United Kingdom

UX Research

Service Design Research

Nicole Haboosheh

Head of Experience Design Research

Usability Testing

Quantitative research

Qualitative research

Communication

Collaboration

Problem-solving

Critical-thinking

Empathy

Team player

Presentation skills

Stakeholder management

Leadership

Market research

User research

SurveyMonkey

UserTesting

Miro

Notion

UserZoom

Scaled and led the UX Research function across Sainsbury’s, Argos, Habitat, Tu, and Nectar, growing the team from 2 to 8, and redefining its role from tactical delivery to strategic partner. Built a high-performing, collaborative team through coaching, clear vision, and development-focused leadership.

Elevated visibility of both user needs and the research function, embedding user understanding into strategic decision-making. Key initiatives included foundational research to inform strategy and ongoing experimentation across critical omnichannel journeys (e.g. Sainsbury’s food and general merchandise in-store) and end-to-end evaluations to optimise experiences (e.g. Nectar Prices pre-launch, Argos browse and pay in store).

Developed a Research Ops strategy to drive efficiency and scale. Contributed to CX leadership, shaping design processes, prioritisation, and team-wide talent development.

Built Kingfisher’s UX Research and Service Design function from the ground up, hiring and coaching a team of 10, defining the team vision and ways of working with the business, introducing new tools and methods, and evangelising the value of research & design

Led strategic research and service design across key journeys for B&Q, Castorama France and Castorama Poland- from planning kitchens and bathrooms to in-store digital browsing. Partnered with senior stakeholders to drive user-informed, commercially sound decisions.

Played a key role in Design Leadership, shaping team culture, career frameworks, and design processes across the organisation.

Led mixed-method strategic and tactical research across the product development process, from discovery to concept testing, evaluation and measurement, ensuring alignment with business goals.  Informed product, design, and marketing strategy through collaboration in agile, cross-functional teams. Delivered impactful insights, influencing launches like QuickCheck and CreditWise.

Advocated for customer-centricity through empathy-building immersive initiatives and led the creation of scalable research processes and a state-of-the-art research lab.

I collaborated with stakeholders to define the research brief for a new NPS and CSAT tracking study, and managed the set up and execution of various ad hoc studies to help drive product development.

I designed and managed key tracking (market sizing, brand, customer satisfaction) as well as qual and quant ad hoc research studies across 25 countries for the B2B market, ensuring regional and local relevance. Translated findings into actionable insights that drove customer-centred decisions. 

I also led the redesign of DHL’s European customer satisfaction study to better meet local and regional management needs. Considered a best practice due to enhanced relevance, actionability, and cost efficiency (-20%), the approach was adopted globally and across business units. Led global execution.

MD Analytics is a research agency specialising in the healthcare and pharmaceutical markets and was a fast-paced start-up when I joined as the 5th employee.  I led end-to-end quant research studies, including study design, survey programming, analysis, presentation of insights and recommendations, consistently exceeding client expectations and resulting in repeat business.  I also established initial operational processes (e.g. incentive management, file management) to ensure efficiency.

CDIS (now known as the Arts Institute of Vancouver) provides education in the areas of design, digital media and event management.  I was responsible for independently running depth interviews and focus groups with students, as well as competitive analysis to inform CDIS’s future course offering and course descriptions.

Nicole Haboosheh🇬🇧