Led user research across three product pillars of the AR Glasses product line, helping shape product direction at one of the most ambitious programs in tech.
I was fully embedded in three multi-disciplinary stakeholder teams that were building hero experiences of Meta's AR glasses product line. Each team consisted of 6-10 engineers, two designers, and me as the researcher.
Researching how people connect and communicate in real time through AR — reimagining voice and video calling for a spatial computing context.
Exploring how people want to represent themselves and perceive others in AR space — bridging the gap between physical identity and digital presence.
Understanding how people collaborate, co-create, and share moments together in AR — defining what shared presence means in a new medium.
The trajectory of my work at Meta RL mirrored the maturation of the product itself — moving from siloed, independent research toward a more horizontal, collaborative model as product experiences coalesced.
All of this happened within an ambiguous, rapidly evolving set of problem spaces as new technologies and constraints were discovered. I had to prioritize and synergize disparate stakeholder needs quickly — hitting key product milestones while staying aligned with org- and team-level OKRs.
A snapshot of the methods I drew on at Meta RL — not an exhaustive list of my toolkit, but representative of the range this program demanded.
Evangelized neural interfaces as accessibility solutions by running VP-level demos, winning hackathons, and disseminating video interviews of my experience. To drive it home, I used EMG to play Angry Birds with my amputated arm.
Delivered timely primary and secondary research that enabled product teams to pivot quickly.
Synthesized a framework to holistically evaluate the experiential quality of digital human representations (e.g., realistic avatars, 2.5D video, etc.) within synchronous AR interactions.
Helped PM leads showcase UXR efforts in product reviews, increasing research visibility at the leadership level.
Advocated for AR interaction patterns, spatial models, and content management systems that aligned more closely with user needs and mental models. Represented UXR at director-level decision points, pushing back when business pressure threatened to override user evidence.
Reframed and evangelized my prior research to stay relevant at critical product pivots — including bridging AR learnings when our team temporarily shifted focus to MR ahead of the Quest 3 launch.
Reduced research ramp-up time and overhead costs across cycles by shifting from ad-hoc studies to a rolling research program model.
Facilitated relationships and collaboration across previously disconnected research and XFN teams.