Deb Biggar's Portfolio

Senior UX Design Researcher

UX Research & Design Strategy is my jam.

I started in 2000 in FinTech as a front-end developer and I found my favorite part of designing was talking to potential users.

Since then I have been utilizing qualitative and quantitative research to provide clarity as to what should be designed and then to assess if the implemented design serves the needs of users.

My design process
I map out the entire design & research process and execute it.

  1. I identify the "problem" we need to get answers to. Check with other internal teams to find existing knowledge about the problem (AKA marketing folks, previous researchers)

  2. I identify the people needed to learn about this problem (users/participants). Determine the number of participants, segments etc.
  3. I create a prototype and collect data (Run research sessions and supplement with a survey if a larger sample size is needed)
  4. I analyze and synthesize what we observed. Run workshops with observers to help get collaboration and involvement. Include product and dev in those workshops.


Industries I've served with UX Design & Research include FinTech, BioTech, MedTech, Education, IoT, HVAC Tech, Transportation, Hospitality, Manufacturing, publishing, Government FDA

 

Skills


Discovery UX Research

  • Ethnographic
  • Contextual Inquiries
  • Qualitative
  • In-depth Interviews (IDIs)
  • Quantitative Survey Design
  • Open Card Sorting
  • Formative



    • Evaluative UX Research

  • Concept Testing
  • Usability Testing
  • Heuristic Evaluations
  • Summative
  • A/B Testing


    • UX Design

  • Low-fidelity concept designs used for Concept Testing
  • Mid-fidelity wireframes in Figma
  • Prototype creation in Axure & Figma


    • Workshop Facilitation

  • Design Thinking
  • Remote facilitation using Miro and Mural
  • Strategyzer's Value Prop
  • Strategyzer's Business Model Canvas
  • In-person moderation in Spanish language

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    Out in the field

    Ethnographic UX Research

    The 2024 labor shortage in skilled trades has forced businesses to hire unskilled workers, leading to increased service call-backs and reduced revenue.

    Challenge
    I was asked to design an app that would empower unskilled workers to perform skilled labor tasks in a way that they did not make errors. First, I needed to understand the different knowledge sets of skilled labor and the missing knowledge of unskilled labor. This required a deep understanding of both the trade's technical aspects and the human behavior.

    Solution
    Through field observation of skilled and unskilled workers, we identified improvements to the existing app as a stop gap before designing the new App. These improvements freed up skilled workers' time to focus on complex issues rather than routine tasks resulting in less pressure on skilled workers.

    Impact
    By addressing immediate problems within the app, we saved our customer $350,000 by not building a new app (yet) and improved customer satisfaction, ultimately increasing revenue for both my client and their customers.

    Learnings
    Field research is essential for uncovering a problem's nuances. It reveals new insights and opportunities for innovation.

    Key Takeaway
    This case study underscores the power of field research in developing effective solutions that address both business challenges and user needs, particularly in industries facing a skills gap.

     

     

    Making research actionable

    Objectives
    Before beginning a research effort, I first set the objectives of the research. I do this by collaborating with the Product Trio.

    Prioritizing With each research finding, I relate it to one of the objectives to help determine the importance of remedying the problem.

    Recommendations I either create visual representations of my research based recommendations or text to describe the changes (as seen here)

     
    High Priority Findings
     

    The UX Playbook

    Published Book

    My book, published in 2014, explains the purpose and phases of User Experience (UX) design. It emphasizes that UX should be incorporated throughout the entire product design process, from conceptualization to implementation.

    The guide details the different roles involved in UX design and how much UX involvement is needed at each stage.

    It also provides a glossary of terms, examples of deliverables like personas and sketches, and templates for usability testing and project plans.

    The book concludes that by utilizing the UX strategies outlined, teams will work more effectively to achieve a positive user experience.

    View book pages

     
    UX Playbook by Deb Biggar
     
    The UX Plan

    Measuring the UX over time

    While working with the UX Designer, we often assess the user experience of a design with "a test" which is really an evaluation of how well the design allowed the users to reach their goals and the business' goals.

    In this example, you can see that the design did not meet the goals we set out to achieve in the first test.

    During the second test we saw only a minimal improvement so we halted our research to try another design idea before continuing.

    In our third test we saw improvements and determined it was good enough for this Sprint. In the back of our minds, we considered ways we could partner with Marketing and Development to adjust some of their constraints to improve the overall user experience.