United States

Isabelle Pinard

User Experience Researcher

Strategies for maximizing your design internship or co-op program.

Getting the most out of my internship

How to set up the team for success by defining and measuring team's performance.

Choosing metrics and team goals

Identify and define potential product problems and generating possible solutions.

Identifying problems vs solutions

Tips on how to work and collaborate with designers.

Working with designers

How to work with team members with different skill sets but towards a common goal?

Working cross-functionally

Explore different generative and evaluative research techniques. User research synthesis and presentation.

Conducting good user research

How to create personas, and leverage them in design.

Creating and leveraging user personas

How to conduct interviews, what to ask, and how to analyze your results? (eg. user interview)

Conducting effective customer interviews

Practice HR, technical and behavioural interviews with mentors.

Practice mock interviews

Talk to people who've broken into the tech industry and learn their stories.

Breaking into tech

Learn the best ways to answer technical interview questions with frameworks

Acing technical interview questions

Farm to Pantry is a food, climate and social justice nonprofit, harvesting excess produce from Sonoma County backyards and farms then distributing it back into the community, directly to residences and also by partnering with more than 100 other nonprofits and hunger-relief organizations. Sonoma County is an agriculturally-rich region, and we work hard to ensure everyone has access to all of its beautiful, healthy bounty.

The Earth has enough food to feed everyone on it; the food is out there--we just need to gather it and share it. We all know how good it feels to eat fresh, locally-harvested fruits and vegetables...everyone has a right to food and that feeling, and Farm to Pantry is here to nourish its community back to wellness with those very foods

Lead UX Researcher for Google Photo's and Pixels Photo and Video AI editing products such as: Magic Editor, Pixel Camera, VideoBoost, Zoom Enhance, Audio Eraser and more.

Advise k-8th grade middle school of implementing artificial intelligence chat bots like BARD and ChatGPT4 as a tool for education and understanding the implications of plagiarism and copyright.

Organize an annual event 'STEMing the Gender Gap' at Google for 50 8th grade Hamlin School girls to tour the campus as well as moderate a professional Panel of 4 full-time UX Googlers (UX designer, UX researchers, and a UX motion designer).

I manage teams composed of talented college students and industry professionals to develop tech products for nonprofits. 

I ensure students gain valuable technical experience while corporate mentors generously donate their skills. Additionally, I prioritize providing quality digital services to nonprofits, particularly focusing on making hands-on project experiences accessible to underrepresented students in tech to fast-track their careers.

I am committed to empowering the next generation of diverse tech leaders, allowing them to learn by engaging in impactful work and contributing to the digital transformation of the nonprofit sector. 

At its heart, my goal with Develop for Good is to foster a world where students, nonprofits, and corporations collectively champion technical education, advance digital equity, and support each other in realizing their maximum potential.

I will work closely with a team of product managers, designers, and engineers to design, execute, and analyze studies that provide crucial insights and inform product decisions. By continuously monitoring industry trends and user behavior, I will identify new opportunities for innovation and improvement for Google One's Web and App interfaces.

Housing shortage, especially in affordable units, is a widely recognized problem across California and the Bay Area. In addition to building more housing, there is a core need to connect available, affordable housing with those who are seeking it. The Bay Area today has several disaggregated affordable housing portals, starting with the DAHLIA San Francisco Housing Portal that was launched in 2015. Since then, San Mateo and Alameda counties and the city of San Jose have built their own housing portals based on Bloom, an open source project. The Doorway project is a partnership between the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA), Exygy, and Google.org to launch a single portal for the entire Bay Area.

I was matched with a middle school student to complete a career exploration project inspired by the students' interest or passions. Shout out to Dinh ! Woohooo! I built my leadership skills and made a lasting impact on Bay Area youth. 

In 2004, Spark launched its first mentorship program in Redwood City with a group of 11 students. Since then, we’ve expanded to San Francisco, Oakland, East Palo Alto and San Jose, growing to serve more than 300 local students per year. In partnership with dozens of leading companies, we’re building a movement across the Bay Area. Together, we recruit hundreds of volunteers in the fall and spring to host one-to-one mentorships, supporting young people’s development and inspiring them to reimagine what’s possible for their futures.

Lead UX Researcher who helped create Google One's main security features: VPN and Dark Web Monitoring as well as the lead UX Researcher for the partnerships team.

Served as a volunteer UX Research mentor for two consecutive years at San Jose State University. 

In this program UXR Googlers coach and mentor students from SJSU interested in careers in UX Research. We already have 50 undergraduate and graduate students signed up as interested to participate.

