Kristin Romero, MDes

Lead UX Researcher & Design Strategist

⭐️ 6+ years of experience combining a unique blend of agile research, design creativity, and strategic pragmatism to drive human-centered impact ⭐️
Specializing in
🧩 complex, end-to-end generative research
🌱 taking products from 0-to-1 with confidence
🀝 agile, cross-functional collaboration
πŸ’“ human-centered design for positive impact
Experienced in
β€’ agency and in-house research & strategy
β€’ evaluative research studies
β€’ B2B, B2C, & enterprise software environments
β€’ digital, physical, & experiential product R&D
β€’ financial, civic, geospatial, healthcare, & e-commerce tech
β€’ designing for environmental & social impact
β€’ research project management
β€’ building research processes
β€’ workshop facilitation
β€’ mentorship

TESTIMONIALS FROM RECENT COLLEAGUES

  • Kat Brown

    Lead Design Strategist, NAX

    "For anyone looking to bring a whip-smart, tenacious, and curious person on to their product team, I cannot reccomend Kristin enough."

  • Stephanie Reaves

    Product Manager, NAX

    β€œBeyond her core research responsibilities, Kristin was always willing to support the product work stream comprehensively, even stepping into traditional product manager roles when needed. Her versatility and dedication were instrumental to our success.

    I highly recommend Kristin for any role where strategic insight and meticulous execution are valued.”

  • Michael Theuringer

    Head of Product, NAX

    "Kristin's expertise extends beyond traditional research domains. She has a keen understanding of systems design and human incentive structures. This holistic perspective allows her to develop strategies that go way beyond addressing surface-level issues but create real and lasting impacts by reshaping underlying dynamics.


    Believe me, you'd want her to think about your toughest problems. I know I do."

  • Katie Crawford

    Head of Design, NAX

    "Having had the pleasure of managing Kristin directly for about a year, I can confidently say she's truly remarkable. Even with limited resources, she finds solutions and lays out their impacts with precision. Her insights are invaluable, guiding our teams toward success.

    Kristin's collaborative nature and commitment to excellence make her an invaluable member of any team lucky enough to have her."

  • Sam Christian

    Lead Product Designer, NAX

    "Kristin’s refreshingly meticulous style, along with the way in which she pays close attention to detail in how research is gathered, how interviews are conducted, and how requirements are translated, is considerably remarkable.


    This has been one of the most semantically organized, efficient and consistent experiences I’ve had in my entire design career."

WHAT IT'S LIKE TO WORK WITH ME

πŸš€ Leadership Qualities
πŸš€ Leadership Qualities
πŸš€ Leadership Qualities
πŸš€ Leadership Qualities
βš’οΈ Tools
βš’οΈ Tools
βš’οΈ Tools
βš’οΈ Tools
✍️ Skills
✍️ Skills
✍️ Skills
✍️ Skills

MY EXPERIENCE

CASE STUDIES

RESEARCH & STRATEGY
Helping coffee traders and farmers respond to impending deforestation regulation

πŸ‘©β€πŸ’» Lead UX Researcher, Lead Design Strategist, and Project Lead

Problem: Coffee traders faced challenges in complying with new legislation that threatened fines amounting to 8% of their total global revenue.

They needed a solution to incentivize farmers in their supply chains to move away from deforestation as a method for maintaining crop yields.

New Feature Set Development

Enterprise Software

Environmental and Social Impact

Geospatial Insights and Insurance E-commerce

Remote

RESEARCH & STRATEGY
Improving the in-office experience for clinician users of an epilepsy treatment and monitoring software

πŸ‘©β€πŸ’» UX Researcher and Design Strategist

Problem: Clinicians were increasingly dissatisfied with the time required to find, analyze, and adjust data on the Clinician App during appointments.

Usability Testing

B2B

Healthcare/MedTech

Remote/In-Person Research and Testing

RESEARCH
Uncovering key pain points of target users for a new, art-backed financial lending product

πŸ‘©β€πŸ’» Lead UX Researcher

Problem: A new financial lending concept needed to understand the needs and pain points of their target users before moving forward with development.

MVP Validation

B2C

Fintech

In-Person Research

RESEARCH
Gauging how effectively a new e-commerce platform for sustainable construction materials solves the problems of procurement managers

πŸ‘©β€πŸ’» Lead UX Researcher

Problem: An early-stage e-commerce venture lacked the understanding of problem-solution fit necessary to move forward with development.

Problem-Solution Fit Testing

B2B

E-commerce

Remote Research

RESEARCH AND STRATEGY Enabling civil engineers to manage water-related projects more efficiently
RESEARCH AND STRATEGY Enabling civil engineers to manage water-related projects more efficiently
RESEARCH AND STRATEGY Enabling civil engineers to manage water-related projects more efficiently

πŸ‘©β€πŸ’» Lead UX Researcher, Lead Design Strategist, and Project Lead

Problem: Civil engineers struggled to stay organized, efficient, and streamlined during water-related projects.

New Feature Development

Enterprise Software

Environmental Impact

Γ‡ivic Tech

Remote Research

GRADUATE WORK
Samples of work produced during my graduate studies

πŸ‘©β€πŸ’» UX Researcher and Design Strategist

Trauma-Informed Design

Social Impact

Design Ethics

RESEARCH & STRATEGY
Helping coffee traders and farmers respond to impending deforestation regulation

πŸ‘©β€πŸ’» Lead UX Researcher, Lead Design Strategist, and Project Lead

Problem: Coffee traders faced challenges in complying with new legislation that threatened fines amounting to 8% of their total global revenue.

They needed a solution to incentivize farmers in their supply chains to move away from deforestation as a method for maintaining crop yields.

New Feature Set Development

Enterprise Software

Environmental and Social Impact

Geospatial Insights and Insurance E-Commerce

Remote Research

RESEARCH & STRATEGY
Improving the in-office experience for clinician users of an epilepsy treatment and monitoring software

πŸ‘©β€πŸ’» UX Researcher and Design Strategist

Problem: Clinician dissatisfaction with the time required to find, analyze, and adjust data on the Clinician App during appointments.

Usability Testing

B2B

Healthcare/MedTech

Remote/In-Person Research and Testing

RESEARCH
Uncovering key pain points of target users for a new, art-backed financial lending product

πŸ‘©β€πŸ’» Lead UX Researcher

Problem: A new financial lending concept needed to understand the needs and pain points of their target users before moving forward with development.

MVP Validation

B2C

Fintech

In-Person Research

RESEARCH
Gauging how effectively a new e-commerce platform for sustainable construction materials solves the problems of procurement managers

πŸ‘©β€πŸ’» Lead UX Researcher

Problem: An early-stage e-commerce venture lacked the understanding of problem-solution fit necessary to move forward with development.

Problem-Solution Fit Testing

B2B

E-Commerce

Remote Research

RESEARCH AND STRATEGY Enabling civil engineers to manage water-related projects more efficiently

πŸ‘©β€πŸ’» Lead UX Researcher, Lead Design Strategist, and Project Lead

Problem: Civil engineers struggled to stay organized, efficient, and streamlined during water-related projects.

New Feature Development

Enterprise Software

Environmental Impact

Γ‡ivic Tech

Remote Research

GRADUATE WORK
Samples of work produced during my graduate studies

πŸ‘©β€πŸ’» UX Researcher and Design Strategist

Trauma-Informed Design

Social Impact

Design Ethics

Let's build something great together.

Let's build something great together.

Let's build something great together.

Let's build something great together.