Meta UX Research

I help Meta UX Research communicate blog challenging concepts with charming illustrations of human characters and visual metaphors. Each blog post includes a hero illustration and two supporting illustrations. It’s important to me that these three illustrations are cohesive in some way - either by color, character, or concept.

Using the Meta Platforms color schematic and brand guidelines, I’ve created a breadth of work and visual communication style that has become iconic to the Meta Reseach blog on Medium.com.

 

10 Rules for Effective Research Narratives

Reporting isn’t the finishing touch on impactful research. It’s part of the foundation. Here’s how to tell clear, assertive stories that can motivate product teams to make real changes for the benefit of users.

Read the full article here.

A woman with long brown hair is reaching out to various documents, charts, and images connected by black lines on a yellow background, illustrating data analysis or project management.
A person is standing in front of a wall with charts and graphs, holding a large brown arrow pointing to the left with one hand and pointing to the right with the other.
An illustrated woman with dark hair, glasses, and a polka dot shirt, standing in front of a large sheet of paper with black dashed and solid lines, holding a black line extension that loops around, against a light purple background.
 

Notes for a better normal: research leaders on blending old and new

At a recent Facebook event, product research leaders from several companies talked about finding an ideal middle ground between conventional approaches and the lessons of the pandemic.

Read the full article here.

A colorful illustration of four hands painting the word "NEW" on a white sheet of paper. Various art supplies such as markers, paint tubes, brushes, and scissors are scattered around on a yellow surface.
A woman and a man wearing face masks are riding in a vehicle, possibly a bus or train, with a town scene visible through the windows. The woman is looking at her phone, and a plastic container with food is on the seat between them.
Person thinking about three people dressed in activewear, including a woman in overalls, a man in shorts and a jacket, and another woman in shorts and a hoodie, all prepared for different physical activities.
 

Six Tips for Better Unmoderated Scripts

How do you get high-quality data from a remote, unmoderated study? Start by thinking of your script as your stand-in.

Read the full article here.

Top-down view of a work desk with a person writing on papers, a laptop video conferencing with a woman, a smartphone charging, and various office supplies.
Illustration of a man with a green plaid shirt, pointing up with his finger, surrounded by three numbered circles about writing and planning, including a handwritten document, a guide with labeled parts, and a filled-out form.
Comparison of a full page of writing with a simplified bulleted list.
 

What Mistrust Can Teach Us: Research and Racial Justice

Longstanding bias and mistreatment have suppressed Black progress and eroded community trust. Here are some ways we can start rebuilding that trust.

Read the full article here.

A diverse group of six people holding large letters that spell out 'TRUST', standing against a purple background.
Two women engaged in a conversation, with a large question mark inside a speech bubble between them.
Four hands holding blank speech bubbles, symbolizing communication or conversation.
 

Quantitative Concept Testing

How We Bring Users Into Product Decisions Before We Even Start Designing.

Read the full article here.

A diverse group of people standing below a large cluster of speech bubbles and a light bulb with a filament, symbolizing ideas or creativity, on a yellow background with outline illustrations of light bulbs.
 

Newbie Notes: Six Ways of Handling Difficult UX Research Sessions

One of my first discoveries as a UX researcher: sessions don’t always go as planned. Here are six tips that are helping me keep participants comfortable and connected.

Read the full article here.

A person sitting cross-legged on the floor with eyes closed, surrounded by floating images of people with speech and thought bubbles, representing social connection and communication.
Illustration of a woman navigating a maze that resembles a snake, with a dotted line tracing her path.
Illustration of a large question mark hanging from a fishing hook over a blue background with speech bubbles.
 

Talk About Data

A hand holding a smartphone with a holographic projection of the Earth, with colorful light beams and confetti effects.
A person in a striped shirt and jeans giving a high five to a holographic human figure made of colorful dots and sparkles against a dark background.
Illustration of a miner in a cave holding an axe over his shoulder, with colorful gemstones and the word 'Metaphors' written among the gems.
 

Researchers’ Role in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

How researchers can help ensure that DEI leads to product changes that truly serve people in marginalized communities.

Read the full article here.

Four diverse women in a meeting room discussing, with speech bubbles showing letters and colored dots, some women using a laptop and a smartphone, one woman in a wheelchair, and a whiteboard with sticky notes behind them.
A woman holding a puzzle piece, standing next to a large blueprint or plan with a puzzle piece fitting into it.
A person skiing down a snowy slope surrounded by pine trees, with a large snowball displaying the word 'DEL' in blue letters.
 

What’s Your Point? How to Drive Product Strategy With a Clear ‘So What’

Boost your strategic impact by building your research deliverable around a single provocative argument, not an assortment of findings.

Read the full article here.

Illustration with the words 'SO WHAT?' in large green letters surrounded by icons depicting charts, documents, a magnifying glass, a network diagram, and conversation bubbles, suggesting analysis and discussion.
Split image showing a person holding a plate in a salad bar on the left, and a person about to eat a steak with a fork and knife on a table on the right.
Various containers of vegetables and salad ingredients on a countertop, including blueberries, sliced carrots, cooked pasta, broccoli, mixed greens, a pasta salad, and a bean salad.
 

Overcoming Social Desirability Bias

Hypothetical dilemmas and other techniques can encourage participants to provide richer, truer responses on potentially sensitive topics.

Read the full article here.

A group of diverse people gathered together, listening to a woman with blonde hair who is speaking and holding a phone, in a social setting.
A drawing of three people sitting at a table discussing online safety topics, with words like privacy, virtual friendship, bullying, hate speech, parental controls, and interest groups floating on the table.
A cartoon illustration of a smiling young man with dark hair, wearing a blue shirt over a white t-shirt, standing against a yellow background. He is gesturing with his right hand and has a speech bubble that says, 'Why would someone feel that way?' with a crossed-out word 'you'.
 

Product Sense: What Is It and How Do I Apply It In Research?

UX research can be an unfamiliar discipline for researchers from social science backgrounds. Here’s how to start viewing problems through a people-and-products lens.

Read the full artilce here.

A woman, with red hair and glasses, is speaking and holding a document, while a man with brown hair and a shirt covered in question marks is sitting across from her, appearing confused.
Illustration of diverse people on the left side and product sketches on the right side, divided by a black shape with the text 'Product Sense' in the center.
Illustration showing a person designing a mobile app wireframe on paper with a pen, surrounded by four people using smartphones in different outdoor settings, indicating collaboration and user experience testing.
 

Building for People: The Architecture-to-UX-Research Connection

As UX researchers with backgrounds in architecture and urban design, we’ve experienced some powerful parallels between the two fields. Here’s how our architecture work uniquely prepared us for UX.

Read the full article here.

Split illustration showing construction workers discussing plans outdoors and an interior planning session with two colleagues pointing at a board.
A man with a beard holding a piece of paper and a pen, thinking about being on vacation at the beach and about the planet Earth.
Two people facing each other holding magnifying glasses, one showing a cityscape and the other showing a smartphone, representing technology and urban environment.