Theresa (Faught) Wolf
San Francisco, CA
(408)329-2060 | theresa.villa.faught@gmail.com
Professional Summary
Senior qualitative user experience researcher with proven expertise in leading strategic research initiatives, improving product usability, and influencing key product decisions through data-driven insights.
Skills and Experience
• Research roadmap planning and study prioritization based on business needs.
• Data-driven storytelling and presentation acumen tailored to cross disciplinary stakeholder audiences.
• Workshop facilitation with executive and director-level stakeholders using design thinking practices.
• Survey, user interview, competitive benchmark, concept test, RITE test, card sort/tree test, diary study, cognitive walkthrough, JTBD / ODI analyses.
UX Research Lead, watsonx.data March 2022 to Present
International Business Machines (IBM) – San Francisco, CA
• Led a user research squad of 5 mid-level practitioners by defining and project managing the study roadmap for a high visibility product at IBM.
• Built cross-functional relationships with executive and director-level crossfunctional stakeholders to ensure depth and breadth of research impact.
• Facilitated alpha, beta, and private preview customer feedback programs leading to successful GAs by identifying key UX improvement areas including documentation gaps, provisioning friction, and community engagement needs.
• Designed and led research studies at IBM TechXChange 2024 conference, engaging 94 customer attendees, yielding high-impact insights for product improvement.
• Executed concept testing and customer surveys at IDUG North America & IDUG EMEA 2024 conferences, informing design iterations on an AI-based feature.
• Enhanced watsonx.data first-time user experience by spearheading a 90-day UX improvement study series, driving significant ease-of-use enhancements culminating in 26 GitHub issues and 4 Aha! Epic changes.
• Conducted surveys and user interviews to model desirability of competitive features against target market segments.
• Awards & Recognition: Outstanding Technical Achievement Award, Q3 Entrepreneur Award, Q2 Client and Partner Success Award.
UX Researcher, Db2 February 2020 to March 2022
International Business Machines (IBM) – San Francisco, CA
• Leveraged qualitative and quantitative methods including surveys, structured interviews, benchmarks, and competitive analyses to inform senior technical leadership and product management decisions.
• Oversaw and enabled team of 12 designers to conduct evaluative usability studies to promote user-centered design decisions.
• Guided design, product management, and engineering teams in Enterprise Design Thinking activities to increase innovation while considering technical constraints.
Human Factors Research Intern February 2019 to September 2019
NASA Ames Research Center – Mountain View, CA
• Contributed to ongoing research within Aerospace Cognitive Engineering Lab in
Human Systems Integration division.
• Facilitated human factors study focusing on training for generalizing knowledge in
complex cognitive work and how procedure automation software can support this
work.
UX Research Intern March 2018 to May 2018
IntelliCorp – San Jose, CA
• Conducted 20 usability test sessions and heuristic analysis to improve user experience of LiveCompare (SAP management software) product.
• Redesigned user interface for LiveCompare app store.
EDUCATION
Master of Science: Human Factors and Ergonomics, completed December 2020
San Jose State University - San Jose, CA
Bachelor of Arts: Psychology, completed May 2017
California State University - Chico - Chico, CA