I am a customer-centric user experience leader with 15+ years of experience across diverse industries, including e-commerce, aerospace, telecom, social media, and gaming. I am a passionate and innovative expert helping globally distributed development teams create products that excite and delight their customers to achieve business goals. I am well-versed in research methodologies suited to each stage of the product lifecycle and an experienced collaborator across multi-disciplinary teams. * Transformational Visionary: I inspire and influence teams through strategic innovation, next-level prioritization of insights and predictive quality, and improved data triangulation across Insights functions.* Cross-Functional Leader: I am a user-centered champion of co-design with customers and internal creators, and driver of synthesized consumer insights across UX Research, Market Research, Analytics, Data Science, Accessibility, Competitive Intelligence, and QA to improve upstream product quality.* Mentor & Team Developer: I improve team effectiveness by setting clear expectations and modeling proactive problem-solving; nurture and uplevel talent through workshops & empathetic mentorship — ensuring a cohesive, inclusive, and high-performing work environment.Let's connect to discuss how an obsession with customer-focus can help your business!
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Director, Ux ResearchAristocratLas Vegas, Nv, Us -
Global Director, Ux ResearchElectronic Arts (Ea) Jun 2022 - PresentRedwood City, Ca, UsLead Global UX Research team of 40 Researchers and Managers across 4 countries, delivering industry-leading insights for EA’s billion-dollar franchises and enhancing experiences for over 100M players across various game genres in HD and Mobile, including Shooters, Sports, Racing, Action, Role Playing, Open World, and Simulation verticals.Drove 30%+ improvement in metrics related to sharing, learning, safety, and efficiency by spearheading initiatives starting in 2020 to remove friction points and drive team effectiveness due to geographic & personnel heterogeneity — maintained momentum amidst COVID-19 pandemic and workplace changes.Developed a “Jobs to be Done” model to streamline and standardize cross-functional insight activities, and produced a comprehensive handbook of recommended practices across the development lifecycle to maximize product quality. -
Director, Ux ResearchElectronic Arts (Ea) May 2018 - Jun 2022Redwood City, Ca, UsLed global UX Research teams supporting multiple game genres across HD and Mobile. Supported games cater to 100M+ players and include billion dollar franchises such as The Sims, Apex Legends, and Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes.Co-created innovative research approach with Market Research and Data Science colleagues to understand which attitudinal drivers most impacted subsequent player behavior, informing direction for the Apex Legends’ team seasonal strategy.Spearheaded co-design project to enhance key development tool for Sims 4, garnering widespread acclaim from Designers for significantly improving workflow & user satisfaction.
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Sr. Manager, Ux ResearchFacebook Jan 2017 - Mar 2018Led team of 10 Researchers to enhance overall Facebook experience, reduce usage barriers, and improve app quality/navigation to increase global engagement among growth audiences.Initiated Max Diff & Thurstone methodologies to optimize push notifications & perceived usefulness and mitigate low CTR.Enhanced Researcher alignment with Product Leadership goals through formal collaboration meetings and increased the perceived value of Accessibility research by framing it within an ROI context. -
Director, Ux ResearchGroupon Apr 2015 - Jan 2017Chicago, Il, UsDirected and scaled the UX Research team from 1 part-time Researcher to a robust team of 5 full-time experts, supporting all consumer- and merchant-facing Groupon products.Established 2-stage usability lab and secured a dedicated UX Research budget, enhancing in-depth user testing and analysis.Launched and spearheaded “Voice of the Customer” Program, synthesizing and prioritizing customer pain points across multiple data sources, and collaborated with the Head of Mobile to integrate solutions into the product roadmap. -
Director, User Experience ResearchEbay Inc Sep 2014 - Mar 2015San Jose, Ca, UsOversaw multiple UX Research teams to enhance Buyer conversion, Seller efficiency, site simplicity, and marketplace trust. Areas of focus included My eBay, Identity, Cart, Checkout, Post-Sale Experience, Online Customer Support, and Trust. -
Principal User Experience Researcher - Technical DirectorEbay Inc Jan 2007 - Aug 2014San Jose, Ca, UsLed global research efforts for initiatives aimed at improving buyer conversion, seller efficiency, site simplicity, and trust in the eBay marketplace. Designed and executed multi-method research programs across lab, field, online, and mobile environments, driving product innovation throughout the lifecycle. Pioneered innovative research methodologies, including survey-based experiments, hybrid qualitative-quantitative concept testing, and longitudinal participatory product design to inform strategic decisions.Authored a coffee table book featuring key Buyer and Seller insights across the customer journey, with a foreword by John Maeda (former President, RISD), which Product Directors incorporated into strategic planning.Led multi-phased research and design project for Seller Dashboard, co-designing solutions with Sellers to directly understand their pain points, resulting in a redesign of a high-inertia interface and an improved Seller experience.
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Senior User Experience Researcher / Sr. Design Research ManagerYahoo! May 2001 - Dec 2006Sunnyvale, Ca, UsSpearheaded comprehensive research initiatives across Sports, Health, Finance, Games, News, Movies, Music, and HotJobs (Careers), driving insights that shaped product strategy. Directed 4 Researchers, enhancing user experience and product improvements for Mail, Photos, and Real-Time Communications.Applied a range of formative and summative research methodologies to identify unmet user needs, steer strategic product innovation, accelerate prototype iteration, and spur long-term user engagement and usage.
Mike Katz Education Details
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Rice UniversityPsychology -
The Johns Hopkins UniversityCognitive Science
Frequently Asked Questions about Mike Katz
What company does Mike Katz work for?
Mike Katz works for Aristocrat
What is Mike Katz's role at the current company?
Mike Katz's current role is Director, UX Research.
What schools did Mike Katz attend?
Mike Katz attended Rice University, The Johns Hopkins University.
Who are Mike Katz's colleagues?
Mike Katz's colleagues are Rijvan Momin, Demarco Bell, Boulianne Steeve, Vinit Rai, Suraj Shah, Monica Pallares, James Irizarry.
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