Heather Patrick

Huntsville, Alabama (Open to relocation!) | hlpatric1@gmail.com | Linkedin/in/hpb0001                         

Summary

Mixed-Methods UX Researcher with 9 years of experience conducting end-to-end research to inform user-centered strategies and improve experiences for diverse audiences. A passionate, people-focused professional skilled in data storytelling and stakeholder engagement to drive impactful decisions.

Professional Experience

Senior UX Researcher

American Chemical Society Publications | Remote, USA
Nov 2022 – Present

  • Led the redesign of the ACS Publications article page, resulting in a 6x increase in recommended article usage.

  • Delivered actionable insights to senior leadership through compelling storytelling and data visualization, simplifying complex information.

  • Executed mixed-methods research integrating data from surveys (Qualtrics), usability tests (UserTesting), and analytics tools (HotJar, Google Analytics) to identify and address key pain points.

  • Facilitated design-thinking workshops to foster collaboration between researchers, designers, and stakeholders.

  • Improved website navigation through card sorting and tree testing (OptimalWorkshop), enhancing information architecture.

  • Mentored and trained team members in research best practices, ensuring high-quality, ethical research.

Principal UX Researcher

Northrop Grumman Corporation | Huntsville, AL
Mar 2018 – Nov 2022

  • Designed and executed research studies for federal and DoD customers, addressing mission-critical needs across land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace.

  • Conducted user research to understand employee workflows and reduced employee turnover by 10%.

  • Collaborated with cross-functional teams, including developers and system architects, to translate user insights into actionable solutions.

  • Led a cross-functional team to deliver a digital transformation initiative in 8 sprints, improving workflows for 5,000+ employees.

  • Built a UX research repository, streamlining integration of findings into design processes.

  • Acted as Lean-Agile Scrum Master, driving collaboration between designers, engineers, and product managers.

UX Researcher

Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure | Huntsville, AL
Nov 2015 – Mar 2018

  • Conducted research on SaaS and B2B web and mobile platforms for public safety professionals.

  • Partnered with design and product teams to implement user-centered improvements.

  • Designed and executed surveys, ethnographic studies, and usability tests to validate hypotheses and drive informed design.

Education

  • M.S. in Experimental Psychology | University of Alabama in Huntsville

    • 4.0 GPA | Thesis: Notifications and Alerts

    • Awards: Outstanding Graduate Achievement, Graduate Horizon Research Award

  • B.S. in Psychology | University of Montevallo

    • 3.8 GPA | Graduated with honors

    • Awards: BF Skinner Successive Approximation Award, MAPS Scholarship

Technical Skills

  • UX Research Methods: Usability Testing, Surveys, User Interviews, Journey Mapping, Persona Development, Card Sorting, Tree Testing, A/B Testing, Ethnographic Studies, Contextual Inquiry, Diary Studies, Design Systems, Stakeholder Interviews

  • Tools: Qualtrics, Dovetail, Figma, Optimal Workshop, UserTesting, Power BI, SPSS, Tobii Eyetrackers, Google Analytics, HotJar, Microsoft Suite, Maze, Jira, Miro, Invision, ChatGPT, Copilot, Wondering, ListenLabs, Coloop

Continued Education

  • ResearchOps: Scaling User Research: Nielsen Norman Group, 2024

  • AI Skills for Research: Brilliant Experience, 2025