UX Research Co-Lead
within a UXR team of 12
AmpUp, a collaborative effort between AmpUp(company) and Tech Fleet, introduces an innovative well-being product. Its main aim is to create a platform for individuals transitioning into the tech field, addressing the toll this process can have on their well-being.
The UXR team was divided into Rapid and Foundations teams to conduct qualitative and qualitative research to gain insights into the product and the user. This division allowed us to gather insights for product development and lay the groundwork for longer-term goals with AmpUp simultaneously.
By aligning with the business/product objectives, the UXR team evaluated sustainable strategies, collected user feedback, developed core features, and validated the value proposition.
Phase 1 research was limited to one survey, hypothesizing that users would benefit from goal setting during goal setting. Initially, the client aimed to develop a job search platform and a mental well-being app. However, Strategy opted to prioritize mental well-being for Phase 2 after investigation. Reviewing previous research and consulting with Strategy helped Research define goals for this phase.
The UXR team goals for Phase 2 were:
I established a Discord Server to optimize the recruitment process, focusing on diversity, accessibility, longitudinal studies, and ethical data management. In Sprint 1, the Rapid team used the platform for mini-studies and diary studies. After the team split into two groups, I co-lead the Foundations team, concentrating on user behavior, technology, and mental well-being. We refined survey questions through several iterations and launched the survey in mid-Sprint 2. Following the survey, we recruited participants for interviews, emphasizing mental well-being, and engaged users outside Rapid’s original criteria to gather more diverse insights.
During Sprint 3, I transitioned to the Rapid team to synthesize data from mini-interviews, focusing on users’ job search experiences and the impact of support systems. I co-led the team in organizing data with Dovetail and supported tagging through workshops. Meanwhile, I also assisted the Foundations team with interview preparation, serving as both an interviewer and note-taker. As Sprint 3 closed, Rapid prepared for concept testing with the Design team, ensuring smooth testing in Maze. I conducted pilot and final tests, contributing as both an interviewer and note-taker.
Discord server samples were generated to accommodate participants, simplifying the recruitment process for UX Research studies. On the left is the prompt from the Diary Studies by the Rapid team, while on the right is the “Introduce Yourself” channel for participants.
The UXR team reviewed the Phase 1 findings alongside the contribution of the AmpUp team in a collaborative workshop, organizing them based on priority. Subsequently, we categorized the insights into Design, Market Research, and User Research domains. The team constructed a research table, pinpointing areas with the highest potential impact for this phase, particularly focusing on users and their pain points. Foundations continued refining the focus to prepare the survey for rollout by the midpoint of Sprint 2.
Although I didn’t participate as an interviewer in the Rapid Mini interviews, I actively facilitated and executed the sorting and cleaning of data alongside the Rapid team throughout Sprint 3.
While collaborating with the Rapid team, I continued to conduct interviews for the Foundations team, a task I willingly undertook as I enjoy engaging with users. Having participated in interview preparation workshops for the Foundations team, I was familiar with the questions flow and essential topics to address during the interviews.
Two iterations of the Concept test were conducted, each featuring one of the two distinct features in alternation. Additionally, several multiple-choice prompts were incorporated, each tailored to address aspects of the two features. These prompts were randomly shuffled to ensure users never received the same test twice.
After cleaning and organizing the data, the Rapid team generated reports for the AmpUp team, identifying themes such as self-reliance, coping strategies, job search behaviors, and the influence of support networks. These insights were shared during the Sprint 3 demo and contributed to the app’s design phase, aligning with findings from the Foundations team’s survey results. As a co-lead, I guided the team through data cleaning and report complications, focusing on the impact of job searching, peer support networks, and LinkedIn experiences. Although presented late in the phase, those insights will influence the app’s direction and the work of subsequent teams.
The project Management team incentivized survey participation, increasing responses to over 75 users. The cleaned data mirrored previous interview findings and proved invaluable to AmpUp. Through Maze, the Rapid team provided heat maps to the Design team for pre-demo refinements. Concept testing revealed users’ preferences for one feature over another, though they saw value in both and favored authentic experiences. In our final deliverable, we conducted a user persona workshop, creating two personas, “the lurker”, a passive recent graduate, and “the initiator”, an active career transitioner. These personas clarified user demographics for AmpI, shaping the next project Phase.
Through the mini interviews, we categorized the gathered information into four distinct areas: LinkedIn, mentorship, family and friends, and self-care. Users who participated in the interviews shared both positive and negative experiences related to these specific areas.
As a team, we extracted insights from the interviews that aligned with the findings of the Rapid Team, delving deeper into understanding the users and pinpointing specific problems that need to be addressed.
Throughout the Phase, we initially obtained preliminary data from the survey. However, it was the comprehensive results of the study completed that truly illuminated the extent of research conducted for the AmpUp team. Through implementing a mixed-methods survey, UXR effectively probed for insights crucial for advancing both product and design in the upcoming Phase.
Since the Concept testing was completed using an A/B format on Maze, the two prototypes were tested to provide the Design team with clear and unbiased data from the users. Additionally, after the completion of the Concept test, we briefly interviewed users to gather insights for product improvement.
In constructing the two personas, both UXR teams collaborated to complete the last deliverable for the AmpUp team. We strongly believe that at this juncture in the research, we were able to divide the user into two separate individuals whose needs are distinctive enough for the product to address.
Conduct another mixed method study that focus in on these factors:
A significant effort to increase the representation of male-identifying users in the data, as the majority of users UXR team has interacted with (Phase 1-2) were female-identifying.
