Nicholas Pings
Rodriguez.

Senior UX Researcher · Consumer Products & Research Operations
Rancho Cordova, CA 95742
(626) 399-8161
NicholasPings@gmail.com

Eight years turning consumer behavior into product decisions. At Experian I've covered the full consumer portfolio, flagship to edge case, at every stage of the product life cycle. And I've spent the last two years rebuilding how that research gets done, so findings reach the people making decisions instead of stopping at a readout.

Experience

Sr. User Experience Researcher

2021 — Present
Experian Consumer Services · Remote
  • Research partner across the full consumer product portfolio, from flagship experiences to narrow edge cases, spanning strategic definition, launch, iteration, and evergreen maintenance, matching method and rigor to each stage of the life cycle.
  • Partner directly with design, engineering, and product teams, translating findings into product roadmaps and design decisions.
  • Lead research on integrating generative AI into the consumer experience; recommendations shaped the direction of Experian's educational tools.
  • Introduced AI-assisted automation for screening, analysis, and synthesis, and set the standards for where a model is trusted and where a human still decides.
  • Operationalized access to insight through a self-service layer for stakeholders, and mentor researchers joining the team through onboarding, study design review, and craft standards.

User Experience Researcher

May — Nov 2021
HP Inc. · Contract · Personal Systems Software Design
  • Ran launch-aligned studies across HP Wolf Security, including VPN and antivirus protection, plus webcam utilities and HP Dev One.
  • Facilitated design thinking workshops that aligned cross-disciplinary teams around emerging concepts and early problem framing.
  • Worked with a global cross-functional team to map user needs across business units and touchpoints.

Principal User Experience Researcher

2018 — 2021
Freelance · San Francisco, CA
  • Scoped, recruited, and ran end-to-end research for clients across travel, health and wellness, and personal organization, spanning mobile applications and personal systems software.
  • Delivered executive readouts, personas, journey maps, NPS and statistical analysis, and prioritized recommendations.
Education

M.S. Information Design & Strategy

Northwestern University · Evanston, IL
GPA 4.0

B.A. Sociology

Chapman University · Orange, CA
Minor in Applied Psychology · GPA 3.65 · Chancellor's List · Dean's Scholarship

Methods

Generative

In-depth interviews · Ethnography · Contextual inquiry · Diary studies · Generative workshops · Card sorting · Personas · Journey mapping

Evaluative

Usability testing · Rapid iterative testing · Concept validation · Heuristic analysis · Comparative testing

Quantitative

Survey design · Statistical analysis · Experimental design · NPS · Longitudinal & adoption studies

Operations

AI-assisted synthesis · Research repositories · Self-service enablement · Research standards · Mentorship · Stakeholder management

Tools

Condens · Dovetail · Great Question · User Interviews · Lyssna · Outset · UserTesting · dscout · LookBack · Optimal Workshop · Maze · Qualtrics · Sprig · Ethnio · UserZoom · TheyDo · Figma · FigJam · Miro · Jira · Tableau · SPSS · Python