Jeralyn Reese
San Jose,CA
Summary
Strategic UX leader and entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience driving user-centered innovation for global organizations, from Fortune 500 companies to emerging startups. Adept at articulating research findings through compelling presentations and building strategic alliances across product, design, and engineering teams to enhance customer experiences. Passionate mentor and coach, empowering the UX industry through strategic guidance and thought leadership.
Overview
26
26
years of professional experience
Work History
Founder & Principal UX Researcher
User Inspired
San Jose, CA
03.2008 - Current
- Lead strategic research initiatives for Fortune 500 clients, delivering insights that drive innovation and shape product decisions across industries such as generative AI, consumer apps, medical software, and enterprise solutions
- Founded and manage a successful UX Research agency as a solopreneur including business development, project scoping and management, brand development and management, vendor evaluation and selection, subcontractor management, and business policy creation and implementation
- Clients include Meta, Google, PayPal, Walmart, EA Games, Lyft, Atlassian, Uber, eHealth, Clover, Pandora, McAfee, Lyra Health, LinkedIn, eBay, and Varian
- Optimized new-user experiences for generative AI in social media through targeted diary studies and interviews, improving user interaction with AI features
- Architected and implemented an innovative cross-functional research program for a social networking company to unify siloed teams, delivering key insights that improved cross-feature UX of a social media app
- Led unbranded foundational research for a financial services company, uncovering underlying drivers for payment method selection and key opportunities to enhance user experience and inform product strategy
- Transformed clients' strategies for addressing the needs of underrepresented communities by conducting foundational qualitative research sessions with neurodiverse, wheelchair-bound, and racially diverse consumers
- Partnered with enterprise design teams to provide research insights aligned with strategic business goals for radiosurgery planning, cancer treatment coordination and planning, orthodontic treatment planning, and genetics research software by conducting ethnographic research and task analysis with surgeons, scientists, dentists, and other medical professionals
- Mentored and coached junior researchers in improving their skills, confidence, knowledge, and impact, empowering them to deliver high-impact insights and secure promotions while fostering a culture of continuous learning and excellence within the UX industry
- Guided one mentee to secure a job promotion within 3 months
- Led research methodology and skills workshops and deliver high-impact presentations on UX best practices and professional development at business and educational institutions, building recognition as a trusted voice in the UX Research community
Lead User Experience Researcher
eBay
San Jose, CA
03.2007 - 03.2008
- Led qualitative and quantitative user experience research for emerging and existing products
- Led qualitative research to explore the user experience of and develop strategy for new opportunities and acquisitions
- Conducted data mining using Teradata SQL to support and validate qualitative research findings (supporting the entire User Experience Research team)
- Managed and oversaw research vendors conducting unbranded research in alignment with strategic business goals
- Mentored junior User Experience Researchers on methodology and research skills
Senior User Experience Researcher
eBay
San Jose, CA
12.2004 - 03.2007
- Led strategic user research initiatives that shaped product vision and improved user experience across the app
- Planned, conducted, documented, and presented user experience research including cognitive walkthroughs, participatory design sessions, ethnographic field studies (domestic and international), usability lab studies, RITE studies, persona creation, and interviews
- Pioneered holistic, multi-project research approach, encouraging collaboration among teams
- Mentored other User Experience Researchers on methodology and research moderation skills
- Designed and led effort to create a participant recruiting system to track all User Experience Research participants, research, and reports
User Experience Researcher
Yahoo
Sunnyvale, CA
08.2002 - 12.2004
- Led user experience research initiatives for communications products including Personals, Mail, Photos, and Groups
- Planned, conducted, documented, and presented user experience research including ethnographic field studies, usability lab studies, RITE method, usability benchmarking, desirability studies, and surveys
- Led global ethnography effort, developed global personas, and conducted ethnographic field research with 80+ participants in 6 countries to assist teams with identification of future product opportunities and direction
User Experience Engineer
Siebel Systems, Inc.
07.2000 - 07.2002
- Conducted, documented, and presented usability studies, ethnographic field studies, heuristic evaluations, and surveys for customer relationship management applications
- Led usability and re-design efforts for all Sales-related applications
Intern & Research Assistant
IDEO
03.1999 - 08.1999
- Conducted product benchmarking, testing, and technology research for the design of a new portable humidifier/vaporizer
- Assisted with ethnographic field studies and usability research
- Maintained the Techbox, a company-wide tool to facilitate knowledge management, including the Techbox Intranet website and physical display
Education
Master of Science - Mechanical Engineering, Design Division
Stanford University
Bachelor of Science - Mechanical Engineering, Anthropology Concentration
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Skills
- End-to-end research program design & execution
- Rolling research program development
- Scaling research initiatives across organizations
- Vendor evaluation and management
- Cross-functional team collaboration
- Translating complex research data into clear, actionable strategies
- Coaching, training, and mentoring junior researchers to up-level their skills and impact
- Ethnographic field research & contextual inquiry
- High-touch diary studies
- Usability studies
- In-depth interviews & exploratory research
- Rapid iterative testing & evaluation (RITE)
- Persona development
- Survey design
- Heuristic evaluation
- Task analysis
Activities
- Advisory Group Member, MIT Introduction to Engineering and Science Program, 01/01/24, present
- Application Reviewer & Selection Committee Member, MIT Introduction to Engineering and Science Program, 01/01/18, present
- Mentor, Stanford National Black Alumni Association, 01/01/16, 12/01/19
- Cultural Guide for International Visiting Scholar, Stanford Community Committee for International Students, 01/01/15, 12/01/16
- Member of Usability in Practice Committee, ACM SIGCHI 2002 Annual Conference, 01/01/01, 12/01/02
Patents
- Key Fob with Valet and Car Locator Feature, US6386007, EP1185754, BR0011627, WO0077329
- Fob Command Mechanism, EP1060963
Tools And Software
dscout, UserTesting, Recollective, Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, Miro, Figma, SQL, MS Excel, Google Sheets, iMovie, Google Workspace, Quickbooks
Websites
Timeline
Founder & Principal UX Researcher
User Inspired
03.2008 - Current
Lead User Experience Researcher
eBay
03.2007 - 03.2008
Senior User Experience Researcher
eBay
12.2004 - 03.2007
User Experience Researcher
Yahoo
08.2002 - 12.2004
User Experience Engineer
Siebel Systems, Inc.
07.2000 - 07.2002
Intern & Research Assistant
IDEO
03.1999 - 08.1999
Master of Science - Mechanical Engineering, Design Division
Stanford University
Bachelor of Science - Mechanical Engineering, Anthropology Concentration
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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