United States

Customer Experience (CX)

UX Design

UX Testing

UX Research

Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.)

Kate Powell

Head of Qualitative Research, CX - Experience Strategy + Technological Innovation

Product strategy

Qualitative research

Problem-solving

Critical-thinking

Empathy

Brand strategy

Marketing strategy

User research

Optimal Workshop

Optimizely

UserTesting

Airtable

Asana

Canva

ChatGPT

Jira

Miro

UserZoom

Mural

Stakeholder management

Communication

Collaboration

Time management

Conflict resolution

Leadership

Brand positioning

Branding

Usability Testing

Introduce yourself, define mentoring expectations and goals. Learn and grow together.

General mentorship

Learn essential burnout prevention techniques and replenish physical and emotional energy.

Managing burnout

Talk to people who have learned to manage their imposter syndrome.

Dealing with imposter syndrome

Navigating micro-aggression, getting paid what you are worth and finding a community.

Being a woman in tech

Understand the process of training, motivating and directing your team members.

Managing people

How to create a positive workplace culture that drives collaboration and productivity?

Fostering a good team culture

Learn the tips to successfully manage a team in a remote environment.

Managing a remote team

How to determine what is a good balance of skill sets for your organization's needs

Building balanced teams

Tips for transitioning into a new role or company.

Changing roles

How to successfully prepare and position yourself for a job promotion?

How to get promoted

How to ask for a promotion and negotiate for salary raise?

Negotiating a job offer

How to think about design career paths and what progression looks like for designers?

Design career path

Get actionable feedback on your resume or portfolio.

Resume and portfolio review

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

Breaking into tech

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

Choosing metrics and team goals

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

Conducting good user research

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

Conducting effective customer interviews

Teaching a sponsored summer cohort of my 4-hour course, Leveraging Quant + Qual Research Insights for High-Impact User Experiences, to 25+ business leaders on behalf of the Executive Education program at The University of Akron College of Business. 

Learning goals include:
- Understanding the Value of CX and UX Research as a Business Leader
- Informing Customer Journey Maps, Experience Maps and Service Blueprints with Quant and Qual Data
- Leveraging Strategic Artifacts for Prioritizing and Making Product, Service and Innovation Decisions
- Measuring Impact Along the Customer Journey

*Pioneer*
Build an inclusive team of knock-out researchers

*Operationalize*
Empower that team with resources, organization and autonomy to be their best selves and do their best work

*Champion*
Diplomatically navigate blockers, stakeholders and research biases to pave the way for collaborative research and deeper insights

*Democratize*
Create an environment to inspire and educate designers, analysts and other professionals across the organization to ensure insight driven product and business decisions beyond the bandwidth of our immediate team

Drove product growth through intake, planning and execution of research efforts, while prioritizing research needs based on extensive analysis of  quantitative and qualitative data from multiple teams

Designed and implemented a program of research to better understand seatback entertainment, including content search, browsing and playing on both seatback screens and personal devices 

Consulted on human factors, UCD best practices and recommended research activities based on team needs, user desires and behaviors and business goals

Programmed and managed project scopes, budgets, scheduling and resource management of multiple simultaneous research efforts

Partnered with leadership to engineer and implement a centralized UX Research practice serving 5 internal teams and multiple external partners

Vetted, hired and managed outside vendors as needed to support multiple workstreams 

Expertly navigated a variety of UX+CX Research methods in hard-to-reach spaces including in-depth interviews, cognitive walkthroughs, usability studies and contextual inquiry as well as strategic planning activities including SME + Stakeholder interviews, journey mapping, service blueprinting, co-creation and innovation workshops

Worked with 3rd party experts to design, build and manage a recruitment panel for hard-to-reach users ensuring seamless recruitment across the SaaS transformation, which required the analysis of user bases, leveraging personas against real-user data and reviewing competitive customer analyses to inform detailed screeners and best-in-class use cases

Designed and conducted UX research studies on internal tools and communication platforms to create a more connected experience for EY's global talent force.

Pioneered PS’s UXR testing protocols and operations for conducting research on a variety of emerging technologies including AR/VR, voice and connected home devices for clients including Samsung, Magic Leap, Whirlpool, JEEP, and Publicis Sapient

Aligned stakeholders, product team and leaders on project goals, research needs and strategic direction through close collaboration across departments

Designed and conducted over 55 unique UX Research studies in 12 international markets for a variety of AR/VR, eCommerce and ecosystems at various stages of the product lifecycle while driving insights into actionable, measurable product goals and outcomes

Agile Consumer Insights Strategist
Mobile app development 
Major financial institution (5th largest in U.S.) 

Lead an 18-month agile research-based strategy program for 6 studio teams resulting in the BCX 2019 Award for Best Banking Customer Experience for mixed eCommerce, digital and physical experience innovation

Closely collaborated with executive leadership and multiple disciplines to develop UX strategy in a fast-paced and highly ambiguous environment of 6 agile teams across both corporate and agency settings

Simultaneously managed multiple research initiatives while providing a supportive, educational environment for junior associates rolling onto and off of the project

Strategically designed long and short-term user research road maps, aligning with business objectives and innovative exploration across multiple channels 

Executed primary and secondary research within tight time frames in an agile environment while managing researchers, budgets and capabilities

Utilized data to clearly identify target markets, illustrate consumer journeys, and define personas while also providing clear, actionable recommendations to direct strategic business decisions parallel to business goals and objectives

Methodically designed and executed a variety of consumer insight research initiatives including secondary research (database mining, industry reports, etc.) and primary research such as usability testing, individual interviews, focus groups and remote CBT, to capture both qualitative and quantitative data across both domestic and international markets

Efficiently synthesized research results and usage data insights to generate clear and concise strategy recommendations that support the user throughout an omnichannel experience

Performed strategic heuristic evaluations and content analysis based on best practices

Actively assisted in the development of individual marketing strategies for financial representatives

Strategically developed and organized client relationships networks with strategic touch points

Effectively composed a variety of press releases and distributed across multiple press and media platforms to enhance overall brand image and community involvement

Efficiently created, published and ordered marketing materials while maintain integrity of the NWM brand

Promptly designed, scheduled and maintained content on multiple social media platforms using Hearsay Social

Rachel Green

UX Researcher

Courtney Gras

Community Director

Tessa Eagle

HCI PhD Student

Jennifer McGibbon

PhD in Geography (social science)

Amelia Paraskevas

Occupational Therapist

jordana dumont

User Researcher

Need some encouragement? Career clarity? Or stuck on a tough UXR problem? Trying to navigate office politics? This is a safe space to vent, bounce ideas around or to receive some advice from someone who's been around the UXR block a few times. *Beginning 2024: Unfortunately, 20 minutes is not enough time to both effectively review and provide constructive feedback on portfolios, resumes and personal branding artifacts (personal websites and LinkedIn pages). Therefore, I will not be reviewing these materials during these calls.* If you want a thorough deep-dive into your materials, I offer 1:1 career coaching and portfolio/resume reviews. Send me a message for more details!

Kate Powell🇺🇸

About Kate Powell

Expertise

Sessions with Kate Powell

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