# Carmen L. > UX Research and Product Strategy Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/carmenl I'm a curiosity-driven UX Research professional with 12+ years of experience in research, and 8+ years specializing in building and scaling high-impact research functions for complex two-sided marketplaces. I have driven product strategy that enables data-driven decision-making across B2B2C environments. My strength lies in translating user insights into actionable recommendations that deliver strong outcomes. I thrive in collaborative, impact-focused environments where research is a driver of strategy, not just validation. ## Work Experience ### Director of Product Research and Strategy @ Premise Jan 2024 – Present | San Francisco, California, United States Research leadership - Led scaling of a research function for a crowdsourced data collection platform, orchestrating the team's growth to support market expansion from 1 to 10 LATAM countries. - Conducted immersive field visits, bringing cross-functional stakeholders and executives into the field to build empathy and inform product strategy. This work directly informed the development of 4 major platform features, resulting in a 40% reduction in collection costs and significant enhancements to data quality for our clients. Product strategy - Led research and strategy for an AI-powered marketplace focused on retail auditing. Guided the development of computer vision features that contributed to a 5% productivity increase for contributors and a 1.9% improvement in submission approval rates. Success was driven by leading cross-functional partnerships with product, operations, and engineering to optimize the end-to-end contributor experience. ### Senior Manager Product Researcher and Lead Strategist @ Premise Jan 2023 – Jan 2024 - Increased research output 150% (1-2→3-5 studies monthly) through workflow optimization - Built research infrastructure: methodology playbook, findings repository, recruitment panel - Grew team from 2→4 researchers across 3 product areas - Created service blueprints connecting user pain points to business priorities ### Senior Product Researcher and Strategist @ Premise Jan 2022 – Jan 2023 Projects included: - Qual interviews with global contributors (Philippines, Malaysia, Kenya, Nigeria) for a B2C Mobile App Redesign. Results of research prioritized navigation and a marketplace redesign, increasing app ratings from 2.8 to 4.4 and improving conversion rates by 38%. - Establishing the research function within the org. Created centralized repository and cross-trained designers, product managers, and engineers in research participation throughout product lifecycle. ### UX Researcher and Strategist @ Premise Jan 2019 – Jan 2022 | San Francisco Bay Area Projects included: - A study that helped define the product brief and roadmap for a B2B Customer Portal that led to integrated AI, intuitive dashboards, and collaboration tools, delivering 5x revenue increase. - Expansive task analysis and internal operations research that streamlined workflows using detailed journey maps and service blueprints. Insights identified friction points enabling new tools and automation implementation, improving operational efficiency by 4x and reducing costs by 25%. ### Manager, Service Design @ Rêve Consulting Jan 2015 – Jan 2019 | Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area Rêve Consulting is a strategy and service design consultancy, that helps people and organizations innovate and grow. We work with some of the world’s biggest companies to co-create winning strategies and implement them in the marketplace. Passionate about catalyzing change, we inspire our clients’ belief in what’s possible and unlock their potential to design and deliver human-centered services, experiences and entire new businesses. ### Contract Associate, Design Strategy and Research @ Bridgeable Jan 2014 – Jan 2014 Worked with a wide array of stakeholders to design new services for the organization, based on ethnographic research findings. Translate complex information into service maps and visualizations to ensure that research insights are clearly communicated and understood by stakeholders and end-users. Prepared design assets for a co-creation workshop to help organizations develop a better understanding of their target client base. Plan, design, and facilitate workshop experiences for organizations in the healthcare and consumer product sectors. ### Junior Innovation Designer and Research @ PCH Berlin-Los Angeles GmbH Jan 2012 – Jan 2012 Research and assist in creating a roadmap for client. Develop and forecast the future of multiple aspects in technology, health, mobility, materials, etc. for client market and strategy of future design concepts Design consumer interviews and integrated consumer perspectives to develop interdisciplinary solutions and potential new business models. Created easy to understand and concise narratives from gathered research for clients and consumers alike. ### Product development designer @ hettler.tüllmann Jan 2011 – Jan 2012 Materials research and experimentation, sourcing, testing and iteration of prototypes leading to formal developments through CAD and tech drawings for production. Design development and roadmap for product line extension with concept development and validation through sketch models and model making. Upkeep of website and product inventory for Redmaloo, graphics for seasonal product promotions. ### Attendant Services @ Carleton University Jan 2009 – Jan 2011 Assist students with special needs with daily tasks. ### Product design Intern @ Umbra Jan 2010 – Jan 2010 Concept development and product line extension, sketching, prototyping and presenting concepts to inter-departmental open crits. Product development through CAD and technical drawings for production. Problem solving through understanding materials, manufacturing, and costing, coordinating and working with other designers on a team and communicating with manufacturers. Contribute and design concepts for the Spring 2011 product catalog ## Education ### Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design Carleton University ### BA in Psychology McMaster University ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/carmen-l-7bba393a --- Source: https://flows.cv/carmenl JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/carmenl/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-05