STANYA PETKOVA
USER EXPERIENCE RESEARCHER

Objective, empathic, and team-oriented professional.

In UX, there is no one-size-fits-all process. Every project is unique, requiring tailored solutions.

My expertise and knowledge in UX practices allow me to go beyond personal opinions or assumptions, providing in-depth analysis and user-centered solutions for products or services.

I have experience in multiple industries, such as the medical and gaming sectors.

My expertise will help you gain answers to questions about your users or product:

  • Your product or service is a solution to a specific and existing problem. Your target group is the set of people who are currently (and in the past) experiencing this exact problem and are actively looking for solutions to solve it. In other words, your product or service cannot exist without a target group.

    If you already have an idea about what kind of pain you want to solve, it is crucial to go deeper and understand the demographics, needs, wants, and problems of the people who are looking for your solution. This will help you to create a product or service that people will find valuable, and you will understand better what they need.

    To collect such insight you can perform market research, competitor analysis, and interview a group of potential users.

  • In my experience, triangulation in UX research is a reliable way to enhance the credibility of the insights and findings that you get from research studies.

    If you perform a set of in-depth interviews with your target group, you can gain very eye-opening insights about the problems, needs, and motivations of the people you want to help. Additionally, if you are in a startup, time and resources are not always available. Therefore, to ensure that your next strategic move does not set you back, you should apply the method of triangulation. The best way to do this is to conduct additional research studies that will help you build a bigger picture of the problem and either support or test your findings and insights.

    Triangulation can be done by applying different research methods, such as secondary research, such as reviewing credible research papers involving your target group and the pain point you are trying to solve, or qualitative research, such as a survey.

  • People filter information based on their own experiences, which are shaped by their culture, interactions, and limitations. This builds a unique perception in one's brain. It is normal for us to perceive things differently, but this can affect how users interact with the design system of an app or website.

    Users are likely to invest little time in completing a task and will use their past experience to quickly complete their goal. Failing to perform an action could negatively impact the user and your business. One way to avoid such errors is to actively listen to your target group through user interviews, watch them perform actions, and ask questions. You should also always set and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs).

  • Your product or service offers a solution to a specific pain point to a percise target group. For example, you may offer parents a better way to find a tutor for their child. While positive feedback and high iterests may give you a promising outlook for your produc/servicet future, you may be missing out on some important insights, such as:

    -What is the level of pain your target group experiences? Is it a mild annoyance or a major inconvenience?

    -How often do they experience this pain? Is it once a week, once a month, or once a year?

    -Have they taken any steps in the past to solve this pain? If so, what were those steps? And were they successful?

    Answering these questions can give you valuable insights into why people like your product or service, but they don't adopt it or subscribe to it.

As a professional, I always follow certain values and guidelines.

I listen to encourage people, so that I allow them to express their pain points in their own authentic way.

  • Calling users and asking them a set of interview questions will not help you to truly understand how they think and feel. This is a spoken-word survey.

    However, as the user advocate, I expose underlying motivations during interviews with deep listening. I adopt a beginner's mindset, I follow the interviewee's lead and create a supportive space for them to share their unique experiences.

I build effective and time-saving research documents and systems to uncover and present actionable insights.

  • Time is always fleeting. My experience has taught me how to make the most of the limited time available for a research project.

    By establishing and maintaining a structured approach to documentation and process, and by applying the right principles for organizing and presenting data, researchers can effectively uncover actionable insights and communicate them clearly to stakeholders.

I don’t jump into methods or recruitment without understanding first the impact of the research study, questions or topics.

  • Research without attention to detail can lead to sloppy research leads and unreliable findings. Also, not all research questions are worth studying.

    As a researcher, I strive to understand which questions are most important and impactful, given my limited resources and time.

I prioritize communication because it is essential for a successful study, and aligning with stakeholders' expectations.

  • If stakeholders say they didn't learn anything new after a study, that's a red flag.

    Such failure can arise if the researcher fails to involve stakeholders in defining the research goals and understanding their questions or concerns.