# Kevin Liang > I train user research strategists and startups | UXR Manager & Consultant | Creator | Educator Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/kevinliang1 I help people become badass UX leaders... w/ empiricism, humility, and a little bit of fun along the way! I'm an entpreneurial UX Strategist, researcher, and consultant with 14+ years at various Fortune 500 companies, and coaching/training startups. I have received patents for my research, launched over 100+ software and hardware, adapted research methods and processes in creative ways, while building and mentoring junior/senior researchers. I take business strategies, consulting, and user-centered design to uncover insights from data not only to improve the experience, but to look at the bigger picture for the company. I decided to pay it forward by sharing what I've learned with aspiring UXRs through my YouTube channel, Zero to UX. Fun fact, I ranked #1 for "ux research" on YouTube SEO within just 2 months of starting my channel. So if you need help with YouTube SEO, holla. I have had training in client-centred therapy, too. **Have a topic you want to share with a UX Research community of 42,000+ subscribers (and growing)? Feel free to reach out and collaborate with me on a YouTube video!** The hard way I got in: I reluctantly declined a job at Stanford to spend everyday for 6 months voraciously learning from books, online classes, websites, and all things UX but not limiting myself to UX. I also took training sessions in consulting, business strategies, and design. I networked and designed my own research projects, where I would conduct them in a local Starbucks holding a homemade cardboard sign saying "I'll buy your coffee if you give me 15 minutes of your time." Occasionally, I tell my story of those 6 months to people wondering how they could also break into the UX world. I also mentor some of them. One of them even became a UX Research Assistant at Google, but I won't take all the credit. I worked at Google on the Android Wear smartwatch team. I co-founded a research method to suit our team's needs and have adapted it over the past two years. Before that, I was at Volkswagen's ERL researching how people interacted with autonomous vehicles. Based on this project, I published a white paper and also co-authored a current patent submission for a traffic light detection system for self-driving vehicles. Other skills I've picked up: - video editing, sound, lighting, delegation, SEO, ads, product management, curriculum/training development, teaching, marketing, social media Fun fact: I am a space nerd and when I was 8 years old, I questioned Pluto's status as a planet. I was right to question it. Sorry, not sorry, Pluto. ## Work Experience ### CEO/Founder, UXR Manager & Consultant, Instructor of Zero to UX Research Masterclass @ Zero to UX Jan 2021 – Present Created an intensive 20-week UX Research training for people who want to contribute their skills to the user-centered world. I'm more than a career coach; I'm your biggest cheerleader to help you succeed, whether that's landing a job as a user researcher, or making more confident decisions. The master class takes a 360-degree approach that covers advanced topics in UX psychology, business strategies and thinking, UX research process, qualitative and quantitative methods and analysis, synthesis, public speaking, leadership & communication topics, and exclusive career training in job mock interviews for FAANG and Fortune 500 companies, all topped with a real client project for students to get real hands-on work with directors, product managers, and designers. - Lead, manage, teach, and mentor 5 cohorts of 10 user researchers, providing actionable feedback and identifying complementary skillsets for teams working with major industry clients. - Encourage open feedback, questions, mistakes, and identify senior & leadership opportunities for researchers to lead beyond their level. - Created and currently teach the industry’s most in-depth UXR masterclass curriculum, focusing on developing skillsets beyond research, including human factors, leadership, statistics, and communication skills. 80% of alumni have landed UXR roles within 1 month of graduating. - Procure client collaborations and serve as liaison between stakeholders and researchers to gather feedback and improve communications and efficiencies on projects. Spring 2021 - partnered with Chief Product Officer and Head of Product of Lookiero Fall 2021 - Mastercard and the CEO and VP of User Research at UserInterviews to perform strategic research! Spring 2022 = Mastercard, GtmHub, Boston's Children Hospital, Warner Bros. Games Spring 2023 = Smartsheet, Surfshark, Skyhive.ai, Upwork There is group work as well as individual expectations, and personalized coaching. Read more at zerotoux.com/masterclass ### Founder & Content Creator @ Zero to UX Jan 2019 – Present | San Francisco Bay Area Content creator, mentor, social media specialist (YouTube SEO), digital marketing, and small business owner. I help aspiring and current UX researchers gain the hard and soft skills to become a UX leader. I consult mentees on career advice and provide educational material on the field of user research. **Collaborate with me on a video!