Turnitin

 

I joined Turnitin in 2014 as a Product Analyst, with a focus on market research and competitive analysis. As the needs of the business changed I began to take on more user research projects, and I eventually transitioned to a full-time user researcher role.

In my role as a user researcher, I conducted a wide range of research activities, including user interviews, usability testing, and surveys. I worked with a variety of teams across the company, including product development, marketing, and customer support. My goal was to understand how users interacted with Turnitin's products and services, and to use that knowledge to improve the user experience as well define Turnitin’s future direction. I worked alongside product managers, designers, and technical teams to translate user research findings into product requirements and design specifications.

I presented user research findings to senior leadership to help them make informed decisions about product development and potential acquisition targets.

I am proud of the work I did at Turnitin. I believe that my research had a positive impact on the company's products and services. For example, my research helped to identify usability issues with Turnitin's Feedback Studio service, which led to improvements that made it easier to use internationally.

I conducted research on the needs of students, educators, and administrators, which helped to inform the development and prioritisation of new products and features.

I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked at Turnitin and learn a great deal about the edtech sphere.

Here are some specific examples of the work I completed as a User Researcher and Product Analyst at Turnitin:

  • ePortfolio

    • Assessing the needs for a living academic record of achievement students could use to demonstrate their skills and learning from school to the workplace.

  • Feedback Studio

    • Conducted usability testing of Turnitin's flagship product

    • Identify usability issues and make recommendations for improvement

    • Prioritisation of features

    • I analyzed data from surveys and user interviews to identify trends and patterns in user behavior.

  • Google Classroom Integration

    • Longterm research project assessing how Google Apps for Education would integrate with Turnitin and its services

    • Building use cases from user journeys to determine the viability and need for collaboration with Google and Microsoft learning environments.

  • Student assessment data

    • