User Experience Designer & Researcher
John Shpati
I'm a user experience researcher and designer. I do qualitative and quantitative research for eDiscovery software. I have previously done qualitative and quantitative UX Research for performance vehicle apps, electric vehicle (EV) specific apps, navigation apps, and loads of other in-vehicle experience studies.
In my free time, I am learning full-stack web development and working towards building software to encourage reading and spending time outdoors. I am experimenting with fermented drinks like Kombucha and plan to make natural sodas. Cars, aerospace, bikes, books, craftsmanship, design, and the great outdoors excite me.
Experience
Relativity
User Experience Researcher
2022-Present
● Designed and conducted user and stakeholder research that impacted the design of industry-leading eDiscovery software.
● Analyzed research findings to inform problem statements, guide design strategy, and define
requirements.
● Facilitated workshops and collaborative activities with the team, stakeholders, and users.
● Applied statistical skills for analyzing collected quantitative data.
● Planned and conducted user research including usability testing, user interviews, mixed method
studies, surveys, generative research, etc.
● Created proposals on design direction supported by written and verbal presentations
demonstrating ability to appropriately use both quantitative and qualitative data.
● Provided tactical and targeted design recommendations and actionable next steps based on data.
● Advocated for accessibility in designs where appropriate and/or required.
● Increased the evolution of the team's workflows and processes to further improve quality and
performance.
General Motors
User Experience Researcher
2020-2022
● Designed and conducted user and stakeholder research that impacted the design of world-class
user experiences across all products and platforms for vehicle features.
● Created a research repository for storing, sharing, and promoting study findings.
● Analyzed research findings to inform problem statements, guide design strategy, and define
requirements.
● Designed and filed a patent to display in-vehicle EV information.
● Facilitated workshops and collaborative activities with the team, stakeholders, and users.
● Applied statistical skills for analyzing collected quantitative data.
● Planned and conducted user research including usability testing, user interviews, mixed method
studies, surveys, generative research, etc.
● Created proposals on design direction supported by written and verbal presentations
demonstrating ability to appropriately use both quantitative and qualitative data.
● Provided tactical and targeted design recommendations and actionable next steps based on data.
● Advocated for accessibility in designs where appropriate and/or required.
● Increased the evolution of the team's workflows and processes to further improve quality and
performance.
● Lectured an introduction to UX Research at Lawrence Technical University.
General Motors
Subsystem Validation Engineer
2016-2020
● Performed validation on the OnStar connected ecosystem of applications for South America,
Middle East, and Europe; including infotainment, telematics, and web applications.
● Led Six Sigma system behavior testing projects as a Black Belt using data driven methods to
reduce test cycle time and increase efficiency.
● Created automation tests to reduce manually testing efforts through Robot Python framework
and proprietary automation software.
● Researched and optimized best method practices to reduce manual test efforts. Documentation is
regularly shared to other teams that might benefit.
● Acted as validation stakeholder in business and system requirement sprints.
Bosch
Systems Analyst
2014-2016
▪ Provided IT support and consulting for Bosch's North American headquarters for Robert Bosch LLC and support
for ETAS Inc. and Escrypt Inc.
▪ Collaborated with cross-functional teams across the US, Germany and Singapore.
▪ Supported the Mergers and Acquisitions team for integration of ETAS INC. and ESCRYPT INC.
▪ Led North American effort to migrate all external Bosch systems users to a cloud based platform.
▪Instructed technical and overview IT trainings with merging companies.
▪ Responsible for over 1,400 employees at our Farmington Hills site, and over 800 at our Plymouth location.
▪ Provided support for end-users, managing, and deploying corporate assets through our SMT ticketing software.
▪ Managed user rights with Active Directory, and in-house custom software.
▪ Documented, created, and updated internal wiki pages with procedures.
Education
Kent State University
User Experience Design (MS)
2017-2019
In the User Experience Design masters program at Kent State I learned how design thinking fits into the software/product development lifecycle. KSU taught me how to be a robust team of one as well as a team player in a UX role. From the identification and understanding of business and customer needs to the creation of personas; I learned how to bridge the perspectives of the customer to the business empathetically. From these studies, alterations or new solutions are designed and tested through usability studies. After a usability study, changes to the design followed and a subsequent round of testing. All relevant findings are then presented to stakeholders.
Eastern Michigan University
At EMU, I studied Information Assurance (cybersecurity) and learned how to secure systems from end to end. To learn this we first had to build robust networks to identify potential fault points during creation. Next came the monitoring and tracking of data with the creation of reports with findings. Once you've learned about a network, you can begin to find vulnerabilities and exploit these through ethical hacking; followed by more reporting. When you have completed your assessments of a system; you can report your findings with recommendations on what to fix to better secure the system.
Information Assurance (BS)
2011-2014
Certificates
Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) Black Belt
SAFe Agile Practitioner