Hi, I’m Melissa
I LEVERAGE MY BACKGROUND IN UX RESEARCH AND COMMUNICATIONS TO DRIVE STRATEGIES ROOTED IN REAL HUMAN INSIGHT BY UNCOVERING HOW PEOPLE THINK, FEEL, AND BEHAVE
Amplify Education | Research & Product Strategy
User Researcher & Strategist, 2022-Present
Problem/Insight
Interviews and surveys revealed that teachers encounter major pain points when annotating using regular whiteboards using physical notetaking tools due to their incompatibility with our digital lesson slides.
Challenge
How can we provide teachers with the tools they need to annotate their digital slides to engage their students without having to use several devices?
Solution
Notetaking and drawing tools for teachers that allow them to write and draw on lesson slides on a range of devices and digital setups to engage students in the classroom. Making learning visual!
The new product we developed was a set of annotation/notetaking tools for teachers in the bottom of the screen.
Strategy
Community Building:
Amplify prides itself on “collaborating with educators to create learning experiences.” I took a community-centered lens approach to our research by involving teachers in the process of the new tool’s development (several rounds of design testing leading up to its launch and post-launch).
Research Insights:
Conducted in-depth interviews with teachers to learn about their experiences with notetaking tools.
Conducted testing of design concepts of the new tool with teachers to identify areas of improvement.
Surveyed teachers and reviewed survey data on teachers’ experiences with our design concepts to identify user experience enhancements.
Presented data-backed insights from interviews and surveys to the product leadership team, crafting a strong and compelling need for teacher note-taking/drawing tools in the classroom.
Although teachers may be tech savvy, I helped create a Help Article to support the teacher community with learning how to use the new tools.
Developed a Help Article to help orient teachers around the new feature/tools.
Quizlet | Product, Research, Cultural & Market Strategy
Product Expansion in the Latin American Market
User Researcher Intern, 2021
Challenge
The team is considering expanding its product offers to the Latin American market. Develop a strategy to learn about students schooling experiences and study habits in the Latin American region to determine if the company should pursue product expansion and growth in Latin America.
Research Insights & Strategy
The schooling system in Latin America is unique and different from the US school system. The way students study and learn poses unique opportunities for innovation for the Quizlet team.
Conducted in-depth interviews in Spanish with students to understand their experiences with their schooling systems, revealing an education landscape rich in culture and ripe with opportunities to improve student learning.
Conducted a competitive analysis/market research of Quizlet’s competitors in the Latin American region.
Literature research into various research databases on the schooling systems of Latin America to inform the executive team of why we should tap into the Latin American educational market.
University of Utah | Social Media Strategy & Graphic Design
Enhancing social media engagement for University of Utah Student Government
Marketing and Strategy Associate, 2020 - 2021
Challenge/Problem
The University of Utah Student Government has been experiencing a dip and very low engagement on all social platforms, particularly Instagram. How can we enhance student engagement with social platforms to help the students find a sense of community on campus during the COVID pandemic?
Insight
Instagram is one of the best channels to share with students about opportunities for involvement and community engagement, such as: upcoming events, ways to get involved on campus, student organizations to join, etc.
Strategy
As a graphic designer on the marketing board, I analyzed one of our university’s campus organizations’ Instagram account graphics to determine the types of media with higher engagement.
For our posts to stand out amongst the sea of graphics and social media posts, I leveraged my skills in illustration to introduce a new, fresh visual approach to graphics posted on our social media accounts.
Illustrations for social media posts partly drove a 17.8% increase in social media engagement across all platforms.
University of Utah Student Housing | Social Media Strategy
Social Media Marketing Intern, 2018 - 2019
Challenge/Problem
How can we strengthen our social media presence to help students find a sense of community and belonging on our campus? How can we leverage social media to support the events and programming of other organizations on campus to drive student involvement?
Insight
Across all the social media platforms, Twitter and Facebook were the platforms with lowest engagement compared to Instagram. After looking through analytics and metrics on our social media accounts, identified Instagram as the best channel to connect with our students.
Social Strategy
Collaborated with campus partners and student organizations on campaigns reaching 50K+ students, ensuring consistent and impactful messaging
Managed and scheduled daily content across Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, leveraging a 1K+ follower base to promote events and opportunities for student involvement.
Launched a major campaign for one of the university’s largest initiatives in collaboration with students themselves:- the opening of applications for student on-campus housing to: 1) encourage students to live on campus their first year of undergrad, 2) call attention to our social media accounts, and 3) drive engagement on all platforms
No work samples available from campaigns due to not having this portfolio back in 2018/2019. The official Instagram account for this organization has been drastically modified since then and no longer includes content from 2018/2019.
University of Utah Student Web App Design & Research
UX Research & Design Intern, 2019-2020
Conducted research and designed a web app to help University of Utah students choose a major and navigate their undergraduate experience
Methods: usability testing, focus groups, qualitiative research
Hotspot, Teen Loneliness in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Qualitiative Researcher, 2021
A community-oriented qualitiative research project on Black and Latinx students experiences with Loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: interviews, surveys, qualitiative research, codesign