Kara (she/her) has loved pioneering UX research and ResearchOps for 30 years. When she started in UX, it wasn’t called UX, user research was not yet done, and designs began as long specifications that were thrown over the wall. She works with teams to improve UX strategy, increase their UX maturity, and derive experiences that are useful, engaging, and surpass business goals.

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With extensive leadership experience and hands-on research skills, Kara has led successful research operations, strategies, and teams at multiple organizations. She envisioned and executed NN/g’s UX Certification Program, which launched in 2014. She also created (and remains key custodian of) the world-renowned Intranet Design Annual Award. 

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Kara has delivered hundreds of hours of informative, practical seminars, workshops, and keynote addresses around the world on a wide range of UX- and digital workplace-related topics. She’s also written or coached on many research reports including hundreds of practical design guidelines. After overseeing hundreds of hours of eye tracking research, she co-authored the book Eyetracking Web Usability. 

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Her motto: “User research is inspiring, grounding, and worth every penny.”