CV / Resume

🧑‍💼 PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

STAFF UX RESEARCHER, Algolia, Remote
October 2022 – Present

• Lead research for multiple teams, including AI, Optimization, and Product-Led Growth. Collaborate on cross-disciplinary teams, including Product, Design, Engineering, Support, and Developer Education to launch new products, implement new features, and define product strategy. 
• Conduct mixed method research studies including:
  • Large scale surveys
  • Customer Advisory Board with seven customers, involving four focus group discussions over a 6 month period. 
  • Multi-part research to document user journey
  • Foundational research, including usability testing, interviews, and data analysis 
  • Launch Jobs To Be Done initiative and conduct multiple generative studies
• Advise and coach Product Managers and Product Designers on conducting user research.

UX RESEARCHER (L4), Twilio, Remote
March 2022 – October 2022

UX RESEARCHER (L3), Twilio, Remote
April 2021 – March 2022

• Collaborate on cross-disciplinary teams, including Product, Design, Engineering, Support, and Developer Education to launch new products, implement new features, and define product strategy.
• Conduct 10 mixed method research studies including:
  • Multi-part longitudinal pilot for Twilio Regions, incorporating interviews, documentation research, and benchmarking. Results identified a new API to add to our product roadmap, UI improvements, documentation gaps, and defined strategies for successful pilots.
  • Quantitative analyses and gap analysis, which defined our localization strategy for content, design, and engineering teams.
  • Usability testing on wireframes and documentation; 100% of recommendations incorporated directly into product requirements for product launch.
  • Generative research interviews and card sort study to identify customer mental models.
  • Design and facilitate workshops with internal stakeholders to synthesize existing research and align multiple teams.
• Evolve content research at Twilio through novel research methods and creation of research guides. Findings used to build out documentation strategy for Twilio Regions and improve UI microcopy.
• Establish user research process for the Global team; strong performance unlocked additional headcount for Global user research. Forge new relationships across R&D and GTM to enable ongoing collection of customer feedback and support team enablement for Twilio Regions.

• UX research lead for CMS Beneficiary FHIR Database/Blue Button API contract. Created a unified platform out of 4 distinct API products serving 142 healthcare applications and over 1 million beneficiaries for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS).
• Led 12 mixed method research studies on document user needs and validate redesigned services. 
  • Conducted remote interviews and moderated/unmoderated usability testing. 
  • Planned and facilitated stakeholder workshops. 
  • Collaborated with UX design to create wireframes and clickable prototypes.
  • Ran content audits and analyze support tickets.
  • Analyzed research findings and system metrics to create deliverables (diagrams, user journeys, posters, reports, presentations) and present to stakeholders. 
• Collaborated with development teams on implementation and product launches. 
• Managed stakeholder relationships across multiple government contracts and advocated for UX within government agencies. Work in an Agile environment.
• Supported 4 contract bids and design exercises for federal RFPs. Led internal working group to develop growth capabilities. 
• Spearheaded internal practice improvement by writing 11 research guides, defining research processes, and mentoring team members.

ADVISOR, Fox Management Consulting, Fox School of Business at Temple University
Philadelphia, PA
September 2016 – January 2022

• Provide industry and subject matter expertise on client projects for Fox School of Business MBA students.
• Advise on research approach and methodology.
• Review and provide feedback on client deliverables.

SENIOR DESIGN RESEARCH CONSULTANT, Liquidhub (now part of CapGemini), Philadelphia, PA
September 2017 – April 2018

DESIGN RESEARCH CONSULTANT, Liquidhub (formerly Electronic Ink)
July 2016 – September 2017

DESIGN RESEARCH CONSULTANT, Electronic Ink
December 2015 – July 2016

• LiquidHub is a consulting firm that offers UX research, design, and software development. It was acquired by CapGemini in 2018.
• Led 10 research projects with minimal or no oversight for Fortune 500 clients in automotive, telecommunications, social media, hospitality, utilities, and financial services industries, including Johnson & Johnson, Facebook, Ford/Lincoln, Penske, and Philadelphia Gas Works.
  • Conducted moderated usability tests on consumer-facing and enterprise products, including eye tracking analysis. 
  • Conducted field research, including stakeholder and user interviews, contextual inquiries, and workshop facilitation with stakeholders. 
  • Created and analyzed online surveys. 
  • Gathered user requirements, system constraints, and UI specifications. Validated recommended solutions through user research. 
  • Analyzed and synthesized research findings using journey mapping, affinity diagramming, and collaborative whiteboarding sessions to identify key insights and solutions. 
  • Delivered research findings and recommendations to clients and internal stakeholders through presentations, reports, annotated screenshots and wireframes, highlight videos, user journey maps, design mock-ups and other data visualization methods. 
• Collaborated with cross-functional teams of researchers, designers, developers, project managers and content strategists. 
• Provided feedback and critique on design and research deliverables, mentored junior researchers.
• Developed sales opportunities, scoped new projects, and prepared sales deliverables such as statements-of-work and kickoff decks. Fostered ongoing client relationships.

