Hi, I’m Kristina.

I’m a freelance product design researcher, specializing in strategic qualitative research. I thrive in complexity and uncertainty and love collaborating with cross-functional product teams. I bring deep expertise in research and natural curiousity and enthusiasm for new projects, to deliver research that energizes teams and helps them make better design and product decisions.
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I care about rigorous research and balanace the speed teams need with the study and data validity they shouldn’t compromise on. We'll work together to uncover a deep understanding of current or prospective users, and fully understand their behaviors, attitudes and needs.

We will work together to uncover nuanced insights that change the way you think about your product and team’s mission.

How I work

I partner with product teams on strategic research from start to finish. We kick off with collaborative research planning, align on a study design, and targeted recruiting plan, so we get the right information from the right people to answer the most important questions.

After collecting data, I craft outputs that are impactful and durable and provide teams with clear insightful understanding of users, using video storytelling and clear frameworks to socialize findings across your organization.

Your biggest questions, answered & delivered

Project basis

You have a clear idea of what you need. We scope it together, I run it end-to-end, and hand off ready-to-use findings and frameworks. 

Good fit when

  • You have a specific question or product moment to research

  • You need a defined timeline and deliverable

  • You want research done without pulling your team off other work

Researcher on-demand

Embedded Researcher

I join your team temporarily, part-time or full-time. I help with diagnosing gaps, scoping research, and contributing wherever it's useful. Less overhead, full research capability.

Good fit when

  • You need ongoing research but aren't ready to hire full-time

  • You know you need research but you aren’t sure where to start

  • You want an embedded thought partner who can help connect the dots and activate learnings

Synthesis or up-skilling for the whole team

Coaching & Workshops

Hands-on sessions to help your team make sense of data you already have, align on the right problems to solve, or run better research going forward.

Good fit when

  • You're sitting on user data but aren't sure what it means

  • Your team needs to align on what problem to solve next

  • PMs or designers want to run research more confidently

Career Highlights

  • 10+ years of product design and user experience research at companies like Intuit, SoundCloud, and SAP

  • Masters Degree in Human Factors in Information Design from Bentley University from 2016-2017

  • 7 years of digital marketing and content strategy experience at agencies and professional services firms (before transitioning into UX and Product work)

  • 8 years combined event organizing experience, head of Ignite San Diego lighting talk events and 4 years volunteering as event co-Chair for UX Speakeasy, a San Diego Meetup for UX Professionals with 3600 members

  • Previous background as a journalist, where I interviewed William H. Macy at the Sundance Film Festival

Skills & Expertise

Research Methods:

  • Qualitative Research

  • Quantitative Research

  • Heuristic Reviews

  • Diary Studies

  • Concept Testing

  • Prototype Testing

  • Marketing & Value Proposition Research

  • Discovery Research

  • Evaluative Research

  • User Interviews

  • Surveys

  • Card Sorting

  • Tree Testing

  • Ethnographic Research

Tools & Platforms:

  • Outset

  • ListenLabs

  • Great Question

  • Ethnio

  • UserInterviews

  • Respondent

  • DScout

  • Figma

  • Voicepanel

  • UserTesting

  • Reduct

  • Optimal Workshop

  • Breyta

  • Qualtrics

Research Strategy & Leadership:

  • Product Strategy

  • Frameworks

  • Journey Mapping

  • Cross-Functional Collaboration

  • A/B Testing Hypotheses

  • Tooling Evaluation

  • Coaching & Training

  • Video Storytelling

  • Jobs-to-be-Done

  • User Problem Statements

  • Product Data Analysis