Vandana K. — UX Researcher

Work Experience

Senior UX Researcher - WP Engine

Sep 2022 - May 2024

Summary: Led end-to-end user research practice for SaaS hosting product, resulting in substantial revenue growth and user base increase.

Responsibilities: 

• Established and led end-to-end user research practice for SaaS hosting products for Next.js WordPress developers through generative research studies, enabling a 30% growth in annual recurring revenue.
• Collaborated with product managers, developers, go-to-market, and designers, to translate complex product goals and questions into research studies, driving informed product development and strategy.
• Analyzed quantitative and qualitative data, utilizing Looker for data visualization, and evaluating KPIs and X benchmarks to generate multi-faceted user insights that improved data-driven decision-making.
• Delivered actionable insights via storytelling and visual presentations to provide recommendations to incorporate user needs and pain points into product roadmap and strategy.
• Developed the initial customer journey map by integrating feedback from customer support and user interviews, identifying and addressing key bottlenecks, which enhanced the user experience.
• Led and facilitated cross-functional workshops to integrate user insights into product development, resulting in enhanced customer-centric features and a 300% growth in user base.
• Facilitated iterative, evaluative concept testing to manage change & uncertainty impacting 180,000 users, resulting in minimal disruption and maintaining high customer retention levels.
• Spearheaded quantitative surveys, user interviews, and Pendo A/B testing to discover issues with product adoption, resulting in new pricing and discoverability initiatives, facilitating 400% increase in adoption.
• Executed discovery research through surveys and user interviews to identify new customer segments, resulting in a new specialized product offering and a pipeline of 1000 prospective customers.

Technologies: Looker, Pendo.

Volunteer UX Research Lead - Clearviction

Apr 2022 - Oct 2022

Summary: Directed a volunteer team to establish a UXR practice for targeting users with low-tech usage and educational attainment for go-to-market strategies.

Responsibilities:

• Led a team of 7 UX researchers to establish a UXR practice and develop a go-to-market strategy.
• Synthesized data from SME interviews, ethnographic research, and surveys to assess the needs, frustrations, and behaviors of target users with low-tech usage and low educational attainment.
• Implemented Clearviction’s first SUPR-Q evaluation benchmark to monitor continuous releases.

Technologies: SUPR-Q evaluation, SME interviews.

R&D UX Researcher - Charles Schwab

Mar 2019 - Aug 2022

Summary: Facilitated the research and development of new concepts using tech innovations for the improvement of retail banking and financial services.

Responsibilities: 

• Utilized design thinking to define new problem spaces, research, ideate, and produce new concepts leveraging innovative tech for Schwab’s retail banking, brokerage, and financial planning customers.
• Pioneered ideation techniques and workshops, enabling engineering teams to develop innovative technology solutions with strong product-market fit.
• Conducted user interviews and technical feasibility for automated grant approval with natural language processing, reducing approval time by 90%, and allowing donor-advised funds offering to triple in 2 years.

Technologies: Natural Language Processing, Ideation Techniques.

Education

• Master of Science, Analytics
  Georgia Institute of Technology - Online
  Aug 2020 - Dec 2026 (Expected)
• Bachelor of Science, Computer Science/Finance
  Northeastern University - Boston, MA
  Sep 2014 - Dec 2018