Hi, I'm Caris Hurd.
I am a User Experience Director, Researcher, & Strategist with a deep passion for understanding people and making technology better for humans.
Some of the work I'm most proud of.
WEB VR
A usability study of nascent web-based VR interfaces to understand best practices for the medium and inform the design of an editorial system for web VR experiences.
My Role
I was the Lead User Researcher and helped direct product design
Main Goal
Learn about web VR best practices
CGAP: RESEARCH, STRATEGY, & DESIGN
A project with a large formative research component, content strategy, IA, and design with user testing at every step of the way.
My Role
Project lead: I set the project strategy, conducted much of the research, created the content strategy/plan, and led a team to build and test a prototype
Main Goal
Understand users to improve content discoverability and eventually update the design of CGAP.org
PUBLICATIONS AND SPEAKING
I write and speak on UX and content strategy topics. Here are a few of my publications and talks.
I've also done user research and strategy for world-class organizations including:
People Magazine
Entertainment Weekly
The University of Texas
IEEE
New York University
The World Bank
UC-Davis
World Pulse
Texas Exes
Nice to meet you.
Want to geek out about UX, design, research, or fiber arts and crafting? Let's talk!
About me
How I got started in user research
I started my career as a web developer, moved into product management, and found that the best part of my job was talking to users. I went to grad school in 2011 to study UX and make user research and design a bigger part of my job.
I started at Four Kitchens as the only UXer and now manage a team of six as the director of UX!
What I've been working on
I manage an amazing team of UX researchers, strategists, designers, and data analysts as the director of user experience at 4K.
I spend a lot of my time working with clients and helping them come up with plans for research and design as well as product roadmaps.
How I manage a team
I’m a firm believer in bringing authenticity, empathy, and humanity to management while also delivering timely feedback and helping the team grow and learn.
I've been managing a fully remote team for nearly four years, and it has been a fantastic experience.