The Google Research India lab, in collaboration with Google.org and the University Relations program, has championed a collaborative structure that brings together and supports teams of NGOs and Academics working together to advance research that positively impacts the lives of people. Our goal is to work with interdisciplinary teams to understand societal problems and develop novel AI techniques that can positively impact lives of underserved communities, especially those that have not benefited from the progress in AI, in particular in the domain of public health, education, disaster prevention and conservation. Six such projects were initiated in 2020 and we have an expanded ‘AI for Social Good’ 2021 program that led to thirty new AI for Social Good projects across Public Health, Conservation and Agriculture.

AI4SG associates will work closely with the academics and NGOs, contribute AI/ML expertise and liaise with the program team to help resolve bottlenecks and unblock project needs. The project needs could vary depending on the scope and problem being tackled, but the primary responsibility will be to assist with end-to-end applied AI-ML research along with working on real-world data sets.

Google AI for Social Good is an initiative aimed at harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to address some of the world's biggest social, humanitarian, and environmental challenges. 

Through this initiative, Google is working with non-profits, universities, and other organizations to develop AI-based solutions that can make a meaningful impact in areas such as healthcare, conservation, disaster response, and education.

As a UX research consultant, I help the initial team in Kenya conduct 1:1 user interviews with prototypes and concept testing low and high fidelity mocks for product and design direction. Diving deep into how users interact with their app and ensuring a top-notch experience. I've also introduced Afriscout to the power of Google Earth Engine collaborating to enhance their ML algorithms and revolutionize the way they process satellite imagery data. Bringing innovation and efficiency together to transform how we understand and manage our ecosystems.

I make direct research contributions and execute tasks under the scope of a broader project with general guidance from the manager. 
I address high-complexity problems and recommend standard research and/or user solutions by applying established UX research methods and tools to generate insights and recommendations that improve the end user experience. 
I develop working relationships within a team and begin participating in cross-team collaborations with peers by sharing knowledge related to a broad set of tasks.
I  utilize working knowledge of research methodologies, principles, tools, analysis, measurement and problem framing techniques to turn research results into product and business insights and recommendations, with an awareness of when to seek additional support and guidance. 
I work within defined guidelines to complete work such as: conducting research and/or measurement to support or improve the user experience for products, services or ecosystems, by analyzing user behavior and providing insights, feedback and recommendations to stakeholders. 
I am developing the ability to create high quality research findings and recommendations, as well as a clear understanding of and empathy for user needs, pain points, motivations, values, goals, constraints, and opportunities. 
I also engage in community contributions to improve and sustain our culture and operations - making Google a better place to work.

www.sovemove.com
Volunteer-based yoga studio, three years running! 

Bringing self-service to healthcare workers, schools, communities, start-ups, and fortune 500 companies in the Bay Area. 

This volunteer-based yoga studio is run by myself, Isabelle Waz PInard, and my clients consist of Google's platforms and ecosystem as well as devices and services teams. I specialize in preventing burn-out and creating a 'pause' for teams who are wanting to reset from a busy quarter or year.

My goal is to teach the importance of balance between self-service and dedication to others through knowing the body and the mind. The classes are catered to the groups needs and are completely free!

AIMS (Alumni, Industry, Mentoring, Students) is an opportunity for Trilogy Network members and industry professionals to engage with each other for meaningful mentoring relationships to enhance career journeys. 

For boot camp alumni, AIMS provides an opportunity for interested Trilogy Network members to learn about opportunities in the industry, create relationships and enhance their skills.

For Industry Professionals, AIMS is an outlet to share their knowledge of the tech industry, provide insight on workforce-related skills, create relationships and further craft their leadership skills.

Analyzed data to construct clear, qualitative, analyses for company-wide decks.

Collaborated with designers, product managers, engineers and research managers
to prioritize research opportunities. Worked effectively in team environment.

Evangelized and articulately communicated research findings to diverse audiences
through written reports and oral presentations

Organized and implemented end-to-end research for hardware human factors and
software products. The foundational work includes in-person interviews to collect
and analyze user behavior.

Involved with both developer-facing and consumer-facing products.

Lead qualitative research on multiple aspects of users engagement with novel
products and experiences.

Used quantitative methods, benchmark studies, lab studies and surveys.

- Managed and lead competitive benchmark studies within the company's workspace
focusing on true intent studies to maintain company-wide goals.
- Collaborated with engineering and design teams to create a new internal
communication system among employees.

