Ops
Created processes and workflows that met strict regulatory requirements while enabling efficient studies.
02.
Formed Academic Research Partnerships
Formed Academic Research Partnerships
Formed Academic Research Partnerships
Collaborated with external experts to broaden reach and strengthen methodologies.
03.
Equipped Teams for Lightweight Discovery
Equipped Teams for Lightweight Discovery
Equipped Teams for Lightweight Discovery
Provided tools, templates, and training so product teams could run quick, ethical studies without waiting for a central team.
04.
Integrated Research into Product Decisions
Integrated Research into Product Decisions
Integrated Research into Product Decisions
Ensured every research insight connected directly to business and product priorities.
This only gave us a portion of the feedback needed. So we started looking at external sources to help gather the data without the same regulatory burdens we had. We talked with academic teams that could help survey and interview our user base, we built templated research plan to start from, we utilized tools like Maze and Pendo to gather feedback and product usage data.
As AI emerged we learned how to automate the time consuming aspects of filtering through the feedback from customer support, double checking our survey questions for bias, and doing competitive research. Understanding the competitive landscape became a large part of our workload as well. I headed up the team who focused on gathering information, condensing the view, and presentation to the executive team on new findings.
All of this together was giving PMs and their teams insights on where to focus their roadmaps. We often headed off issues before others in the company were aware there was even potential for an issue.
OUTCOMES
THE RESULTS THAT ACTUALLY MATTERED
The new research functions delivered insights at a speed and scale the company had never seen. Teams could reach users who were previously inaccessible, and compliance issues dropped to zero. Research moved from being a nice-to-have to a trusted driver of decisions, resulting in products that better served users and reduced risk.
We give everything from full blown reports to quick findings to help push forward. I'd send a team to go and meet with customers who were frustrated with their experiences and have them work through understanding their needs. Often saving the relationship and even increasing their amount they used our services.
Continuous feedback on all platforms, enabling better prioritization
Continuous feedback on all platforms, enabling better prioritization
Zero compliance issues. Aligning with both legal and privacy frameworks
Zero compliance issues. Aligning with both legal and privacy frameworks
Direct influence on roadmap decisions, rather than hindsight window dressing
Direct influence on roadmap decisions, rather than hindsight window dressing
This team does everything; journey maps, competitive landscape, market trends, user interviews, personas, and more.
WHY IT MATTERS
CONFIDENCE IS KEY
In regulated environments, research is often the first thing to be cut or ignored. What we found was that just by going out and listening to our customers we would improve out relationships, get insights that not only made out products better but push innovation, but also taught each of us personally about our customers. By knowing them firsthand it allowed us to design products and features correctly early on in the process. This saved time and money for the company, but all made for great experiences for the customers from the start.
The result was not just better products, but a culture where evidence replaced assumptions. Research became a competitive advantage, giving the company confidence in every decision it made. Where we didn't get a product or feature right the first time, research allowed us to learn quickly and make adjustments with high confidence of success.
More Projects
Experience Research
MAKING RESEARCH WORK AT SCALE
The organization lacked a comprehensive research aspect. User insights were spread out between departments, there was a lot of personal bias involved, and too slow to influence anything on the roadmap. Worse yet, compliance risk hung over every interview and feedback loop.
We had to create something that had to become a business intelligence pipeline that could fuel our understanding of where to take our products. So I got started in building a research team and framework from the ground up in a highly regulated space. The result was a team that enabled discovery with hard-to-reach users, delivered actionable insights, and shaped product decisions at every level.
Role
Vice President of UX
Duration
Ongoing over 3 Years
Contribution
Ops Design, Research Strategy, Stakeholder Alignment
Target Audience
Organization needing scalable UX research in a regulated space
Actionable User Feedback
Across all platforms that allowed for better prioritization
Zero compliance issues
Aligned with Legal, FCC, or Privacy teams
Validated insights
Directly shaped roadmaps and feature priorities
Enabled discovery at scale
Without expanding the research team, doing more with less
PROBLEM
THE NEEDS OF A FEW
The company served users with diverse needs, including individuals with medical conditions and assistive technology requirements. Regulations and privacy restrictions made reaching these users difficult. Without the right processes, research was slow, inconsistent, and limited in scope. Leadership needed proof that a research team could deliver insights that would make a real impact.
