Seattle, WA | 610.680.7829 | mkosterich@gmail.com | linkedin.com/in/mkosterich/

Experienced UX professional with a Masters in Product Design and over 13 years of experience in enterprise software, consumer applications, and automotive design.

EXPERIENCE

Instagram (via Magnit) - Seattle, WA

User Experience Researcher, Instagram
September 2023 to May 2024

  • Led research on the ideation and creation process for content creators, to inform development of new product features focused on inspiration

  • Collaborated with data science to conduct media sampling analyses to understand which attributes are drivers of successful short form video content

Tableau - Seattle, WA

Senior Manager, User Research
September 2021 to March 2023

  • Led a team of user researchers within the Salesforce Research and Insights group. Helped team members grow in their research practice, prioritization, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills.

  • Collaborated with cross-functional leadership to prioritize and establish research strategy for the Developer and Administrative areas of the Tableau organization. The research efforts of my team established product vision for new investments in the Tableau Public community and developer marketplace.

  • Developed and validated Jobs to Be Done for two user segments to evaluate existing product functionality and identify opportunities for improvement or new functionality

  • Enabled product managers and designers, without a dedicated user researcher, to conduct their own research by creating training resources and documenting operational procedures

Lead User Researcher
June 2018 to September 2021

  • Led, designed, and executed research initiatives including planning, recruiting, analysis, and insights delivery, using a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods

  • Collaborated with product managers and designers to create a research roadmap that aligned with the development schedule and took into account business requirements and technical constraints

  • Created journey maps of the Tableau onboarding experience for several user archetypes to identify current challenges and inform product strategy

  • Reviewed applications and helped select recipients for Tableau Foundation grants to support local nonprofits

Turo - San Francisco, CA

Senior User Experience Researcher
May 2016 to June 2018

  • Led research for the entire product team, as the sole user researcher, working closely with designers and product managers to identify research needs

  • Developed in-depth customer and industry knowledge through customer visits, user group events, and monitoring our online customer forum

  • Created and maintained our research archive including the participant panel

  • Organized the holiday gift drive and led the Green Team, an environmentally focused internal group

DocuSign - San Francisco, CA

User Experience Researcher
December 2014 to May 2016

  • Drove research for four product teams, working closely with design and product leads to determine the research needs and establish a rolling research practice

  • Conducted a contextual inquiry with two major customers, drove affinity mapping and analysis, and presented findings to the entire product development group

  • Collaborated with designers to create low and medium fidelity prototypes for testing

Apttus - San Mateo, CA

UX Researcher and Interaction Designer
October 2013 to December 2014

  • Enhanced the interaction design of the product line to improve user experience

  • Created personas based on customer interviews and market research, and led the rollout to the product team

EDUCATION

Tufts University
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering

Stanford University
Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, with a concentration in Product Design

SKILLS

Research - Interviewing, Contextual Inquiry, Concept Testing, Jobs-To-Be-Done, Usability Testing, Cognitive Walkthroughs, Card Sorting, Heuristic Evaluations, Surveys

Design - Participatory Design, Journey and Mind Mapping, Wireframing, Design Sprints

TOOLS

Research - UserInterviews, UserTesting, UserZoom, Dscout, Optimal Workshop, Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, Lookback, Dovetail

Design - Figma, Sketch, Adobe Illustrator, Miro, Trello, Jira

Analytics - Tableau, Excel

VOLUNTEERING

ScholarMatch, Career Coach | September 2020 - Present

WSOS, Mentor and Application Reviewer | October 2020 - Present

Tufts Alumni Association, Admissions Interviewer | July 2010 - Present