Design researcher, product strategist, & cognitive scientist.
My research philosophy is one of solving problems. I have over 10 years of research & strategy experience, and worked in academic, start-up, consulting, and enterprise environments. Before moving into digital products, I did research in cognitive science and behavior (I have a PhD in Neuroscience), which has given me a pretty broad skillset in qualitative and quantitative research methods. I know how to do research right, but I also know how to be scrappy and get the critical answers when they are most needed.
Nearly all research can be distilled into 2 categories (and supporting questions):
1. Understand what to build
- Why are you building it (what problem will it solve?)
- Who is going to use it, and what are they doing now (another solution, or living with a problem)?
- How is it going to make money, and how much money is it going to make?
2. Understand how to fix what you already built
- Why does it need to be fixed (is it broken, or does it need to work better)?
- If it is broken, what isn't working, why isn't it working, and how can it be fixed?
- If it needs to work better, what needs to be better, why, and how?
My experience and skillset let me shine as a researcher & strategist, and to understand the true value of product design, because a well-designed product has little significance if it’s not solving somebody’s problem.