FREELANCE UX CONSULTANT
January 2014 – November 2015

• Conduct usability testing and user experience evaluation of websites based on stakeholder interviews.
• Prepare report of quantitative and qualitative analyses to drive recommendations that will bolster customer experience for clients in ecommerce, arts, and industrial sectors.
• Clients include Playwrights Horizons, Key Systems, Inc., and The New York Art Resources Consortium.

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✍️ RELEVANT SKILLS

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🎓 EDUCATION

University of Oxford, Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford, England
October 2014 – August 2015

Master of Social Science of the Internet
Thesis: Do Looks Matter? Effect of Survey Design on Data Quality in Academic Studies on Amazon Mechanical Turk (Online Experiment)

Selected coursework: Experimental Research, Information Visualization, Statistics, Accessing Research Data from the Social Web, Big Data Analytics, Internet Economics, Research Methods, Social Dynamics of the Internet

Pratt Institute, School of Library and Information Science, New York, NY
September 2012 – May 2014

Master of Library and Information Science (MSLIS), with Distinction
User Experience Concentration

Selected coursework: Usability, Information Architecture and Interaction Design, Human Information Behavior, Digital Preservation, Projects in Digital Archives, Visual Resources Management, E-Publishing

Williams College, Williamstown, MA
September 2006 – June 2010

Bachelor of Arts in Art History, Cum Laude, Dean’s List

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📖 PUBLICATIONS

Introduction to Prototyping Products and Services, Code for America Summit 2020 (canceled due to coronavirus); Co-facilitator with: Alexis James, Senior Product Manager, Ad Hoc and Sophia Dengo, Senior UX Designer, Ad Hoc

Roundtable Discussion “I’ve Done Nothing Wrong: Designing for Privacy,” BarCamp Philadelphia 2016, Philadelphia, PA 12 November 2016 http://s.barcampphilly.org/events/22/event_dates/21

Contributor for Rough Consensus, student blog for Oxford Internet Institute
http://blogs.oii.ox.ac.uk/roughconsensus/author/elizabeth-kaufer/

Abstract “Real-time Reading: A Twitter-based Diary Study of College Students” (with Dr. M. Cristina Patuelli, Gina Shelton, and Storey Sitwala), 6th International Conference on Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries, Kadir Has University, Istanbul, Turkey 27 – 30 May, 2014

Panel “Exploring the Use of E-Books: An Investigation of Reading Habits and Practices in Academia” in Pratt Institute Student Showcase 2014
http://research.prattsils.org/blog/author/ekaufer/

Presentation “Usability Testing of NYARC’s ‘This Kiss to the Whole World’ Digital Exhibit” in Pratt Institute Student Showcase 2014

Presentation “Adamo Art Gallery Redesign Project” in Pratt Institute Student Showcase 2014

Poster “Rightful Owners: International Restitution and Repatriation” in Pratt Institute Student Showcase 2013

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🙋‍♀️ POSITIONS OF RESPONSIBILITY:

VOLUNTEER ASSISTANT, The Nolen Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
July 2012 – August 2014

• Researched and answered specialized reference questions regarding the Library’s and Museum’s collections, including art history and Museum’s history; researched and assessed proposal for purchasing iPads for the Library.
• Assist with various library projects as needed, including processing new acquisitions, evaluating library documents and materials, and general library maintenance.

VOLUNTEER ASSISTANT, Education, The Metropolitan Musuem of Art, New York, NY
September 2011 – August 2014

• Assist teachers and education program coordinators with weekly tours of the museum for families; provide guidance to visitors to the museum; assist with additional education and community programs.

INTERN, The Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA
September 2009 – June 2010

• Compiled and analyzed data, designed content for a new Education Resources webpage and online collection database; presented research results and proposed new projects to the Directors and fellow staff members.
• Conducted online and archival research for upcoming exhibitions and the museum’s collection, wrote interpretative material; developed new education programs based on the museum’s collection.

INTERN, Rights & Reproductions, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Summer 2009

• Documented photographic records of past and present exhibitions at the Whitney Museum, wrote Excel spreadsheets, compiled digital photography files, scanned and entered data for over 500 digital assets for the re-launching of the updated Whitney website.
• Assisted with rights management, cleared permissions with artists and estates for the museum’s website www.whitney.org; corresponded with artists and galleries, conducted research on the Whitney collection in the Whitney Library and the Museum of Modern Art Archives.

MUSEUM ASSOCIATE, The Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA
September 2007- June 2010

• Lead weekly tours of the museum for elementary and high school students.  Facilitated discussion about exhibits, interacted with students and educators, and organized art activities.

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