** Have something UXR-related you want to share with a community of 26,000+ viewers? Don't be afraid to reach out! Managed to rank (and maintain) #1 on YouTube SEO for "UX research" within 2 months of creating my channel. Learned marketing, video production and editing, scaling, brand partnerships, and more. Educational Partner with Interaction Design Foundation https://www.interaction-design.org/invite?ep=zerotoux Zero to UX | zerotoux.com youtube.com/@zerotoux ### UX Research Manager & Principal UXR Consultant | Zero to UX @ Mesh Jan 2025 – Present Zero to UX is a research partner and vendor for Mesh (Series B Crypto fintech startup) Manage team of 5 UX Researchers. Establish SOPs and UXR Operations (participant recruitment, databases). Amplify direct reports' work to present their research at CTO and VP level. Conduct strategic & tactical research to inform product roadmap initiatives ### Senior UX Researcher - Upwork Labs @ Upwork Jan 2020 – Jan 2023 Upwork Labs (fka Emerging Business and Innovation) - research on Generative AI perceptions and usage among hiring managers/clients and freelancers in the work marketplace Talent and Matches team Talent Scout team On a mission to create economic opportunity for freelancers, entrepreneurs, the hustlers, the business owners, the digital nomads, and the creators for the future of work. Launched: Upwork Full Time (1st year 1M+ revenue), Any Hire, and Talent Scout products and services ### User Experience Researcher @ StubHub Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco Bay Area ### Lead UX Researcher @ Uber Freight Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | San Francisco Bay Area Led UX research for the Carrier Experience team on Uber Freight (contract with TEKsystems) Launched the Uber Freight Web Portal based on end-to-end foundational, generative, and evaluative research on multiple user groups including truck drivers, carriers, and shippers. ### UX Research at Adecco @ Google Jan 2018 – Jan 2019 | San Francisco Bay Area Identity Team (Google Account) ### User Experience Researcher @ Unity Technologies Jan 2018 – Jan 2018 | San Francisco, California, United States ### Hardware UX Research Assistant (Wear OS) @ Google Jan 2015 – Jan 2017 | San Francisco Wear OS (fka Android Wear) • Co-founded, implemented, and continuously adapted a longitudinal research method for the Android Wear team, which is now a determining factor in prioritizing the team's focus. • Generated important, actionable research findings and recommendations that have made their way into the Android Wear 2.0 launch as well as being a co-inventor of a design patent based on user research. • Collaborate closely with stakeholders (UX, PM, Engineers, Directors etc..) to define research goals, identify appropriate methods, define participant criteria, developing the study plan, testing and analysis, and reporting deliverables and recommendations. • Determine appropriate UX and human factors research methods (e.g. diary studies, cafe studies, interviews, A/B testing, eye-tracking, card sorts, RITE, Google Consumer Surveys, Experience Sampling Method etc...) to extract meaningful insights from users. • Led joint research effort for a cross-functional UX design sprint for a greater out-of-box experience with Google hardware products. Launched: app launcher 1.0, 2.0, Google Fit, G Keyboard on Wear, Wear App Onboarding OoBE, Play Store, Play Music, Google Maps, Messaging, notifications, watch face, watch face widgets, brand ID, Michael Kors, Fossil, user manual, Wear Help Center, G Pay NFC payment, quick replies, Google Assistant, drawer interactions, and a LOT more... ### Automotive UX Researcher & Test Engineer @ Volkswagen of America, Inc Jan 2015 – Jan 2015 | Belmont, CA Human Factors User Experience Researcher, conducted usability testing, driving simulators, Wizard of Oz study on self-driving vehicles, survey/questionnaire design, focus group facilitation, and data analysis on a Human-Machine Interface concept and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. Co-inventor of patent method for traffic light detection. Test Methods Team: • Collaborate with engineers, team leaders, and product designers for testing an early-cycle Human-Machine Interface autonomous vehicle concept • Implement study design improvements to remove confounding variables (i.e. randomization of conditions) • Responsible for operating tablet interface to control HMI for autonomous vehicle, ensuring vehicle program functions correctly, and general study setup • Design questionnaire for usability test to identify pain points, user needs and research needs • Organize qualitative affinity diagram data from observing daily focus groups • Synthesize lean research findings and provide feedback to team managers, engineers, and designers • Quantitative and qualitative data analysis (SPSS, affinity diagrams, clustering etc..) to extract meaningful insights on the concept and provide suggestions for improvements in clear, easy-to-understand presentations Driver Assistance Systems (DAS) Team: • Analyse and extract statistical test-drive data to create and iterate