- Focused on User Experience writing and choosing key words to help attract and maintain user retention. 
- Created drafts, prototypes, and instructional presentations for English-speaking natives at conferences for the company. 
- Provided leadership on the UX project team to ensure content and design met business objectives and user needs. 
- Communicated with cross-functional teams.

More BLOCKS installations in the office building lobbies mean less traffic of messengers inside the buildings and healthier environment overall for everybody.

- Lead customer resolution for "Free the Game" concept for User Experience
Team head to develop new research strategies and prototype a new perspective of
communication for the company.
- Collected qualitative and quantitative data about company behavior through semistructured
interviews, guerrilla interviews, and ethnographic research.

- Conducted and managed observational studies; recording users interacting with
different stages of the product both from publisher and member sides in San Francisco and Shanghai, China.

- Resourceful in problem-solving product development issues.

Their partners consist of : Coca-Cola, Esquire, Sephora, CNN, Bazaar, Vespa, Mercedes, and more.

- Coordinated and managed customer feedback desirability studies with the CEO to
re-brand and re-design the on-boarding process for companies and universities to
utilize product.
- Helped organize the first nation-wide conference in San Francisco
- Created affinity diagrams and paper-prototypes for each design phase
- Focused on card sorting, surveys, and in-person interviews with current customers.

- Assisted and worked with internal teams, resolved customer issues with their experience using Mylestone, Amazon's story creator.
- Led time-sensitive feature exploration for the Mylestone team on story creation and exportation.
- Collaborated with UI team and wrote a proposal for a re-written script for Alexa to utilize while conducting the stories.
- Constructed and tested VUI user flows and mental models of interfaces
- Managed and organized qualitative research collection through user interviews over the phone, surveys, google hangout interviews,
journal entries and in-house interviews for ethnographic research.
- Transcribed each interview with time stamps to highlight key idioms used by Alexa users to conduct effective participatory designs.

Expanding knowledge through active inquiry and collaborative learning.
- I volunteered and studied with Dr. Nan Renner at the Hands on Lab at UCSD, hosted by the Department of Education Studies and CREATE STEM Success Initiative. 
- This was a teaching and learning seminar connecting campus faculty, staff and students with local high school students and their science teachers for a "hands on" science experience.
- UC San Diego School of Medicine provided the lab space and equipment. We wanted to invite high school students into our learning community and engage them with the concept of molecular self-assembly, students created bubbles and explored their forms. They also made miniature boats move with no more than dish soap. Later, they tested various boat designs and observed the effects of the modifications. During another lab, they looked through microscopes at cells of fruits and vegetables, noticing the similarities and differences among exterior skin cells and interior flesh. - I built and improved the lessons co-created by the undergrads and grad students to share with others @ sharemylesson.com. 
- I evaluated the effectiveness of the lessons and articulate relationships between design choices in lessons and consequences for engagement and learning. Targeting grade levels based on specific needs or challenges in our local education system. 
- I used the learning sciences to inform strategies that aim to engage all students in hands-on science, especially those currently underrepresented in most scientific disciplines.

- Responsible for managing, designing, conducting, analyzing, organizing and reporting on user-centered design research and usability
testing for the UCSD Facilities Management website.
- Targeted user needs and goals through task and workflow modeling, ethnography and persona development as well as rapid
interactive usability testing, and more formal, in-depth testing.
- Created the company's first affinity map, paper-prototypes for all major sites adaptable for web and mobile interfaces.
- Gathered qualitative feedback: user testing with paper prototyping, editing the affinity diagrams and recorded customers feedback.
- Created a certification program with UCSD's Facilities Management team to promote UCSD energy efficiency projects with Preuss
High School, a school for underprivileged youths. An after school program was created with the AP Environmental course. Students
must go through a three-step course to achieve a Certificate of Achievement from Facilities Management.
- Created the Facilities Management Newsletter for the Facilities Management and Sustainability Community at UCSD.

- Collaborated and integrated designs with UX Designer and Graphic Design Team leads.
- Connected directly with end-users to deeply understand user processes, pain points, and end goals.
- Collected and analyzed user behavior to be integrated into the finished product.
- Lead a Beta Test with 700+ Users for the mobile app.
- Managed and lead virtual workspaces such as Basecamp, Trello, and Slack.
- Participated in Virginia Hackathon

- Built strong communication skills, trained and worked in Apple's Flagship store in San Francisco.
- Learned to deliver great customer experiences in any environment and invigorated by constant personal interaction
- Uncovered customer's needs and followed through with enlightening solutions

Isabelle Pinard🇺🇸

About Isabelle Pinard

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