What I Do
I’ve spent 15 years leading research in high-stakes domains like higher education, healthcare systems, financial platforms, and civic tech, where decisions carry weighty consequences. Today I apply that experience to teams building AI products and complex systems.
I'm the person you call when:
You’re building conversational AI and need to define how it should behave
You’re launching AI features and don’t have a reliable way to tell whether they’re actually working
You’re making a significant product bet and need to understand what users need before you commit
Your product spans multiple stakeholders, workflows, or roles, and no one sees the whole system
You have research, but it’s not translating into clear product decisions
Standard UX methods don’t map cleanly to your constraints
“Doesn’t get any better than having one of our key internal stakeholders propose that we replicate the work. Clearly, the value was found. Game changing, actionable insights to drive growth!”
Selected Work
AI Coach Trust & Safety Research
Led multi-phase research program for AI coaching launch: policy landscape analysis, user hacking protocols with students, moderated usability testing for trust and learning confidence.
Outcome: Identified conversation breakdown points and bias risks before launch, shaped responsible AI development principles
AI Products · Higher Education · Trust & Safety
AI Coaching Quality Evaluation
Built evaluation system for AI dialogue coach serving 190K students. Designed golden dataset methodology, coordinated synthetic data generation, established blind grading protocols with engineering team.
Outcome: Systematic quality assessment framework deployed across 6 AI coaching activities; on-time beta and pilot launches
AI Evaluation · Education · Quality Assurance
Real Estate Service Pathway Mapping
Service design research across three siloed real estate entities (Partner Agents, Central Brokerage, For Sale By Owner). Conducted seller interviews, facilitated blueprinting workshops, validated 5-phase seller journey.
Outcome: Identified 10 service breakdowns and cross-sell opportunities across pathways
Service Design · Real Estate · Journey Mapping
Child Care Access Platform Research
Discovery and concept testing for digital platform connecting Detroit families with child care assistance. Conducted journey mapping, listening labs with caregivers, accessibility testing in Spanish/Arabic.
Outcome: Launched with validated scope, language accessibility framework, and user-driven enrollment and quality approaches
Civic Tech · Discovery Research · Accessibility
“
Mary is a legit badass UX Researcher who I'd work with on any project, for any client, on any day. Rarely do you have the privilege to work alongside someone who brings the heavy research and results that she does.
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—Senior Designer
How I Work
I typically partner with teams in two ways, depending on the kind of decisions they’re facing. Most of my work happens at moments of product ambiguity, risk, or transition.
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Description text goes heWhen you need clear evidence to move a specific product decision forward.
Used for moments like:
defining how an AI system should behave
evaluating whether an AI feature is actually working
clarifying user needs before a major build
untangling a complex, multi-stakeholder workflow
These engagements reduce ambiguity quickly and translate findings directly into product and strategy decisions.re
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Description texWhen your team is building in a complex space and needs sustained senior research thinking.
This includes:
monthly working sessions
on-demand synthesis and sensemaking
framework and evaluation design
thought partnership on ambiguous product questions
This model works best when AI behavior, system complexity, or organizational constraints make one-off research insufficient.t goes here
“Mary excels at drawing deep insight from any audience. She never loses sight of the broader business challenge. And, she does all this with lots of laughter.”
Sarah Westrom, Independent consultant