Alexandra Nguyen Portfolio
Senior User Experience Researcher
& Service Designer
Located in San Diego, CA
EDUCATION
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B.S. Psychology with a minor in Sociology
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M.S. Human-Computer Interaction, Psychology, Human Factors, and Ergonomics Specialization
BACKGROUND
With six years of research experience, I have worked in various fields such as Personal AI Assistants, autonomous vehicles, operations, robotics, project management, public health, healthcare, city planning, and sales tools - primarily in software products but I have some experience with hardware.
STRENGTHS
I specialize in integrating high-impact user research into early-stage startups like Crunchbase, Nuro, Shortcut, and Global AI Platform. With a strong focus on discovery research, I empower organizations to discern what to build and why, leveraging user insights to drive impactful product direction and strategy.
UXR Pioneer
I've established robust research processes at three startups, seamlessly integrating user research into the product development cycle by spearheading various research initiatives to inform roadmaps
Agile
I've managed fast research turnarounds and constantly delivered under constraints while quickly adapting to rapid changes, balancing flexible research with rigorous standards
Collaborator
I ensure stakeholders are deeply engaged throughout the research process by sharing digestible stories to help the team reach their AH-HA moment together and build products with more confidence
Holistic Methods
My approach involves utilizing various research techniques to provide extensive insights and a deep comprehension within the given time and resources to help us create products that align with the company's goals
UX Experience
Senior User Researcher (Jan 2023 - May 2024)
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User Research Team of One leading research strategies to guide and define product strategy and roadmaps for three product teams that align with the organization's goals
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Conducting marketing and growth research to support a new GTM strategy by improving messaging and positioning and onboarding to enhance user activation with personas and personalization
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This provided me the opportunity to work as a solo researcher for a start-up that focused primarily on mixed methods and marketing research to influence product strategy and growth
User Researcher II > User Researcher III (Jan 2020 - Mar 2024)
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Established research practices at Crunchbase
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Crafted 45 research reports that contributed to over 15 features/new products and influenced a new Go-To-Market strategy
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Conducted end-to-end research that primarily focused on the web search experience and new tools & features for personalization (i.e. homepage, notifications, saved searches)
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I learned that I thrive in a startup working with with limited resources on web applications applying a multitude of qualitative research methods
User Researcher IV (Mar 2022 - Nov 2022)
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The primary researcher for the Operation's Platform that optimized autonomous vehicle deliveries and fleet operations
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Assessed current workflows and tools with field studies and evaluated against human factors guidelines to define and improve new scalable hardware and software products and experiences for autonomous vehicles, robots, and various operators
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This experience allowed me to prioritize research for four product teams, mentor a junior researcher, and leverage my human factors background for hardware products research while working in a larger organization that scaled quickly
Master of Science in Human-Computer Interaction (Aug 2017 - Dec 2019)
Specialization in Human Factors & Psychology
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Applied background in psychology to understand how to build technology
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Gained applied skills in quantitative and qualitative research methods and foundational human factors and ergonomics knowledge
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Worked on multiple projects to research, improve, and develop intuitive tech and experiences based on user insights and data to create evidence-based, user-centered designs
SimTigrate Design Lab
Graduate Research Assistant (Aug 2019 - Dec 2019)
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Partnered with the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta to inform hospital room layout designs for new Biocontainment Units to reduce accidental contamination and the spread of Ebola
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Provided design implications, recommendations, and documentation of design decisions based on simulations, participatory design focus groups, and NASA TLX surveys
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I learned that I love conducting field research and collaborating with others to make the best decision based on a multi-method approach
Cognitive Ergonomics Lab
Funded by the CDC in collaboration across three labs: microbiology, design, and human factors
Graduate Research Assistant (Nov 2017 - Sept 2018)
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Redesigned and optimized the protocol to remove contaminated personal protective equipment (PPE) for Ebola-trained healthcare workers to reduce the spread of Ebola/Norovirus
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Conducted usability testing on PPE to identify pain points with error analysis, think-alouds, and workload assessments with healthcare workers across 4 different hospitals in Georgia
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This experience taught me that observation is a powerful tool in research
UX Research Intern (May 2019 - Aug 2019)
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Promoted Universal Design by investigating pain points to help underrepresented groups of immigrant drivers with usability testing on the Driver's App
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Investigated service design for the Driver Experience with proctored field surveys and observations
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Created a process book to help researchers conduct studies with low-fluent or non-English-speaking drivers
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This provided me my first opportunity to working in tech as a user researcher
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Technical Intern (Apr 2016 - Mar 2017)
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Worked internationally in South Africa for a technology-based marketing firm and wore many hats
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Aided in UI design for an in-house, web-based management and tracking system
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Improved marketing landing page
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Summarized survey data to provide digestible consumer product feedback reports for clients (i.e. Kotex, Huggies, etc.)
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This taught me that I wanted to blend my background in psychology with technology and pursue a higher education
SimTigrate Design Lab
Graduate Research Assistant (Nov 2017 - Sept 2018)
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Partnered with Emory Healthcare to evaluate the built environment of a research facility to aid Mild Cognitive Impairment Fellows
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Created a research plan and selected appropriate metrics to assess the built environment by collaborating with Architects, Emory Program Coordinators, and Environmental Psychologists
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I learned that understanding success metrics before building is crucial to understanding how to develop the best experiences by holding ourselves accountable
UX Research & Design (Aug 2018 - Dec 2018)
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Partnered with Atlanta City Planners to understand cyclists' safety concerns to help inform decisions about city infrastructure with a data visualization tool with cyclists' survey data
UX Research & Service Designer (Jan 2019 - April 2019)
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Improved MARTA's current research & analysis methods by recommending a survey redesign, an upgraded consumer-facing app, and a data dashboard supported by user pain points with interviews, contextual inquiries, and artifact analysis supported by empathy maps, process flow diagrams, and participatory design focus groups
UX Researcher (Aug 2018 - Dec 2018)
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Tackled a company-wide challenge of task allocation and management by understanding pain points of in-store associates with interviews and contextual inquiries
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Backed by discovery research, feedback sessions, and usability testing, our team designed an app to connect store associates at the right time for the right reasons
Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Sociology Minor (Aug 2012 - Dec 2015)
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Focused on understanding people from a neurological, biological, developmental, cognitive, and sociological perspective
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Foundational in UX career to build empathy, understand human behavior/biases
User Research Consultant (May 2025 - Oct 2025)
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Led churn research for a Personal AI Assistant app to uncover LLM limitations and identify key retention and drop-off drivers, directly influencing roadmap priorities through interviews, diary studies, and surveys
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Synthesized user pain points by mapping research insights with Instabug data, enabling feature prioritization
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Facilitated workshops leveraging journey maps and Jobs-to-be-Done frameworks to align teams and uncover strategic opportunities
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Conducted competitive analysis of AI travel, agentic, and voice assistant tools to identify market gaps and inform product differentiation strategy
User Research Methods & Tooling
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Contextual Inquiry
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Think-Aloud
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Survey Design & Analysis
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Literature Review
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Focus Groups
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Competitive Analysis
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Structured / Unstructured / Semi-structured Interviews
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Remote/In-Person Interviews
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Field Research
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Ethnography
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Concept Testing
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Task Analysis
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Cognitive Walkthrough
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Participatory Design
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RITE Method
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Heuristic Evaluation
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Card Sorting
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Message Testing
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Ergonomic Evaluation
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Experimental Design