Amelia WilliamsSenior UX Research Manager, Microsoft
Alumni Interview
Tell us what your current title is and what your role entails.
I am a Senior UX Research Manager at Microsoft. I am involved in quarterly planning, where I align with the Product and Design leaders on what projects the Research team will take on each quarter, leading meetings for with Product & Design leadership, and evangelizing best practices for incorporating user research into the product development and design processes. I also collaborate with other research leaders on programs and initiatives to support the UX Researchers across the Viva Studio and ensure that we are socializing our Research insights and connecting the dots for product managers and designers across the Viva Engage team.
When you started EDI, did you know what industry you wanted to work in?
Having come from a mechanical engineering background, I expected to go into physical product design. I really enjoyed my EDI courses in research, UX, and service design, and I ultimately ended up going into UX Research & Strategy.
Tell us about an EDI course that made an impact on you.
I think that the Product Design Studio course really instilled my love of research. The partnership with P&G allowed us to really deeply understand how to conduct research for the purpose of product development. We learned so many tactics, activities, and workshop strategies, not to mention we were able to conduct in-home research to learn about how people do laundry! I think that course laid the foundation for how I think about problem solving and unearthing the most important problems to solve.
What is one lesson you learned during your EDI journey that has stuck with you?
“I’m just one data point…” was a phrase frequently used by my thesis mentor, Walter Herbst. I think that really embodied the EDI mindset that no matter how much experience or knowledge you might have, we as designers are not our users. He (and the rest of our professors) constantly pushed us to be thoughtful and intentional in gathering the right data points to make informed, human-centric product decisions.
What was your EDI thesis project and what inspired you to pursue it?
I always had a strong interest in STE(A)M education, so I designed a collaborative, educational marble-maze board game.
What advice do you have for an EDI student interested in working in your industry?
Don’t be afraid to take a chance on jobs that don’t seem like the exact role that you’re hoping for. I worked in a manufacturing plant, a healthcare design team at 3M, and Capital One’s auto finance business before finding my way to Microsoft. I learned so much in each of those roles that make me a better researcher & manager than if I had gone directly into the tech industry.
