Research Portfolio

Product Development

  • Generative Research
  • Product Strategy
  • Qualitative Methods
Company: Meta
Role: Lead UX Researcher
Project scope: To develop a novel approach that enhances campaign performance for the delivery of ad creatives in digital advertising. 
Methods: Remote interviews with intended users, literature review, partnership with Product Design and Engineering to delineate the features and parameters for an MVP (Minimum Viable Product).
Partners: Product Design, Product Manager, Engineering, Data Science.
Impact: Issued a recommendation to build; product added to roadmap for development.

Product Vision

  • Analytical Skills
  • Literature Review
  • ​Data synthesis
Company: Meta
Role: Lead UX Researcher
Project scope: To evaluate the approach to ad campaign reporting and develop a point of view for the needs and vision in this space.
Methods: Literature review of over 50 sources, coded and analyzed with qualitative research software (Maxqda).
Partners: Product Marketing Manager, Product Manager, Product Design, Technical Program Manager.
Impact: The findings provided a foundation to build a collaboration between relevant teams and a joint roadmap. 

Usability Testing 

  • Evaluative Research
  • Usability Testing
  • Research Design
Company: Meta
Role: Lead UX Researcher
Project scope: To evaluate the design and functionality of new reporting surfaces with their target users.
Methods: Usability testing; remote interviews.
Partners: Product Design, Product Marketing Manager, Product Manager. 
Impact: Findings helped the design team fine-tune the surfaces and provided guidance for future iterations. Furthermore, participants related broader comments about the product during the usability sessions, which I turned into a separate report to inform product strategy. 

Consumer Preferences

  • Ethnography
  • Interviews
  • Contextual Inquiry
Company: Southern Methodist University
Role: Lead Researcher (Academic study)
Project scope: To investigate perceptions of food safety after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan.
Methods: Ethnography, Interviews, Observation, Contextual Inquiry.
Impact: Publication of a book and articles. The book was selected by Choice as a 2019 outstanding academic title. Findings revealed a transformed understanding of the meaning of food safety, and the research reports on the activities consumers and producers undertook to ensure and verify the safety of food products. 

Product Trends

  • Ethnography
  • Interviews
  • ​Contextual Inquiry
Company: Harvard University
Role: Lead Researcher (Academic study)
Project scope: To investigate the turn toward the production of higher quality wines that express terroir in the Chilean wine industry. 
Methods: Semi-structured interviews, ethnography. 
Impact: Research published as part of the book "Wine and Culture." Findings show a shift beginning in the 1990s to produce higher quality wines, and reports on the activities wineries engaged in to challenge the perception that Chilean wines could not compete in the premium market.