Led UX research for an early-stage Live QA and a feedback platform focused on professional community engagement. The work uncovered core user needs, shaped onboarding strategy, and informed the product roadmap through research-led insight.

Newny’s MVP suffered from low engagement and early drop-off. Without prior UX involvement, key features were built on assumptions, and the team lacked clarity on what users needed or how to prioritise improvements.

Challenges included:

• Low onboarding completion and unclear value proposition
• No formal UX process to guide product decisions
• Misalignment between user expectations and delivered experience

As a contract UX researcher, I owned the full research and synthesis process — from planning and interviewing to delivering insights that influenced product direction.

Responsibilities included:

• Planning and conducting user interviews and surveys
• Performing heuristic evaluation of the MVP
• Synthesising findings into actionable themes
• Delivering prioritised design recommendations
• Presenting insights to the founder and product team

1. Discovery & Research Planning

I worked with the founder to define research goals focused on onboarding drop-off, perceived value, and early-stage engagement. Instead of relying solely on early adopters, I recruited participants who closely matched the target user profile to ensure feedback was unbiased. I developed an interview script and survey tailored to those user needs and product goals.

2. User Interviews & Surveys

Conducted qualitative interviews and ran a short survey to capture broader behavioural patterns.

Key themes:

• Users were unsure what to do after sign-up
• The onboarding journey lacked direction
• Navigation friction led to early disengagement

Synthesised feedback from interviews and surveys into actionable themes.

3. Heuristic & Competitor Evaluation

• Reviewed the existing experience using heuristic principles to spot usability gaps early
• Identified issues around clarity, navigation, and confidence in key user flows
• Conducted competitor research to assess how other platforms approached mentorship
• Created a SWOT analysis to highlight Newny’s opportunities for differentiation
• Insights helped guide both feature prioritisation and product positioning

SWOT analysis highlighting strategic gaps and opportunities across peer mentorship platforms

4. Synthesis & Recommendations

Grouped insights into three core problem areas and delivered prioritised recommendations. Collaborated with the founder to integrate changes into future product planning.

Final research findings presented to the Newny team.”

The team implemented several recommendations, including restructuring onboarding, simplifying navigation, and improving clarity around the platform’s value proposition. The research helped shift the team’s direction from assumption-based development to user-informed iteration.

• Guided a complete redesign of the onboarding experience
• Influenced early-stage roadmap direction based on user needs
• Initiated Newny’s first formal UX research and insight process
• Created alignment between product, design, and leadership

• How to drive clarity and momentum in early-stage teams through lean UX research
• The importance of connecting user insights directly to business goals
• That small, focused research can unlock big shifts in product direction
• The value of storytelling and structure in building trust in UX processes