UX Research Team for Copilot in Microsoft Power BI

I conducted strategic foundational research, leveraging scientific-backed frameworks to establish employee experience personas. These insights informed data-driven recommendations that enhanced search functionality in Microsoft Teams and Outlook, helping product teams more quickly understand employee needs and conduct biannual product planning efforts.- Led the creation of personas representing individual contributors' employee experiences at Microsoft, highlighting user requirements, needs, challenges, and key opportunities for development teams to improve user satisfaction.- Integrated user feedback into the development process using Azure DevOps, ensuring ongoing involvement with engineering and product management teams to meet customer needs.- Conducted over 60 in-depth remote user interviews worldwide via Microsoft Teams to gain insights into the unique needs of Microsoft employees, utilizing Jobs-to-be-Done methodology.- Developed large-scale surveys using Qualtrics, generating data-driven recommendations to enhance the Search functionality on Microsoft Teams and Outlook.- Designed research plans via Microsoft Word and led collaboration efforts with product managers and engineers to effectively scope research questions, methods, deadlines, and outcomes.- Created user journey maps using Figma to contextualize user needs, scenarios, workflows, and pain points for stakeholders, facilitating design thinking processes.- Collaborated with front-end engineers to ensure seamless user interface integration, maintaining design quality and adhering to user experience standards.- Provided insightful feedback and contributed to product briefs, considering both business and user needs for a well-rounded product strategy.

I played a multifaceted role as a Program Specialist, collaborating with local communities, conducting data analysis, facilitating community engagement, and assisting in grant writing. I led strategic planning efforts that resulted in the successful development and publication of a 5-year tourism strategic plan, endorsed by the County of Hawaii to drive sustainable economic development.- Conducted comprehensive research and data analysis to assess the impact of economic development initiatives on marginalized communities, providing valuable insights for program improvement and advocacy efforts.- Analyzed qualitative and quantitative health data via Microsoft Excel on elderly Hawaiian Homestead residents, assisting leadership in strategic planning and grant writing.- Collaborated with local communities and stakeholders to identify and prioritize economic development needs, ensuring alignment with HACBED's mission to promote social and economic justice in Hawaii.- Assisted in grant writing and fundraising efforts by preparing grant proposals via Google Docs, conducting needs assessments, and providing data-driven evidence of the organization's impact in promoting economic and social justice in Hawaii.- Facilitated community engagement sessions and workshops to empower residents and facilitate their active participation in the development and implementation of community-based economic initiatives.- Leveraged Airtable to develop and maintain strong relationships with government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and community leaders, fostering partnerships and coalitions to advance HACBED's goals and initiatives.- Analyzed 15 years of tourism industry data in Hawaiʻi and led forecast research and publishing of the 2020-2025 Hawaiʻi Island Tourism Strategic Plan.- Contributed to the design and execution of capacity-building programs and training workshops for community members, equipping them with the skills necessary for sustainable economic development.

I designed and taught culturally relevant lesson plans and created safe spaces for early college high school students to connect their life experiences with concepts around ethnography, race, gender, religion, kinship, politics, language, economics, and globalization.- Conducted in-depth research and analysis of cultural practices, trends, and theories, integrating the latest scholarship into course curriculum to provide students with current and relevant insights.- Led and facilitated group discussions and seminars, encouraging critical thinking and cross-cultural understanding among students, ultimately enhancing their analytical and communication skills.- Developed and delivered engaging lectures and course materials, fostering an inclusive and dynamic learning environment for undergraduate students, resulting in increased comprehension and retention of course content.- Assessed student progress through exams, assignments, and presentations, providing constructive feedback to support their academic development and success.- Collaborated with diverse student populations, addressing individual learning needs and providing mentorship, resulting in improved student performance and academic growth.- Organized classroom visits with cultural experts to elicit meaningful classroom experiences, allowing students to connect anthropological concepts with real-world settings.- Designed culturally relevant lesson plans for high school students and created safe spaces for students to engage in critical dialogues about their identity, resulting in increased student engagement and enriched learning experiences.

As part of a 2-person research team, I played a pivotal role in developing Walmart Mexico's inaugural set of online shopper personas for groceries and merchandise, empowering cross-functional teams to discern valuable user patterns.- Established user personas for Walmart's online consumers, enabling cross-functional teams to discern valuable user patterns in online shopping behaviors.- Orchestrated the recruitment of over 3,000 customers via SurveyMonkey for inclusion in a user database, streamlining participant selection for future research studies and ensuring a robust pool of vetted participants.- Strategically planned, executed, and synthesized user research, elevating the application user experience for web, mobile web, and mobile apps, benefiting both business partners and external customers.- Developed comprehensive user personas via Microsoft PowerPoint and conducted insightful interviews with customers in Mexico, guiding informed design decisions.- Organized and facilitated remote meetings with teams spanning India, Britain, Mexico, and the United States, fostering unity and collaboration between researchers and designers.- Shared valuable user research findings via Miro with engineering and product team leaders, actively contributing to product development decisions and improvements.- Conducted in-person focus groups and usability tests via UserTesting with customers in Mexico City, unearthing invaluable insights that directly informed product enhancements.- Established an efficient research process for communication and feedback among internal and external teams, promoting seamless collaboration and continuous improvement.

As the sole UX researcher in the company, I led end-to-end user-centered research efforts, ensuring seamless alignment with user needs, and played a pivotal role in redesigning the platform's navigation and informational architecture, resulting in a more user-centric and efficient digital experience.- Led end-to-end user-centered research efforts for product features, from concept to implementation.- Conducted a comprehensive competitive analysis and developed an informative onboarding resource for cross-functional teams, including design, engineering, sales, and business.- Served as the resident expert in conducting tree testing, card sorting, and heatmap analysis, providing vital support to multiple development teams to achieve user-centric outcomes.- Conducted user research interviews to extract and document functional user requirements, laying the foundation for design and development decisions.- Performed rigorous user acceptance testing and prototype testing via InVision, ensuring the alignment of design solutions with user needs and preferences.- Executed usability tests and individual user interviews, using both virtual and in-person methodologies, to gather critical insights from a range of stakeholders, including business owners, managers, and employees.- Facilitated bi-weekly interdepartmental research share-out meetings to consolidate observations, foster cross-team collaboration, and uncover valuable insights.- Collaborated effectively with cross-functional teams, such as business, design, and product development, to seamlessly integrate UX research strategies within an agile development environment.

To earn my master's degree in applied anthropology, I recruited 138 survey participants, wrote a 108-page thesis paper, and publicly defended my thesis where I demonstrated how many Filipinx American college students at SDSU chose to enroll in courses they perceive to be valuable for building their career. At the same time, however, these students do not choose to take ethnic studies courses, such as Filipinx American studies, which have been attributed with building critical consciousness, an important skillset for any career track. Because of the financial pressure to finish the degree quickly, pressure to support the family, and pressure to attain socio-economic status, many students do not choose to take ethnic studies classes, which often do not count as credit toward many college degrees.