Meta - UX Researcher (Contract) (JUN ’22 - MAY ‘23)
Working with the platform teams I performed multiple research projects to; create a consolidated single source of truth for the non-negotiable business tables takes JTBD that must be addressed in a work tool for it to be competitive and adoptable; identified opportunities for hybrid workers profiles to improve connection, communication and productivity in the world of remote and hybrid working; understood how businesses expected the social and work graphs to interact and live side by side in virtual reality; and performed expert reviews of competitor tools to understand market patterns for B2B and B2C collaboration and data exchanges between 1st and 3rd party solutions.
Lloyds | Commercial - Senior UX Researcher (Contract) (JAN ’22 - APR ‘22)
Working alongside business stakeholders and a cross disciplinary project team to formulate and manage the research roadmap for an exciting new SME proposition in the ESG space. Through exploratory and evaluative methods, within a program of rolling research, we explored businesses barriers to reducing carbon emissions in order to identify opportunities for behaviour change.
Lloyds | Retail - Senior UX Researcher (Contract) (JUL ’21 - DEC ‘21)
Working alongside a multi-disciplinary team to identify and understand customer needs for cards servicing within the Mobile app and online banking tools. Running concept testing for Contactless payments limit personalisation (in preparation for the limit increase to £100) to ensure that vulnerable customers and those concerned about fraud feel in control and supported by their bank. Performing experience walkthrough interviews, with victims of card theft and card loss, to understand their end-to-end journey and identify opportunities to provide timely and sufficient support so they feel protected and reassured that their needs are being met. Managing vendor led research into the connection between overspending behaviours and specific vulnerable customer categories in order to identify opportunities for self initiated interventions and externally triggered mechanisms for support.
Workplace from Meta/Spotless - UX Researcher (Contract) (MAY ’21 - JUN ‘21)
Working with Spotless to perform exploratory research into the content consumption behaviours of Workplace users across their ecosystem of work tools including; Workplace, email, messaging apps, social media. The research generated behavioural archetypes with associated JTBD and experience maps.
NHS England and NHS Improvement - Senior UX Researcher (Contract) (FEB ’21 - APR ’21)
For this short term contract the focus was on supporting the design and delivery of an MVP through exploratory and evaluative research activities. Concept testing was performed with representative cohorts to assess the MVPs overarching intent. Two further studies have been scoped and planned to evaluate proposed taxonomy and personalised notification opportunities.
Workplace from Facebook - UX Researcher (Contract) (OCT ’19 – FEB ‘21)
Working with the mobile messaging team I lead the research roadmap that supports their tactical need to build and release features iteratively. International evaluative research is performed to ensure delivery of a high quality product, that solves user pain points and addresses their everyday needs.
As a newly formed team, research executed for live broadcasting involved exploratory and evaluative methodologies to support both the identification of users and the understanding of their needs. In a multistage study, an internal literature review, IDIs and triads, and a diary study were performed to deliver live broadcasting personas and a user experience map. These deliverables built empathy across the team and supported product development decision making. Through a JTBD study, use cases and core intents were identified for a live broadcasting solution among SMBs. This resulted in a refocus back to enterprise customers and solving for their immediate and long-term business needs. Third party recruitment vendors and a diary study platform were used and managed by myself throughout the program of research.
Office for Students - UX Researcher (Contract) (MAY ‘19 - AUG ‘19)
Fast-paced, iterative research performed collaboratively to deliver a redesigned and redeveloped website that supports students’ decision making processes into university and course options.
Workshops and interviews were performed to identify core user needs for the service, looking at a diverse range of prospective students from different BAME and socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as those with disabilities and of varying age ranges. The core user needs and identified pain points were then used to inform product decisions and resolve friction points. Through usability testing and private beta testing the website improvements were assessed to insure the impact of the changes were positive and the implementation user friendly.
Nationwide Building Society - UX Researcher (Contract) (NOV ‘18 - MAY ‘19)
Providing evaluative research for the children’s current account application team to test the usability of the end-to-end application process with customers aged between 14-17. Delivered insights ensured it was launch ready.
