User Experience Research @ Global Relay
Leveraging user insights to understand client experiences with Global Relay software
Role
Timeline
Tools
Figma, Miro
RStudio, Dovetail
About Global Relay
Global Relay is a Vancouver-based tech company that provides compliant communication archiving, messaging, and eDiscovery solutions for regulated industries like finance and government. With a focus on security and compliance, their platforms help businesses manage communications efficiently, making user research essential for optimizing user workflows and experiences.
Quick overview of what I did during my internship
📌 Collaborated with a primary researcher to interview 10 internal and external stakeholders, defining mental models and naming conventions to develop a report and a recommended information architecture diagram based on user insights for a new management platform.
📌 Collaborated with UX designers to conduct usability testing, enhancing the client search experience in Global Relay’s flagship software.
📌 Created and assisted in planning six surveys on SurveyMonkey to gather numerical data and ordinal scale responses.
📌 Independently analyzed 90 days of usage logs in RStudio, identifying key user behavior patterns and synthesizing findings into a report with next steps outlined.
📌 Developed discussion guides and comprehensive reports to communicate findings, ensuring stakeholder alignment and driving actionable decision-making.
📌 Hang out with the interns 🫶🏼
Overview of Research Methods
Thematic analysis
Usability testing
User interviews
Qualitative data analysis
Literature reviews
Survey design
Behavioral data analysis (RStudio)
Researching information architecture
Project Overview
To define the naming conventions and information architecture (IA) for a new management platform, we conducted in-depth interviews with five internal and five external stakeholders. Our focus was on understanding users' mental models, task expectations, and how they perceived the platform’s structure. By refining labels and workflows, we aimed to create a more seamless and intuitive experience.
My Role
Working closely with the lead researcher, I co-developed the research plan and interview script while collaborating with a UI designer to incorporate the masthead prototype into our sessions. During interviews, I mainly took on note-taking responsibilities and once stepped in to lead a session when needed. I also played a key role in synthesizing insights, drafting the final report, and structuring the IA diagram in Miro.
Research Insights
Through user interviews and task analysis, we uncovered key mental models and task expectations that helped us refine the IA and naming conventions, aligning them more closely with users' intuitive workflows—diverging from the initial assumptions made by the product and business teams.
Impact
Our insights shaped a more intuitive IA and naming conventions based on real user input. These findings are now being used to guide the ongoing development of the platform’s IA.
Figure 1: Our final recommended information architecture diagram in our research report
More details on other projects coming soon—case study write-ups in progress!
