Who?
My name is Mark and I’ve been practicing User Experience research for a while now. While not every moment has been easy, I have enjoyed my journey and can’t think of any other better way to spend my energy and talent.
Beyond a researcher, I am a musician, nature lover, writer, mentor, community volunteer, spouse, and father.
Why?
Why do I do what I do?
I believe my goal as a researcher goes beyond great data, and beyond the great products that come from that data. My focus is on the influence of others: to inspire and guide them based on a deep understanding of their audience’s needs, behaviors, and perceptions. I believe that if I can have great impact on others, it will translate into greater impact on our customers and the products that serve them.
During my work sabbatical, I wrote about my journey and evolution as a researcher.
How?
Research Methods
When I started my journey as a researcher, my goal was to learn every method under the sun. Below is just a sample of the methods I’ve honed over the years.
Ethnography, interviews, diary studies and longitudinal research, participatory design, moderated/unmoderated usability testing, rapid iterative test and evaluation (RITE), quantitative user experience benchmarking, card sorting, desirability research, focus groups, eyetracking, journey mapping, concept testing, quantitative surveys.
In some cases, I’ve even developed my own techniques and engaged teams in unique methodologies to inspire product design. I have presented professionally on such topics, such as using comics to test concepts. While I have built an extensive mixed-method toolbox, I also realize that I work within a rapidly evolving industry with constantly evolving methods – in short, my toolbox is never complete. So I keep an open mind and willingness to learn and try new methods so as to best serve the curiosity of my stakeholders.
Industries
I’ve worked in a variety of spaces such as EdTech, local/neighborhood tools, mapping/geospatial technology, e-commerce, and serving Small Businesses.
Yet, there are still so many spaces I have not touched and I’d love to expand into as a way to grow myself professionally and personally. If you have an interesting and unique sandbox for me to play in, I’m all in!
Mentoring and leadership
I’ve enjoyed teaching and mentoring others. This has been through formal mentor relationships or simply informal feedback and willingness to support junior/senior researchers. I also love playing a central role within UX teams to help grow the field and knowledge share. For example, I’ve hosted monthly UX clubs, led quarterly UX researcher development offsites, and led annual UX internal conferences.
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What?
In my portfolio, you’ll find a small collection of research projects I’m most proud of.
That said, please reach out as I’d be happy to talk with you more about any of these projects. After all, the true effectiveness of a researcher comes through their interactions with others - not through a portfolio website!