
Professional info
I am a user experience researcher in the psychological sciences with 10+ years of experience in advanced statistics, data analytics, qualitative and quantitative research methods, and project management. Formerly employed at Facebook to investigate a variety of research questions that are pertinent to the company’s product design decisions for News Feed and messaging across Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger. Currently employed at Airbnb to lead research projects critical to maximizing user trust & safety while minimizing fraud & abuse.
Expertise
Strategic UX Research
Survey Research
Marketing Research
Statistical Methods
Data Analysis
Interviewing
Usability Testing
Project Management
Storytelling
Work experience
Lead UX Researcher
Airbnb
June 2019 - present
• Informed Airbnb's set of business priorities of promoting safety and defending against fraud, account abuse, and offensive content.
• Led the organization, planning, and execution of a company-wide research share-out event that impacted leadership strategy for listing verification.
• Impacted multiple teams' strategies on preventing monetary loss through conducting research on fraudulent transactions/behavior.
• Shaped the design direction and strategy for listing address verification through leading both foundational and tactical research with cross-functional partners.
• Fostered research collaborations between Trust group disciplines that drove cross-functional relationship building.
Senior UX Researcher
August 2018 - May 2019
• Generated foundational insights for the News Feed Integrity team, which impacted multiple products across the organization and generated XFN collaborations.
• Planned and led field international field research that has impacted road-mapping priorities for expanding News Feed products outside of the United States.
• Informed key design and executional decisions for a major user-facing UI change that helped shape the product prior to global launch.
• Pioneered and advocated for a program of foundational research to better understand teen's specific needs sending and receiving messages across Instagram and Facebook Messenger.
• Led a design sprint for messaging and stories teams across Facebook and Instagram that generated messaging interoperability solutions for Instagram's priority market.
• Created and led survey research with Instagram data science and Facebook demography and survey science to identify key markets most open to messaging across Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
• Provided continuing support and mentoring guidance to newer and junior team members.
User Experience (UX) Researcher
August 2017 - July 2018
• Proactively identified a new area of inquiry and conducted survey work that influenced the direction and focus of the team.
• Led research at a design sprint (including identifying the people problems and creating design personas), which led to the refinement of the team's product strategy for the year.
• Contributed to an analysis that helped define the first version of a new metric for content ranking on Facebook.
• Drove forward product thinking for a relatively new team by moving them to a more sophisticated framework for understanding bad user behavior on Facebook.
Researcher and Teaching Assistant
The University of Texas at Arlington
August 2013 - August 2017
• Trained and supervised 20 undergraduate research assistants on data coding tasks which resulted in enhanced research productivity and organization in the laboratory
• Presented results of quantitative investigations at annual conventions and received national recognition for presentation ability
• Taught lab sections of both undergraduate and graduate statistics, created weekly lectures, planned in-class activities, and graded assignments.
User Experience Researcher, Intern
May 2016 - August 2016
• Conducted qualitative and quantitative research for both the Ads Measurement Team and Ads Solutions Team.
• Led two survey investigations about the Facebook Pixel product, which assisted product managers and stakeholders build new features for the product.
• Designed and conducted a series of interviews with Facebook sales team members to get their clients' perspectives on Dynamic Product Ad campaigns.
• Developed and implemented a partner sentiment survey that informed the Ads Interfaces Team how to improve team structure and communication with stakeholders.
Software
SPSS
Mplus
R
SQL
Qualtrics
Photoshop
Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word)
Education
Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD)
University of Texas at Arlington
2013 - 2017
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Major Area(s): Social/Personality Psychology, Statistics
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Dissertation Title: "Service that Sells: Examining Women's Tendency to Purchase Appearance-Enhancing Products from Gay Male Sales Associates"
Master of Science (MS)
University of Texas at Arlington
2013 - 2015
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Major Area(s): Social/Personality Psychology, Statistics
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Thesis Title: "How Quick Do They Click? Initial Dyadic Interactions Between Straight Women and Gay (vs. Straight) Men"
Bachelor of Science (BS)
Texas Christian University
2008 - 2012
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Summa Cum Laude, GPA: 3.9, Major GPA: 4.0
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Honors Degree with Thesis
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Honors Thesis Title: "Friends with Benefits, but Without the Sex: Straight Women and Gay Men Exchange Trustworthy Mating Advice"