UX Research Strategy · Mixed Methods · PhD + 8 years in UX
Research that changes what teams decide.
When a system goes down at 3 a.m., someone gets paged, and then what? I study those people and the tools they rely on, and I help product teams figure out what to build for them. Right now I do that for IBM's security products, where I also get to level up a whole team of designers who run their own research.
I even built an AI research mentor that teaches designers research instead of doing it for them. It's the thing I've really been loving lately, and it's case 01.
Selected work · 2023–2026
4 case studiesA research mentor that argues back
IBM had more products that needed research than researchers to do it. So rather than wait on hiring, I built Dr. Morgan, an AI mentor that teaches designers research while they do it.
The Watchtower and the Magnifying Glass
What do people open a monitoring tool to do? A large customer survey and a round of interviews turned up two very different personas, plus one shift they shared, and that changed where the product was headed.
Designing for beginners in a beginner industry
How do companies build AI agents? Mostly by trial and error, it turns out, even the best ones. That finding changed who the product was for.
The redesign they loved, and the problem it hid
Users clearly preferred the redesign, which was great news. The same study also turned up a harder problem the redesign hadn't touched, and that shaped the next phase of work, including early support for Gemini Cloud Assist.
Why the PhD matters
I can tell a strong finding from a weak one.
My PhD taught me to take a study apart. Show me a research design and I can tell you what it can prove and what it can't. When time or budget is tight, I rarely get the study I want, so I design the best one the constraints allow. A good answer in time to make the decision beats a perfect one after it's made.
Where I've done it
Outside the research
When I close the laptop.
Long before research was my job, I was the kid who never stopped asking why people are the way they are. That never went away. It just found new places to go.
Off the clock, you'll find me reading, traveling, playing with textures and design at home, or lifting. Mostly for the joy of it.
The Books
I read behavioral psychology and personality research for fun (I'll always love it). One of the questions that really got me into UX: how does someone end up being this particular person, and what quietly changed them along the way? The rest of my shelf is epic fantasy, ideally a long series with a strong female lead, which, now that I think about it, asks the same question.
The World
I travel every chance I get. What I’m after is the small moment that rearranges how I see something, like a wedding in Punjab or a wrong turn that ends up being the best day of the trip. I come home from every trip a little less sure I had it all figured out.
The Space
Home is my favorite experiment. I move the light, change a color, swap a texture, and watch what it does to the mood of a room. It’s the same instinct as my work: shape the space around how people feel standing in it.
The Gym
Weightlifting keeps me grounded. You show up, you lift, and the bar doesn't care about your title or how your day went. It's the one thing on my calendar with a clear answer.
⌖India. A wedding, and all the color around it.
What's next
Let's talk.
I like problems I haven't seen before. Send me one, talk research with me, or just say hello.