Support tools

user advocate & Researcher

Please note: To comply with my non-disclosure agreement, I have omitted and obfuscated confidential information. All information in this case study is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of Google or its employees.

Please note: To comply with my non-disclosure agreement, I have omitted and obfuscated confidential information. All information in this case study is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of Google or its employees.

CONTEXT

background

I was the Lead User Advocate and Research for an internal ticket management system. I have highlighted 3 projects below.

My Role and Team

User Advocate and Researcher

METHODS

  • Usability Study

  • Research Workshop

  • Survey

PROJECT overview

material redesign

Method: Usability Study

Summary: I planned and conducted a usability study to test whether a proposed re-design met the needs of various user groups and their workflows. I performed 6 1-hour long sessions that contained a classic usability study and more open-ended interview questions. The team made 10+ revisions based on my research and the designs were implemented.

Project pokerface

Method: Research Workshop

Summary: Project Pokerface is a program developed by Google’s Geo UX team to increase the focus on the user. I planned and helped deliver the Pokerface training to the team of ~30 to introduce the importance of user research. I recruited participants, developed the script, and co-led the training debrief. I received the feedback that 90% of attendees said they felt the training was “very valuable”.

metrics tracker

Method: Survey

Summary: When PM proposed a redesign to a metric tracking feature due to complaints by users on the current functionality, I conducted a survey to understand why the current metric tracking feature was falling short. I collected responses from 140 users across 4 teams. The insights from my survey were used to develop the feature requirements and subsequently implemented.

Sofia has been a star partner for the product team for many quarters. She has helped out with developments of many large features such as auto-assign and automated reminders. She’s always quick to action, and whenever asked for input from her team, she’ll run surveys and talk to managers to gather valuable feedback. She is an active participant in meetings as well as Immersion Day events, and is always one of the first to report at times of a bug in releases. The team really appreciates Sofia’s dedication and passion to making our products better.
— Hitomi Umeki