Hi, I’m Reem Ayouby.
A UX Researcher & Data Scientist in Montreal.
My Message
I have been asked: “What does data science have to do with UX Research?”
My answer: Amazingly, a lot!
Here is the logic: There is a great deal that needs to be done through qualitative methods to learn about what makes a user’s experience with a site, an app, a product, or service great. Yet, that is only the first phase that tells us about what a small group of people need for delightful user experience. When we want our products or services to scale, we need quantitative methods to help make user experience design decisions. Data science is a practice that includes quantitative methods, domain knowledge–UX in this case–and coding skills or the use of specialized software tools. This is one way in which user experience research and data science combine to produce growth in a product’s adoption.
Here’s a little secret: this role combination is also called Quantitative UX Research. You don’t have to take my word for it. You can see the quote below or have a look at the proceedings of the Quantitative User Experience conference (Quant UX Con) which was held for the first time in June 2022.
Quantitative UX research delivers insights about people. UX researchers often approach research projects with questions such as: What are the human motivations for using these products? How do people perceive and use the product? How do they react emotionally and physically to it? What do they like and dislike about specific features? What role does the product play in their daily life?
Nguyen and colleagues, 2017
Background
I started my Tech journey as a database administrator (DBA) at Oracle Consulting. This was a great foundation to transition into web application development using Java which led to teaching Java. After that, I decided that I’d like to teach at University and so started my masters degree. The courses I taught were systems analysis, design, and implementation. The students were required to find a community organization to conduct a consulting project with. So it was my pleasure to supervise 22 systems analysis, design, and implementation projects with a prototype delivered to the client.
Research Experience
The focus of my research has been on perceived social media functionality, social media’s use, and its impact on individual wellbeing. My experience covers the full life cycle of research. Including formulating research questions, designing research frameworks, creating measures and metrics, collecting, analyzing psychological and behavioral data, drawing conclusions and making recommendations to stakeholders. The methods I use are mainly quantitative, but qualitative methods are also used as needed. The need usually arises when we don’t have sufficient knowledge about the question we want to answer.
Leadership
Digital Transformation: I led teams in remote agile digital transformation projects of controlled scope. These began with initial client contact and concluded with delivery of working transaction processing or analytics prototype aligned with client requirements. 22 projects completed in an academic setting by teaching, coaching, and mentoring teams of young professionals through an innovation award winning systems design and implementation course.
Communication
I have honed my communication skills through teaching and coaching. This involved creating presentations, workshops, and business communication templates. Academically, I have several publications including a refereed journal article; 8 refereed conference proceedings; 12 presentations, posters, and invited talks to diverse audiences; a revised course syllabus and an original course syllabus.