critical requirements for series-development autonomous vehicle • Designed user studies to study driving behaviors and extract meaningful insights to provide product design to investors and stakeholders • Test software and utilized them to perform desktop scouting of major highways with Google Street View • Performed video playback and analysis using ADTF software • Created data-driven PowerPoint presentations of the studies and analytical Excel data for stakeholders in Germany • Data collection using Hyperlapse software and custom script for scouting major US highways in project vehicle ### Behavioral Research Analyst | Center for Design Research @ Stanford University Jan 2014 – Jan 2014 | Stanford, California Interaction Dynamics Notation analyst at the Innovation Acceleration Laboratory Performed video coding of team dynamics using Interaction Dynamics Notation (Neeraj Sonalkar 2013) ### Staff Social Science Researcher | Carstensen Life-span Development Laboratory @ Stanford University Jan 2013 – Jan 2014 •Conducted 1200+ participant interviews and diary studies, while managing study expectations and resources for participants •Recruited and scheduled 200+ study participants using various modes of advertising; conduct phone interviews •Maintained and continuously updated extensive records of participants using Excel and SPSS •Collaborated with research coordinators, doctoral students, and Principal Investigator to communicate project needs and objectives to track progress and meet deadlines •Performed literature reviews on relevant articles to the study, as well as reformatting papers to APA format •Trained research assistants in participant recruitment and other administrative duties ### Research Assistant | Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute @ UC Berkeley Jan 2012 – Jan 2013 | Berkeley, California Matthew Walker Sleep Lab Project aimed to study how sleep deprivation affects empathy, interoception, and music-color association Trained in fMRI user safety, ECG, 19-channel EEG, polysomnography • Trained in biomedical imaging techniques (including 19-channel EEG, Aura PSG & simultaneous EEG-fMRI), and applied EKG and EMG during experiments • Coordinated, set up, and carried out research experiments, which included video recordings and physiology measures • Formatted, administered and analysed psychological surveys to subjects • Trained new research assistants in research methods and safety • Performed data analysis of sleep-wave patterns collected from subjects and coded sleep and EKG data Project Title: Neurophysiological markers of sleep-dependent affective homeostasis ### Resident Advisor | Residential & Student Services Program @ UC Berkeley Jan 2011 – Jan 2012 | Berkeley, California •Served as a positive role model for 60+ freshmen students, fostering community development, cooperation and inclusiveness; upheld core values and goals of the institution, and promoted social awareness •Trained in non-violent communication, conflict resolution and client-centered therapy to identify and resolve residents' questions relating to interpersonal matters, class-work, institutional resources, and stressors, all while maintaining confidentiality and objectivity •Coordinated, planned, and executed 100+ academic, community development, transitional, and service programs for over 1500 residents in the unit; ensured deadlines were met in a timely fashion •Served as a direct liaison to the building coordinators and Residence Hall Assembly, writing detailed program proposals and reports, retaining accurate records, and maintaining excellent communication •Performed weekly assessments to maintain a safe and healthy living environment for residents and a healthy work environment for other staff members •Advertised, recruited and screened 10 candidates; conducted individual and group interviews; contributed to the hall staff selection process and made job offers, working closely with HR and resident directors Encompasses aspects of counseling, management, teamwork, persistence, planning, commitment, independence, creativity. Trained in client-centered therapy, non-violent communication, conflict mediation, and security. Job entails working with staff to plan programs for over 2000 students in a single housing unit on campus. Entails one-on-one sessions with staff as well as residents in order to discuss issues and concerns, as well as aspirations and plans. In addition, entails excruciatingly diligent time management. Mission to promote community and an inclusive environment; assess and maintain safe living environment. Make sure students transition into college smoothly, acting as both a resource and mentor. ## Education ### Master of Science - MS in Human Factors in Information Design Bentley University - McCallum Graduate School of Business ### Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Integrative Biology, Psychology University of California, Berkeley ### Encinal High School ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kevinliang-1 - Portfolio: https://zerotoux.com --- Source: https://flows.cv/kevinliang1 JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/kevinliang1/resume.json Last updated: 2026-03-25