Tyreek Houston
Tyreek Houston

Background

ConsenSys is the leading Ethereum blockchain software company that allows developers, businesses, and users to build and run decentralized applications with ease. It includes a suite of products that serve millions of developers, enterprises, and people worldwide to build next-generation applications, launch modern financial infrastructure, and access the decentralized web.

As the lead researcher there, I work with some exceptional professionals and partner with stakeholders to enhance the overall experiences of developer tools and boost product development efficiency. I perform research on every product in the suite of tools to uncover deep insights into complex business and product questions. Some of the research deliverables include a company-wide strategic report to operationalize refactored personas, senior leadership presentations, and over 6 product discovery reports. These artifacts and insights help with tactical decision-making for the 500,000+ developer audience ConsenSys tools serve.  

My Role

While leading UX research efforts, I worked cross-functionally with a team of 2 researchers I manage, 5 designers, and 5 product managers. I have the pleasure to deliver the following value to the entire organization:

1
Company-wide Strategic Report To Operationalize Refactored Personas
2
Senior Leadership Presentations
2
End-To-End Usability Reports with all recommendations prioritized
7
End-To-End Product Discovery Reports

Methods

In the blockchain and web3 industry, there can be many challenges that present themselves while recruiting and collecting data. At ConsenSys, I was able to capture valuable data and draw insights for the organization using the following methods:

  • Interviews

  • Surveys

  • Moderated usability tests

  • Unmoderated usability tests

  • Concept tests

  • Focus groups

  • Participatory design

  • Community informational calls

Impact

The product team that I entered did not have an established research practice or environment but championed user research for product feedback. Understanding their desire for more feedback-driven decision-making practices, when I joined the company, I built the entire research practice. The initial research environment started with one core product (Infura) supported and one researcher (myself). Then scaled to 2 researchers and 3 products supported, before scaling to a team of 3 researchers that support 6 products. I build cross-functional processes and procedures that every stakeholder supports. As a team, we give stakeholders the option to observe every moderated study and allowed them to test every unmoderated study before launching them. We also hold office hours to answer any questions and inform them about any work that we've gathered insights on, becoming championed experts.

Five highlights that I was proud to deliver to my team and ConsenSys were:

  • Building the research practice, environment, and ecosystem at ConsenSys.

  • Influencing human-centered design and agile product development practices throughout the entire organization.

  • Delivering high-value discovery research insights that help senior leadership make tactical strategic company-wide decisions.

  • Writing a company blog post summarizing the work that I along with product and marketing leads performed, which helped over 2,300 customers prepare for the big upgrade on the Ethereum network.

  • Writing a company blog post summarizing the end result of a newly implemented feature that makes it easier for customers to share projects, informed through end-to-end discovery research I led.