An overview of my background, experiences and types of research I\’ve conducted over the past 5 years of my career as a user experience researcher.

1. RESEARCH PORTFOLIO
Josh LaMar

2. About This Presentation
 About Me
 Experiences
 Methodologies
 Summary of Qualifications

3. About Me
 Current UX Researcher supporting Zune at Microsoft
 5 years UX Research experience
 Web junkie – experience in all things web-related:
 Usability
 Technical Writing and Editing
 Content Management
 Social Media
 Development
 Localization
 Education
 M.S. Technical Communication, Dept of Human-Centered Design and Engineering,
University of Washington
 Technical Editing Certification, Bellevue College
 B.A. Music and B.A. English, Westmont College
 Online portfolio: http://joshlamar.com/portfolio.html
 LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/joshlamar

4. Experiences

5. Experiences: Microsoft
 User Experience Researcher (Nov 08 – Present)
 Zune/TVM Research Team June 09-Present, Studies completed:
 Lynx 4.0 Usability (July 09)
 MSN Entertainment and MSN Video Nov 08-Jun 09, Studies completed:
 MSN Video Tool Benchmark (Dec 08)
 MSN Money Benchmark (Jan 09)
 MSN Entertainment Internal Card Sort (Feb 09)
 MSN Entertainment External Card Sort (March 09)
 MSN Entertainment Superfan Cognitive Walkthrough (March 09)
 MSN Entertainment Metacritic/Packages/Parallel Universe Usability Study (May 09)
 Site Manager/Localization PM (Jan-Dec 2005), MVP website
 Managed MVP Global Website in 9 languages
 Highest online VSAT
 Developed global SharePoint site for collaboration with stakeholders and internal business
partners
 Usability Engineer (Dec 2004-Jan 2005), Hardware Group
 Extension of coursework from Qualitative Data Analysis research group at UW
 Analysis of survey data and photos of how customers use technology in their homes
 Utilized Atlas.ti and Strauss and Corbin’s Grounded Theory methodology of QDA

6. Experiences: WaMu
 User Experience Specialist II (Dec 05-Oct 08)
 Internal UX Research, supporting corporate intranet for 50k employees
 Managed internal user feedback group, WaMu.net Users Group
 Managed Usability Reading Group
 Example Studies
 Solutions Center Online Heuristic Evaluation
 WaMu Personas
 Policy Research Field Study
 Retail Banking My Place Usability Study
 Information Architecture of corporate intranet
 Feedback surveys
 Guerilla Usability

7. Methodologies

8. Methodology: Usability Study (Zune)
 July 09
 Task-based usability of Zune.net
in test environment
 Goal: Find UX issues before
release of Lynx 4.0
 UX Wins: Search results,
navigation, playing music from
the website
 Key Recommendation: Improve
the interaction of the
Dashboard / Pop-out player
experience

9. Methodology: Benchmark (MSN)
 December 08
 Task-based usability study in UX
lab
 Goal: Assess overall UX issues
with Video Tool and get
feedback on proposed redesign
 Key Finding: System Feedback,
defaults and consistency are
major issues to be addressed
 Key Recommendation: Tailor
future versions of the tool to
actual users of the tool who are
less technical than it was initially
designed for

10. Methodology: Survey (MSN)
 February 09
 Follow up from IA issues
raised in MSN Video Tool
Benchmark
 Goal: Test navigation and
assess user preference
and frequency of use
 Key Finding: User
expectations for the
Media bucket were right
on; “Widgets” and
“Performance” weren’t as
strong

11. Methodology: Card Sort (MSN)
 March 09
 Open card sort using
content from MSN
Entertainment site
 Movies, TV and Music card
sorts conducted separately
 Goal: Simplify the
navigation
 Key Finding: Browse
bucket needed so content
can ‘live’ in the navigation

12. Methodology: Cognitive Walkthrough (MSN)
 March 09
 Interview and cognitive
walkthrough of design comps
 Blog/Wiki hybrid Social
Media fan site
 Goal: Initial user response
and assess UX issues
 Key Finding: Users liked the
concept but will only
participate if it’s something
they’re interested in
 Key Recommendation: Make
sure each page has a clear
purpose

13. Methodology: Personas (WaMu)
 Longitudinal research
conducted 2007-2008
 Interviews
 Online surveys
 Based on job role
 Partnered with HR to
validate roles with WaMu
population
 Personas used by
communications teams and
corporate intranet team in
agile development cycles

14. Methodology: Field Study (WaMu)
 September 2007
 Interviews conducted with 55
employees in 6 locations
across the country
 Goal: Understand issues with
locating policies needed to do
their jobs
 Key Finding: Silos in the
content creation process lead
to user confusion when trying
to locate policies
 Key Recommendation: Single-
source the content creation
process

15. Summary of Qualifications

16. Summary of Qualifications
 Over 5 years User Experience Research experience
 M.S. Technical Communication, Dept of Human-Centered Design and
Engineering, University of Washington
 Advocate for making the lives of users easier
 Passion for making the world a better place through technology
 Experience in UCD methodologies, qualitative and quantitative data
analysis
 Ability to translate business needs into solid research plan
 Ability to create actionable recommendations from UX issues
observed
 Strong presentation skills
 Passion for Music and Multimedia – I’m a composer and currently
working on a certification in Electronic Music Production