Hey there! I'm a user experience researcher based in the Bay Area and I love helping product teams create amazing experiences for their users.
I support my product teams through exploratory and evaluative research with our users, using methods ranging from ethnographies & contextual inquiries, in-depth interviews, competitive analysis, surveys, usability tests, and product log analysis. I have conducted research in four countries including in Europe and the Middle East.
I am currently pursuing an MBA at London Business School with the goal of understanding the mechanics of business, learning to provide strategic product recommendations, and becoming an even better collaborator with stakeholders & decision makers by learning to speak the same language.
Outside of work, you’ll likely find me outdoors camping, hiking or on the beach. I also love playing board games, cooking, and woodworking.
Thank you for stopping by and please drop me an email if you want to get in touch or learn more about what I do. 😃
📄 PDF Resume here.
Experience
January 2022 – Present, Mountain View CA
Lead research to support gTech @ Google.
Led 16 foundational research interviews across multiple user segments (agency users, SMB, Merchants etc.) to understand users' perception of Help Center content. Produced new content writing guidelines based on the findings, and partnered with content strategists to refresh over a 100 Google Ads Help Center articles.
Independently facilitated 4 rounds of focus group discussions with SMEs, in Google’s Product Expert Summit; uncovered over 8 product gaps and bugs, and enabled the team to create 3 new feature roadmaps for Advertiser Communities.
Led 14 concept feedback research sessions to facilitate development of 2 key UI components, critical in serving a personalized Help Center experience for Ads users.
Improved stakeholder and leadership access to insights, and team level reporting efficiency by creating a more structured, consistent process of analyzing and reporting Help Center metrics, and sentiment tracking survey data.
Created and maintained our team's UX research report archive; a resource that helped our cross-functional teams search for and surface from 60+ UXR reports more effectively, ensuring greater utilization and retention of institutional knowledge.
January 2016 – December 2021, San Diego CA
Led 40+ mixed methods UX research projects to enhance the end-to-end user experience for Sony’s consumer electronics products – gained a deep understanding of our customers through a mix of foundational and evaluative studies in the field and in-lab.
Delivered 5 key user personas representing users in US, UK and Germany. Personas helped guide hardware, software engineering and marketing teams to identify and prioritize key product features for users across geographies.
Conducted over 60 “Out of Box Experience” sessions for Sony’s Android TV, in-lab and in users’ homes. Findings drove changes in hardware assembly and design, packaging, technical documentation and the initial setup experience.
Informed designs for Sony’s 2019 TV remote, and True wireless earbuds through review of anthropometric standards, gathering data from over 200 participants to assess fit and comfort, 10+ focus group sessions, and multiple rounds of usability study sessions.
Led detailed yearly competitive analysis projects that involved 80+ hours of product review, screen captures, and reporting on competitor TV UX. Analysis helped teams identify opportunities, and outline strategies for future iterations of our product.
Championed visual approaches for effectively communicating findings to our stakeholders in Tokyo - created survey visualizations, highlight reels from user studies, and built templates for user study reports.
Helped scale our TV research initiatives outside the US, specifically in our largest European markets - UK & Germany. Independently worked with vendors to coordinate and lead 8 international UX research projects.
October 2012 – December 2015, Austin TX
Designed and executed consumer research for 4 of Austin’s biggest tech clients - Dell, Bose, PayPal, & Citibank - to help identify key usability issues, and drive user-centered product design and development.
Performed literature reviews, heuristic evaluations of products and prototypes, conducted usability tests, focus groups, in-person interviews, and ethnographic research.
June 2010 – August 2011, Morrisville NC
Designed and executed studies that examined user performance on human-interface devices (mice, keyboards, etc.). Managed participant recruitment, lab audio/video setup, and data collection for research sessions.
Community Work
Participated in Google’s in house mentorship program both as a mentor and a mentee, to share career expertise and experiences with 2 associate UXR peers, and discuss avenues for personal growth with tenured leaders.
Created an onboarding document for new UXRs, with detailed resources on internal UX resources, legal / product counsel info, and templates for research plans, screeners, and discussion guides.
Facilitated an ethnographic research project for an incubator team at Google focused on Climate-tech, by creating research plans, moderator guides and coordinating with a vendor in Brazil to execute research internationally.
Education
M.B.A | London Business School
June 2022
M.S Industrial Engineering (Human Factors) | NC State University
May 2012
Bachelors in Instrumentation & Electronics Engineering | NIT Trichy
May 2009
Skills
Research Methods
In-depth interviews, contextual inquiries, diary studies, competitive analysis, focus groups, participatory design, usability tests, heuristic evaluation, intercept studies, log analytics, A/B testing and surveys.
[International research] Working with translators, local vendors (recruitment and research agencies) and providing guidance to internal teams on product localization/new feature development for international markets.
Tools
MS Office Suite (Data Analysis Toolkit), Excel VBA, SPSS, SQL, dscout, Morae, Survey tools (Qualtrics, Survey Gizmo), PowerBI, Adobe CS.