# Lamiya M.

> Founding Product Designer at Spoqen AI | $500K+ Strategic Research Impact | B2B Startups, Education and Non-Profits

Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Profile: https://flows.cv/lamiya

I'm a UX Researcher and Product Designer with 5+ years of experience driving measurable business impact through research-backed design decisions. Master's in Human-Computer Interaction with a unique background in Architecture that brings systems thinking to complex user problems.

Recent Impact:
- Conducted strategic research for $1B+ revenue nonprofit, validating $500K+ market expansion
- Reduced user task completion time by 75% for 200+ language teachers through research-driven design
- Built research repository serving 20+ stakeholders, enabling 25% self-service research requests
- Led cross-functional teams of 6+ designers and developers to deliver growth-focused product improvements

What I Bring:
Research Excellence: Mixed-method studies, user interviews, A/B testing, persona development, and growth analytics
Design Impact: Consumer-facing products, design systems, and user-centered interfaces that drive engagement
Leadership: Cross-functional collaboration, stakeholder communication, and fast-turnaround insights
Currently seeking Senior UX Researcher roles in the San Francisco Bay Area where I can combine deep user insights with business strategy to drive product growth.

Let's connect: lamya.merchant@gmail.com 

Beyond work: yoga, hiking, watercolors, and collecting beautiful stationery. Ask me about the time I was chased by wild elephants!

## Work Experience
### Founding Product Designer, Voice AI @ Spoqen
Jan 2025 – Present
AI Receptionist for RV Park Bookings
Led end-to-end discovery and definition of an AI voice receptionist MVP

- Conducted stakeholder interviews and mapped caller intent flows
- Designed conversation UX and translated requirements to engineering using vaapi.ai
- Defined MVP scope, success metrics, and test scenarios for production

### Design Researcher @ affinityUX
Jan 2024 – Jan 2025 | San Francisco Bay Area
- Conducted strategic research for $1B+ revenue nonprofit, interviewing 25+ community leaders to validate $500K+ market expansion into new customer segments
- Built cross-client research repository serving 20+ stakeholders across 3 organizations, enabling teams to self-serve 25% of research requests
- Presented actionable insights to VP-level executives across 3 sprint cycles, directly informing messaging pivots and market expansion strategy

### Founding Product Designer @ Teaching Solved
Jan 2024 – Jan 2024 | San Francisco Bay Area
- Led consumer research with 200+ language teachers, reducing cognitive load by 60% and task completion time by 75% through research-driven UI/UX overhaul
- Conducted A/B testing and qualitative research to optimize site architecture, transforming 6-field search into intuitive single-search experience
- Managed cross-functional team and developed product roadmap based on user insights, resulting in more intuitive user experience and improved retention

### Product Designer @ Meteor Studio at Arizona State University
Jan 2023 – Jan 2024 | Tempe, Arizona, United States
- Synthesized user research into 6 strategic reports (80-120 pages each) for external stakeholders, demonstrating research impact on user acquisition and platform adoption
- Developed research-backed design system using 100+ components, ensuring user-centered consistency across consumer-facing touchpoints and improving user experience metrics
- Conducted mixed-method consumer research including user interviews and behavioral analysis for career exploration platform serving 150+ students, driving strategic product decisions and user growth
- Created comprehensive user personas and journey maps that informed content strategy and feature development, connecting user needs to business objectives

### UX Designer @ Nice Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
Jan 2022 – Jan 2022
- Designed 4 Power BI dashboard interfaces (20+ screens total) for enterprise clients across different industries as part of 10-person design team
- Performed comprehensive website usability audit, recommending UI/UX improvements for clickable elements, navigation flow, and hero section optimization
- Collaborated with 10 person design team to develop dashboard interfaces, gaining hands-on experience with enterprise data visualization and client requirements
- Gained foundational experience in data visualization design, working with business intelligence tools and multi-client project requirements.

### Architectural Designer @ RIM Architects
Jan 2021 – Jan 2022 | San Francisco, California, United States
- Enhanced user experience for 10,000 annual visitors by designing wayfinding systems across 100,000 sq. ft. office space, demonstrating user-centered design impact at scale
- Streamlined project delivery by developing 150 architectural documents using systematic design processes, ensuring user needs were met across commercial and recreational spaces
- Led cross-functional collaboration as Product Owner of 5 design systems, facilitating integration between multiple teams and improving project efficiency through user-centered approaches


## Education
### Master of Science - Human Computer Interaction in User Experience
Arizona State University

### Bachelor of Science - BS in Environmental Design/Architecture
University of Houston


## Contact & Social
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/lamiyam
- Portfolio: https://lamiyamerchant.com

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Source: https://flows.cv/lamiya
JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/lamiya/resume.json
Last updated: 2026-04-13