Samantha Taylor Hodges

Senior UX Researcher with 5+ years of experience leading human-centered research across eCommerce, SaaS, and B2C products. Expertise in mixed-methods research, usability testing, survey design, stakeholder collaboration, and translating insights into product and business impact. Extensive experience in dual-sided marketplaces.

 

WORK EXPERIENCE

Senior User Experience Researcher                     February 2022- January 2026

Angi— remote

  • Designed end-to-end product research as part of cross-functional product teams utilizing a broad spectrum of mixed methodology (1:1 user interviews, surveys, (un)moderated usability testing and eye-tracking/facial recognition testing, benchmarking, card sorting).

  • Conducted foundational, generative, evaluative and strategic user research to improve key success metrics such as conversion, click-through-rate, engagement, etc. 

  • Applied mixed-method research expertise, leveraging a strong qualitative background, to review and analyze data, strengthen hypotheses and make strategic business decisions. 

  • Helped shape monetization and new revenue strategies through UX research on early stage and zero-to-one products.

  • Collected, synchronized and analyzed biometric data (eye gaze, facial expressions, emotional metrics) using iMotions software system.

  • Architected and maintained a robust research repository and developed a metadata organizational system to improve research visibility, search ability and transparency throughout the organization. 

  • Enhanced UXR team productivity by implementing new research tools and generative AI, cutting searching and analysis time by ~50%. 

  • Transformed complex datasets into clear, actionable insights and recommendations that drove product decisions resulting in a +40% conversion rate.

  • Developed and carried out large scale survey methodologies and complex analysis (SUS, SUPR-Q, etc.).

  • Led cross-functional workshops with stakeholders from C-suite leadership.

  • Collaborated closely with international and domestic design, product management, and engineering leads to prioritize research initiatives in a fast-paced environment. 

Junior User Experience Researcher and Designer  June 2021- February 2022

User First Design, LLC— remote

  • Conducted user experience research and collaborated with teams in business areas of SaaS, e-Commerce and Finance. 

  • Strategically utilized research findings to inform future design of internal and external facing platform interfaces.

  • Created user journey maps, personas, discussion guides and protocols, wireframes, interactive prototypes and user flows based on research insights. 

  • Moderated and facilitated workshops with users and stakeholders.

Title 1 Interventionist                     October 2017 – June 2021

Norfolk Public Schools – Norfolk, VA

  • Taught at-risk students in Kindergarten- 2nd grade through intensive techniques used to target best learning outcomes. Created functional and technical applications for student e-learning. 

Elementary Educator                                    August 2016 – September 2017

Escambia County Public Schools – Pensacola, FL

  • Facilitated and coordinated professional development trainings to share best practices and procedures for academic success.

Elementary Educator                       August 2014 – May 2016

St. Louis Public School District – St. Louis, MO

  • Successfully participated and completed Teach for America, an Americorps program aimed at increasing K-12 educational equity in low-income/ high-risk regions in the United States. 

EDUCATION

University of Missouri, St. Louis, MO May 2016

Masters of Education, Elementary Education and Curriculum Design

Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN                 May 2014

Bachelors of Arts, Political Science and Government

Bachelors of Arts, History

London School of Economics and Political Science December 2012

Visiting Hansard Scholar

Certification: Measuring U Quantitative UX Bootcamp (2024)

Skills: A/B Testing, Benchmarking, Card Sorts, Co-design, Concept Testing, Diary Studies, Eye Tracking and Facial Recognition, Heuristic Evaluations, Ideation Workshops, Jobs to Be Done Framework, Journey Mapping, Personas, Surveys, Tree Testing, Usability Testing

Tools: Qualtrics, MixPanel, Miro, Jira/ Confluence, Sprig, Ballpark, DScout, UserInterviews, Maze, Condens.io, iMotions, Usertesting.com, Figma, Adobe XD, Adobe Creative Suite, Google Analytics, HotJar, Survey Monkey, Rally.io, Condens

AI Tools: Chat GPT, Google Gemini, Notebook LM