# Nikos Iakovidis > UX Researcher Location: United States, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/nikosiakovidis User experience research lead with 11+ years of experience in scoping, planning, executing and delivering UX insight & strategy to NASDAQ & FTSE100 corporations in the financial, technology, telecoms, professional services industries. Strong research experience across a wide range of techniques and best-practices: - Qualitative research: face-to-face interviews, usability testing, 'guerilla' interviews, focus groups, online communities/diaries, heuristic evaluations, ethnography/shadowing to identify key insights. - Quant research: designing online surveys for multiple markets/languages, managing fieldwork, conducting analysis, identifying the data-supported overarching story, reporting to clients/stakeholders. Applying the full experience design toolkit (experience maps, customer journeys, service blueprints, mindsets, personas, co-creation) to understand and re-design improved customer experiences. Ability to design prototypes / wireframes for concept testing purposes. ## Work Experience ### Staff UX Researcher @ Meta Jan 2025 – Present | Menlo Park, California, United States Accountable for UX research on Meta's 'Advantage+' product portfolio for advertisers, that leverages advanced Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence models to deliver performant ads. Ensuring our portfolio meets advertiser needs despite increased levels of automation and reliance on advanced ads ranking & delivery models. Responsible for research that supports critical decisions for products through which tens of billions of annual Meta revenue flow. ### User Research Lead @ Meta Jan 2021 – Jan 2025 | London, England, United Kingdom Worked on core & ML-powered ad products, with a focus on targeting/audiences as mixed methods UXR. As UXR lead, I support my team’s UXRs to align our Understand roadmaps, coach them to lead roadmapping for their pods, and mentor them to manage stakeholders and drive projects forward. My research informed the Advantage Custom Audience product development, helping achieve 25%+ adoption and significant incremental annual revenue. Ran a mix of qual and quant studies on product-market fit / value proposition for product Advantage+ Audience. Organised on my own a ‘Fixathon’ event so that mutliple teams could address smaller UX issues / bugs within 5 days and reduce advertiser friction, unblocking $800K annual revenue. Authored the content for Delivery Camp learning module for audience targeting. Managed external vendor running interviews in Brazil and Argentina. Received ‘Exceeds Expectations’ performance rating twice in a row. ### User Experience Research Lead @ Refinitiv, an LSEG business Jan 2021 – Jan 2021 Ran 3 projects: 1.) Inform Refinitiv’s online historical financial transaction platform’s migration & redesign. Increased usability and learnability of writing complicated search queries for new users, while maintaining familiarity for existing users. 2.) Discovery work to support Refinitiv Data Platform introduce self-servicing workflows & improve API find flows. 3.) Ran survey with Customer Satisfaction Managers to understand how supported they feel in their work. ### Director @ allaboard UX Jan 2018 – Jan 2021 | London, England, United Kingdom Director and Principal Consultant at agency allaboard UX. We help organisations re-think growth through conceptualising and designing world-class digital experiences. ### Senior Service & UX Designer @ Foolproof Jan 2020 – Jan 2021 | London, England Metropolitan Area Helped the retail division of a global oil and energy company to identify opportunities to improve the customer experience across multiple touchpoints (a large service design 'Omnichannel' programme) and then designed improvements for the app and website. 1.) Worked closely with the main stakeholders to run remote sessions and workshops to identify experience improvement opportunities and mobilise teams. 2.) Afterwards I ran 2 projects under the Omnichannel programme umbrella as a UX design lead. a.) Redesigned the app to make the loyalty scheme more user-centric and easier to understand by simplifying the onboarding journey, and increase adoption for ‘Pay at the pump’ feature. b.) Redesigned the loyalty experience on the mobile website, testing and refining designs through research in Poland and the Philippines. ### User Experience Lead @ Superunion Jan 2020 – Jan 2020 | London, United Kingdom Helped Superunion on 2 projects: 1.) Incorporated the previously separate Kantar Marketplace into the brand new Kantar.com - audited the two websites, liaised with stakeholders and designed the prototypes of Marketplace on new Kantar.com. 2.) Redesigned the Client Portal and Client email templates of a large law firm to improve engagement. ### User Research & Service Design Lead @ Shell Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | London, United Kingdom Delivered high quality user research and service design work as part of the Shell Agile Hub, which tackles global business problems through digital technologies and agile methodologies, demonstrating the value of design and design thinking across Shell. I have worked on 2 large transformation projects, and created the Agile Hub's research directory. In detail: 1.) Delivered the vision and now the MVP for the new version of MarketHub, Shell's B2B ecommerce platform that is responsible for tens of billions of USD in lubricant and fuel orders. MarketHub 2.0 is the largest digital transformation initiative within Shell Downstream. For this project I led research, analysis and synthesis of customer needs from varied industries and geographies through 2 phases of this project, Vision and MVP. For the Vision I interviewed customers from 9 markets and internal stakeholders. For the MVP I was responsible for discovery research for our pilot market. 2.) Led project with objective of identifying opportunity areas across the customer journey of lubricant customers in the wind and gas power generation industries – essentially introducing service design in Shell Power Generation Europe. As part of the project, I led the research work, interviewed internal stakeholders and customers across Europe, analysed and synthesised the data into 5 distinct opportunity areas that our team costed together with Accenture. The business is now considering funding one of the opportunities to go ahead. 