Research Portfolio
Fueling business impact with human insights
Global Research Strategist | 0→1 Product Development | Trusted Advisor to Executives
Strategic, proactive, and creative researcher with 10+ years experience leading global insights work at Google, YouTube, and startups. Known for creating clarity in ambiguity, bringing meaningful focus to teams, and transforming complex insights into crisp, actionable takeaways. Equally comfortable in scrappy or scaled environments, and love collaboration towards clever solutions.
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I have in-house and consulting experience. In-house, I’ve been embedded on product teams (YouTube Go, Gaming, Live Streaming), and co-led a horizontal cross-product strategy team (Google Horizons).
As a consultant, I’ve filled essential gaps for clients as a researcher, strategist, analyst, writer, communications coach, and interim Chief of Staff.Across contexts, I’ve designed end-to-end research programs for 0-to-1, early stage, and established products.
Whether designing studies or advising execs, I adapt to what the moment calls for—with curiosity, clarity, and a focus on business goals.
You can work with me in a few different ways. I can work with any client directly. If you work at Alphabet / Google, I am a registered vendor within the system, so all we’d need to do is draft up a SOW and PO. For clients who want to work with a fuller team, I’m also a freelancer with Blink UX agency.
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I’m a versatile researcher who adapts to complex domains—whether its emerging tech, underrepresented user segments, or the viability of business models. My work spans:
💡 Emerging Tech & AI/ML
Effectiveness of ML/language models (English, Spanish)
Perceived latency of loading animations
AI applications in consumer products
Survey programs to train & evaluate models
🎧 Consumer Products & Experiences
YouTube Go
YouTube Gaming
YouTube Live Streaming
Music tastes / preferences
Digital wallets
DNA testing
Library databases
🌍 Global & Foundational Research
New internet users (across South America, Africa, Asia)
Gender equity online
Digital literacy
Accessibility (i.e. vision)
🧱 Product & Portfolio Strategy
Inclusive design approach for Google products like Search, Maps, Assistant, Lens, Guide, Chrome, Files, Camera Go
New product + business model viability
Behavioral segmentation of internet usage
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In-depth Interviews — 1:1, dyads, triads, group
Diary Studies(including sentiment tracking)
Concept Evaluation
Usability Testing (remote, in-person) — with coded or paper prototypes, pre-launch versions, and launched products
Task Analysis / Jobs-to-be-Done
Global / Field Research
Contextual Inquiry / Shadowing / Ethnographic Action Research
Survey Writing (small to large-scale)
A/B Testing
Logs Analysis (basic SQL, R)
Card Sorting / Ranking
Qualitative Coding
Journey & Ecosystem Mapping
Competitor Analysis
I am currently building up my quantitative analysis skill set, and have light experience in conjoint analysis, and analyzing results of randomized control trials.
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Degrees
Masters of Science, Human Factors in Information Design, Bentley University. Summa Cum Laude.Bachelors of Science, Textiles & Clothing with a Marketing emphasis. Minors in Communications & Art History. Cum Laude.
Additional Courses
Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate (in-progress)MITx Micromasters: Designing & Running Randomized Evaluations
Field Study Fundamentals Masterclass by Studio Dradiodurans / Jan Chipchase
Statistical Thinking, a Google-internal course by Cassie Kozyrkov
Spotlight Projects
The projects shared here are limited to those that can be discussed publicly in more detail.
A couple in central Mexico. Photo by Garen Checkley.
New Internet Users Initiative
What: A 3-year strategic growth research initiative that uncovered the human needs of globally underrepresented populations who were/are not yet online across Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Nigeria.
My Role: Project + Research Lead / 7-person team. Manager of regional UXRs and videographer.
Impact: Drove 50+ NIU-focused product changes that shaped Google’s global strategy, with high level findings featured in The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, and at I/O 2017 and I/O 2021. This study also drove a collaboration with IDEO to create a Designing for Digital Confidence Toolkit.
Installed Taara hardware.
Taara Strategy
What: Taara’s technology uses beams of light to deliver high-speed, secure, and abundant internet connectivity where fiber and wireless can’t.
My Roles: Researcher, Exec Advisor, Communications Coach
Impact: Helped regain executive trust in the project via improved communications through artifact development and coaching of the General Manager; research results gave clear directional signals on the viability of business models, organizational research identified process optimization and prioritization.
YouTube Go Designs.
YouTube Go
What: YouTube Go was a separate YouTube app, built for patchy connectivity and smartphones with less RAM and lower processing power.
My Role: Research Lead from paper prototypes to product launch and expansion to 80+ countries.
Impact: Features like download / offline, and reduced data consumption are now implemented into the main YouTube app. I also established research best practices and culturally-adapted methodologies for global field studies, that have been adopted by teams across Google.
A link to a detailed case study is coming soon.
Snapshots
The projects listed here can be discussed publicly, yet with limited detail or redaction.
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Executive Comms + Narrative Design
ARTIFACT CREATION, TAILORED COACHING
I help clients craft clear, compelling narratives—multi-year visions, funding pitches, executive reviews, and research reports. I also coach execs and subject matter experts to communicate with more clarity, conciseness, and confidence.
Resulting artifacts are confidential.
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YouTube Live + Gaming
END-TO-END PRODUCT RESEARCH
Diary studies, usability evaluations, group discussions, conference visits, and guerilla recruiting towards launch of YouTube Gaming and re-launch of YouTube Livestreaming, optimized for gamers and casual use cases.
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AI/ML Models
PROTOTYPE EVALUATIONS
Assessed the effectiveness of AI/ML translation, transcription, closed captioning, audio description and how these models could properly collaborate with experts and users on the front- and back-end. Client names are confidential.
Visual by Aurora Mititelu for Google Deepmind. Sourced via Unsplash.
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Data Commons
USE CASES + JOBS TO BE DONE
Aligned cross-functional team on their high priority knowledge gaps. Led efforts to identify target users, priority use cases, ideal workflows, and how to optimize their existing flows.
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Perceived Latency
CONJOINT ANALYSIS
Designed a study to compare 16 loading animation variants through an online survey (n=7.3k+) in an attempt to reduce webpage abandonment. Uncovered a variant that was perceived as 20% faster than baseline. Partnered with a mixed methods UXR for the final statistical analysis. Further project details are confidential.
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Gender Equity Online
FOUNDATIONAL RESEARCH
Co-led research for the Nigeria branch of the study. Ran workshops for product implementation, presented insights at various forums, and provided editing support towards the final report.
This pages’s video montage contains clips captured by colleagues Eric Mann, Garen Checkley, and myself from Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Nigeria.