Baddies in Tech

Project brief 

Baddies in Tech is embarking on a comprehensive redesign of their website, enhancing its features to expand global reach and better serve its growing user base. 

My role: User Experience Researcher (Phase 1 & 2 Co-Lead)
Research team structure: 2 Co-Leads, 4 Research Apprentices
Timelines: April 2024-March 2025

• The Challenge: How might we center the experiences of Women of Color in the tech ecosystem?

• The Research Strategy: I led the foundational research for the Baddies in Tech Member Portal to identify the root causes of low engagement. Through community-led discovery, I uncovered critical gaps in resource accessibility and networking, defining a strategic road-map for a centralized digital hub that fosters belonging and professional advancement.

Research Leadership & Evidence-Based Foundations As Research Co-Lead, I directed a mixed-methods discovery phase to establish a rigorous data foundation for the product’s architecture. By overseeing benchmarking, accessibility evaluations, and usability testing, I mentored the team in translating raw data into a suite of strategic assets, including:

• Foundational Discovery: Personas, Journey Maps, and Competitive Audits to define the market opportunity.

• Structural Optimization: Card Sorting and IA insights to simplify complex navigation.

• Validation & Compliance: Heuristic evaluations, WCAG accessibility audits, and iterative usability testing to ensure a high-quality, inclusive user experience.

Navigating Constraints & Strategic Pivot

Balancing Stakeholder Expectations with Lean Realities We operated within the high-pressure environment of a startup, navigating tight timelines and competing stakeholder priorities. I facilitated a series of alignment sessions to bridge the gap between "ideal features" and "technical essentials." By advocating for a phased MVP approach, I helped the team pivot toward a realistic delivery schedule that protected the user experience without overextending budget or engineering resources.

Resourceful Research Operations (ResOps) To overcome budget constraints and the lack of enterprise-level research tools, I developed a "lean" research stack, stitching together cost-effective platforms to maintain data integrity. I optimized our research spend by:

• Implementing Guerrilla Testing: Leveraged our extensive volunteer network for rapid internal validation, allowing us to identify and fix high-level friction points before investing in formal external testing.

• Iterative Lean Synthesis: Developed a streamlined feedback loop that turned quick-hit studies into immediate design iterations, significantly reducing the cost-per-insight while maintaining the project's momentum.

More details are available upon request.

Member-Centric Discovery & Co-Creation

Facilitating Community-Led Strategy In the second phase, I shifted the focus to deep qualitative engagement with our core demographic. I led a series of collaborative workshops and focus groups with industry professionals to move beyond assumptions and define the "Member Needs vs. Desires" hierarchy. My goal was to ensure the portal wasn't just functional, but culturally resonant and career-essential.

Key UXR Activities & Methodologies:

• Co-Creation Workshops: Facilitated sessions with members to brainstorm and sketch "ideal state" features, ensuring the portal addressed real-world professional barriers.

• Focus Groups: Conducted targeted discussions to validate the desirability of proposed features like mentorship modules and partner dashboards.

• Feature Prioritization (Kano Model/MoSCoW): Analyzed qualitative feedback to categorize features into "Must-Haves" for the launch and "Exciters" for the long-term roadmap.

• Expectation Mapping: Documented member mental models regarding career services to ensure the UI matched their professional workflows.

Insights into Action (The Outcome)

Defining the Feature Ecosystem This phase was instrumental in refining the MVP. By involving the community directly, we transitioned from a theoretical list of features to a validated product strategy. The insights gathered directly led to:

• The prioritization of the Member Directory as a tool for peer networking.

• A redefined architecture for the Resource Library based on how members actually search for career assets.

• Strengthened stakeholder confidence in the roadmap, as every proposed feature now had a direct link to Voice of the Customer (VoC) data.

More details are available upon request.