Job Function: User Research

Due to confidentiality, I can only show you my research and design artifacts in person

I worked as a user researcher at the Advanced Concept & Technology Research Center, the R&D facility of Pitney Bowes. For a semantic web technology project, I planned and conducted a thorough research on the information seeking behaviors of Pitney Bowes employees.

 

Project: KConnect (Knowledge Connection in Employee Informal Network)

The goal of the research was to inform the strategic trajectory of a knowledge management software development project. I designed and executed a three-phase study to discover the unmet needs during info-seeking and revealed design implications. My research findings helped my project members (developers) understand what users really need and steered the project focus.

 

Phase 1: Observation: What is really happening at "work"?

To explore the information related activities, I planned and conducted six interviews with Pitney Bowes employees. Video raw data was collected and consolidated into index cards for later analysis and synthesis. Using data modeling techniques, I developed a general information seeking model.

 

Artifacts: Sorted index cards, task sequence model, short research report. (All artifacts are available for in-person interview)

 

Phase 2: Explanation: "Why did you do what you do?"

In this phase, I conducted 12 in-depth interview and card exercise sessions to help explain users' behavioral patterns. I identified several influential factors which affect the information seeking process and strategies. A validated model was presented and used to inform my pure technical co-workers for further system design.

 

Artifacts: Info-seeking model, data synthesis documents, and field notes/ memos. (All artifacts are available for in-person interview)

 

Phase 3: Design: Designing the user experience

Based on the research findings from the first two phases, I presented a conceptual design solution in the form of user scenarios. With the scenario, the team developer and I developed a ontology search engine for internal employees. I also developed an HTML prototype to gather user feedback on my design solution.

 

Artifacts: Design Scenario, HTML Prototype. (All artifacts are available for in-person interview)