3.) I developed and built a project research repository on AirTable, helping every team find relevant previous research easily and save time and energy from repeating the same work, or identifying relevant research. Teams are often unaware that a previous project conducted research that could be useful to them, and the tool has reduced the effort required to find out and access previous research. ### User Research Lead @ Unmortgage Jan 2018 – Jan 2018 | London, United Kingdom Wayhome (ex-Unmortgage) offers a new way to get on the property ladder, allowing customers to gradually own their dream home, starting with as little as a 5% deposit and paying rent on the part they do not own. I helped Wayhome understand their customers and their preferred experience throughout the complex, multi-stakeholder journey towards home ownership. Discovery research through a combination of in-depth remote interviews and F2F usability tests in London with potential customers to validate our value proposition and their understanding of product mechanics with key customer group. Also includes an online survey to eligible customers across England to understand market trends and our customer segments more deeply so as to target them more effectively. ### User Research Lead @ EY-Seren Jan 2018 – Jan 2018 | London, United Kingdom Helped EY Seren deliver high quality discovery research for a retirement product of a major financial services provider. Short, fast-paced contract: Started, liaised with recruiters, moderated F2F and remote sessions, ran analysis and synthesis and authored report (including high-level findings, customer journey insight and improvements) and story to be used in story-telling video that will be presented to the end client's board to create support for this product. Duration: 3 weeks. ### Digital Strategy & UX Research Consultant @ WAE: a Globant company Jan 2017 – Jan 2018 | London, United Kingdom Leading agile discovery and user research projects: understanding client needs, scoping research/discovery projects by selecting most appropriate methodologies and liaising with suppliers, moderating F2F and remote sessions, leading analysis and synthesis, creating experiences and service principles/blueprints and delivering reports and presentations to senior executives. Writing proposals, costing projects. Mentoring colleagues: helping junior colleagues develop their research skills and expand their toolkit. Tutored junior colleagues on how to moderate interviews and helped them run remote sessions. Delivered interactive learning sessions about quantitative research, e.g. how to create a research plan. Supported the senior management team package our data consulting services into a product and helped the team upskill around AI with a view of becoming AI-ready by Q1 2019. Clients include Lloyds Banking Group (Lloyds, Halifax, Bank of Scotland), HSBC, the Metropolitan Police Service, Euler Hermes (Allianz Group), Sheilas' Wheels insurance (esure group). ### Senior Research Consultant @ Context Consulting Jan 2016 – Jan 2017 | London, United Kingdom Context Consulting provides evidence-based marketing strategies that build brands, drive sales and promote growth. Responsibilities: Quantitative and Qualitative Research, a mix of ad hoc (mostly) and continuous work - Fieldwork Management (Qual: screeners / FGD/depth recruitment, PM, cost mgmt; Quant: sampling, questionnaire drafting, PM) - Data analysis (Advanced Excel, Marketsight tabulation software, multivariate analysis e.g. drivers analysis through regression in IBM SPSS) - Reporting for quant and qual projects through a data-supported story - Mentor / buddy up with new team members/junior consultants and take them through the company processes and resolve any issues / answer queries Projects include: UX - Heuristic evaluation of global health insurance leader website: Conducted heuristic evaluation of client’s website, including landing, purchasing, and onboarding pages. Compared with 3 compatitors’ websites, identified improvement opportunities and wrote recommendations deck. Qual B2C - (Continuous) Ad campaign development for Samsung TV division Qual B2C - Online community for social media research study for FTSE 250 housing provider UniteStudents Qual B2B - Teledepths with IT / Business decision makers around business internet and telephony for Vodafone Group Quant B2C- Segmentation study for smartphone division of leading global technology organisation Quant B2B - Value Proposition and Brand Tracker for FTSE 250 B2B distribution company ### Research Consultant @ Context Consulting Jan 2015 – Jan 2016 | London, United Kingdom Context Consulting provides evidence-based marketing strategies that build brands, drive sales and promote growth. Many of these marketing strategies include: - Understanding the business issue and wider organisational dynamic - Setting the right objectives - Appreciating key hypotheses - Generating sharp insight and understanding - Devising a strategy and associated action plans - Effective implementation and communication Context works with global blue-chip clients across a range of sectors, including technology, telecoms, business services, utilities, travel, industrial, engineering, financial services and chemicals industries. ### Junior Researcher @ Aztec Ventures. Jan 2014 – Jan 2015 | London, United Kingdom Aztec Ventures is a growth consultancy specialising in Technology/Digital Solutions. Aztec specialises in primary research to identify new business opportunities and come up with insight-based value propositions. At Aztec I was responsible for primary research execution and project management. Responsibilities: - Qualitative & Quantitative Research (FGs, depths, surveys from creation to analysis and report /story building) - Workshop Moderation - Branding, Ideation, Visual Brainstorming - Brand Tracker Projects - Turning datasets into final presentations of actionable insight - Securing multiple UK & EU Grants for clients - Other: Website Building on WP, SEO optimisation, Design of Decks & Pitching Presentations ### Marketing Intern @ Shareagift Jan 2013 – Jan 2013 | London, United Kingdom Interned on digital marketing and social media presence, created marketing content (illustrations, blog posts copy). Managed email marketing campaigns. Worked on SEO and AdWords for targeted campaigns. ### Graduate Intern on Strategy for Building Management Systems @ Priva Jan 2013 – Jan 2013 | De Lier, The Netherlands Did qualitative research through semi-structured interviews, as well as secondary research, mostly trends analysis for both the technological and the business landscape. Developed 3-step strategy, including new hardware and software architecture, new revenue channel, and their implementation roadmap. ## Education ### MSc in Strategic Product Design Delft University of Technology ### 5-yr Professional Diploma in Architecture Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/niakovidis --- Source: https://flows.cv/nikosiakovidis JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/nikosiakovidis/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13