Leading a multistage research plan for the savings accounts team to identify both business and customer pain points and successes across existing processes and touch points. Contextual interviews, usability testing, card sorts and a survey, combined with branch and callcentre visits, were used to explore customer experiences and identify opportunities. Additionally internal research was used to understand known process sticking points and historical customer feedback. The research culminated in a prioritised backlog of issues that were fed into appropriate teams, and an experience map outlining the pain points, needs, motivations, recommendations and opportunities along the multi touch point user journey.
While supporting the credit card team in identifying and developing an improved proposition I performed secondary research, UX heuristic and accessibility review, competitor and comparator analysis, customer survey design and developed a formal primary research plan for their project moving forward.
SPARCK - Senior UX Researcher (JAN ‘18 - OCT ‘18)
While working with Sparck I educated the business on incorporating research into their existing design and development lifecycle, helped the marketing and sales team in ways of selling research and performed a number of different research studies to support clients and pitches across the country.
For a large supermarket chain I investigated opportunities in the repeat prescription ordering and delivery market by interviewing customers across age range and with different current behaviours. Common frustration sad gaps in services were identified and the supermarket launched their digital repeat prescription service in 2019.
I co-designed, and represented Sparck, at a live event on conscious consumerism in the digital product ecosystem, running an interactive session on incorporating conscious consumer thinking into every aspect of their businesses.
Bud Systems - UX Researcher (NOV ’17 – JAN ‘18)
Working with the product team I provided recommendations to improve the SaaS solution by performing an expert review of the end to end experience, using design sprints to take problems through to solution quickly and visited end users and prospective customers to understand needs and frustrations with the existing apprenticeship ecosystem in order to feed insights and opportunities back into the team.
Nomensa – UX Researcher (SEP ’16 – NOV '17)
Working collaboratively with clients to understand customer needs and business opportunities I worked across a number of different projects. Some of the clients I had the privilege of working with were Dyson, Yell.com, Virgin Media Business, Innovate UK and Landmark Information Group. Using the Wizard of Oz method and usability testing to assess the improvements Dyson were making to their IOT device app, with the insights improving usability and making the complex technical information provided more intuitive.
While working with Innovate UK to digitise their previously, entirely paper-based, innovation grants process I led a programme of recurring studies to gather user feedback and evaluate the usability of the end-to-end grants system from initial discovery through to application submission and grant approval. Insights helped users navigate through the complex process with ease and ensure that those with low digital literacy were supported.
Sift Media – User Experience Designer (MAR ‘14 – SEP ’16)
GGMR Ltd – UX Consultant (JUN ‘13 – MAR ’14)
Travelling in South America (NOV ‘12 – APR ’13)
ACT Ltd – UI Designer & Accessibility Expert (JUN ‘11 – NOV ’12)
Matthew Clark Plc – Senior Designer (JUN ‘10 – JUN ’11)
Matthew Clark Plc – Designer (JUN ‘07 – JUN ’10)
SKILLS & EXPERIENCE
Exploratory and evaluative research
Qualitative and Quantitative methodologies
In-depth interviews
Usability testing
Accessibility testing
Workshops
Diary study
Card Sorting
Surveys
Literature reviews
Heuristic analysis
Competitor analysis
Research with;
Children
Adults
Low digital skills
Individuals with access needs
Managing research vendors
Managing and training research assistants
Methods workshops
Deliverables;
Reports
Workshops
User journey and experience maps
Personas
GDS
Agile
Lean
SOFTWARE
Survey Monkey
Survey Gizmo
Typform
Omnigraffle
Optimal workshop
Morae
Lookback.io
Silverback
Trello
Jira
Confluence
Microsoft, Apple and Google suits
EDUCATION
Quantitative Research Methods: Amsterdam University (JUN ‘18 – JUL ’18)
Web applications: design, development & management Open Uni (OCT ‘09 – JAN ’10)
Advanced Web Design (NCFE) City of Bristol College (APR ‘09 – JUN ’09)
BA (hons) Fine Art Birmingham City University (SEP ‘02 – JUN ’05)