Marisa McDaniels
User Experience Strategist
Mysite
USER EXPERIENCE RESEARCHER | SERVICE DESIGNER |
PROGRAM MANAGER
As a Boston native transplanted to the vibrant city of Atlanta, I'm an avid traveler with a passion for exploring new cultures and diverse perspectives. This passion for discovery extends to my professional experiences, where I've spent the past decade as a UX Researcher and Service Designer, helping organizations identify user needs and create intuitive, user-centric solutions.
My expertise lies in conducting thorough user research, employing a range of methodologies to gather insights into user behavior, pain points, and aspirations. I then translate these insights into actionable design solutions that enhance user experience and drive business success.
From early concept stages to final validation and evaluation, I've led each phase of the research and design process, guiding clients towards success by uncovering untapped opportunities and crafting effective solutions.
My academic background in mathematics, science, and technology provides me with a unique perspective, enabling me to seamlessly navigate the complexities of product and service development. I'm a valuable asset to clients as they embark on journeys to build and create new offerings that resonate with users and drive business growth.
I'm excited to bring my expertise and passion to every project, collaborating with teams to create solutions that not only meet user needs but also align with business impact.
02 PORTFOLIO
CHECK OUT SOME OF MY COOLEST PROJECTS
03 EXPERIENCE & EDUCATION
WORK EXPERIENCE
2022 - 2024
Senior UX Researcher
GOOGLE
Leading research initiatives for compliance and user privacy for Google Play Store. Responsible for advocating and leading roadmap development and execution. Led user insight driven feature and product development while working on all stages of research process. Responsible for collecting and analyzing user behavior through user interviews, ethnography, surveys, foundational studies, server logs and various online experiments.
2021 - 2022
Director, UX Research
IPSOS
Managed multiple large-scale projects within the UX service line. Led user and stakeholder research to solve business problems and shape products and services in financial tech and consumer online services. Clients included social media platforms, financial service organizations and big tech companies. Oversaw all phases of the qualitative research process from project bidding and scoping to reporting deliverables to client leadership. Led teams in building client partnerships. As a director, managed teams of junior and senior qualitative and quantitative researchers.
2013 - 2021
2018 - 2021
Senior UX Researcher
2013 - 2018
Operations Research Analyst
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
Led initiatives to design and deliver customer - driven digital products, enhancements and services to meet the evolving and diverse needs of American taxpayers via digital e-commerce products. Led Service Design Team (5 direct reports) for Agency. Responsible for marketing Service Design and CX to agency business units. Iteratively developed and refined IRS digital products, based on interactions with taxpayers, tax professionals and private industry. End to end leader of the UX process – curated and hosted visioning sessions, developed and executed UX research, led design thinking and ideation sessions, and oversaw the development of wireframes and mockups.
Responsible for the design, implementation and execution of various UX research projects to provide operational support for the W-2 taxpayer organization. Led high visibility qualitative and quantitative research initiatives, developed technical information guides regarding user testing methodology and IRS research operations. Consistently used data collection, data analysis, and facilitation skills in order to conduct various projects using multi-variate data to improve the taxpayer experience. Experience working with SPSS and SQL on large taxpayer data sets. Represented team to agency senior leadership, outside organizations, community groups, external agencies and private industry organizations.
EDUCATION & TRAINING
2019
Design Thinking Certification
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Cambridge, Massachusetts
2019
Service Design Certification
COOPER PROFESSIONAL / DESIGNIT
New York, New York
2018
UX Research Certification
NIELSEN NORMAN GROUP
Chicago, Illinois
2018
Digital Accessibility Training
WEB ACCESSIBILITY INITIATIVE
Atlanta, Georgia
2017
Moderator Training
RIVA TRAINING INSTITUTE
New York, New York
2010 - 2008
Masters of Public Health
EMORY UNIVERSITY
Behavioral Health
2001 - 2005
Bachelor's Degree
SPELMAN COLLEGE
Mathematics / Pre-Med
04 My UX Toolbox
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