Designed the research operations model, established key partnerships, and embedded discovery into the product lifecycle.
APPROACH
THE REALITY CHECK
Coming into this role I had the thought that doing proper research here would be the same as what I've done in the past. I couldn't be more wrong. At other companies I was able to survey or interview customers as soon as I could round-up some participants. That wasn't the case here, mostly because of regulations put in place. Compliance and Privacy are a bigger deal here than most places, which meant I needed approval on all outgoing communicates, intent on the research, who I intended to talk to, and what I was going to ask them. As you can imagine, this barrier only slowed us down and added to the difficulty of showing that research was an important piece of the product puzzle.
We tried many different approaches, trying to create a research partner program was our first step but that proved difficult with our restrictions as well. We focused on gathering information from internal users, working closely with our field teams, and trying to absorb the feedback coming through customer support.
01.
Built a Compliant Research Ops
Built a Compliant Research Ops
Built a Compliant Research Ops
Created processes and workflows that met strict regulatory requirements while enabling efficient studies.
02.
Formed Academic Research Partnerships
Formed Academic Research Partnerships
Formed Academic Research Partnerships
Collaborated with external experts to broaden reach and strengthen methodologies.
03.
Equipped Teams for Lightweight Discovery
Equipped Teams for Lightweight Discovery
Equipped Teams for Lightweight Discovery
Provided tools, templates, and training so product teams could run quick, ethical studies without waiting for a central team.
04.
Integrated Research into Product Decisions
Integrated Research into Product Decisions
Integrated Research into Product Decisions
Ensured every research insight connected directly to business and product priorities.
This only gave us a portion of the feedback needed. So we started looking at external sources to help gather the data without the same regulatory burdens we had. We talked with academic teams that could help survey and interview our user base, we built templated research plan to start from, we utilized tools like Maze and Pendo to gather feedback and product usage data.
As AI emerged we learned how to automate the time consuming aspects of filtering through the feedback from customer support, double checking our survey questions for bias, and doing competitive research. Understanding the competitive landscape became a large part of our workload as well. I headed up the team who focused on gathering information, condensing the view, and presentation to the executive team on new findings.
All of this together was giving PMs and their teams insights on where to focus their roadmaps. We often headed off issues before others in the company were aware there was even potential for an issue.
OUTCOMES
THE RESULTS THAT ACTUALLY MATTERED
The new research functions delivered insights at a speed and scale the company had never seen. Teams could reach users who were previously inaccessible, and compliance issues dropped to zero. Research moved from being a nice-to-have to a trusted driver of decisions, resulting in products that better served users and reduced risk.
We give everything from full blown reports to quick findings to help push forward. I'd send a team to go and meet with customers who were frustrated with their experiences and have them work through understanding their needs. Often saving the relationship and even increasing their amount they used our services.
Continuous feedback on all platforms, enabling better prioritization
Continuous feedback on all platforms, enabling better prioritization
Zero compliance issues. Aligning with both legal and privacy frameworks
Zero compliance issues. Aligning with both legal and privacy frameworks
Direct influence on roadmap decisions, rather than hindsight window dressing
Direct influence on roadmap decisions, rather than hindsight window dressing
This team does everything; journey maps, competitive landscape, market trends, user interviews, personas, and more.
WHY IT MATTERS
CONFIDENCE IS KEY
In regulated environments, research is often the first thing to be cut or ignored. What we found was that just by going out and listening to our customers we would improve out relationships, get insights that not only made out products better but push innovation, but also taught each of us personally about our customers. By knowing them firsthand it allowed us to design products and features correctly early on in the process. This saved time and money for the company, but all made for great experiences for the customers from the start.
The result was not just better products, but a culture where evidence replaced assumptions. Research became a competitive advantage, giving the company confidence in every decision it made. Where we didn't get a product or feature right the first time, research allowed us to learn quickly and make adjustments with high confidence of success.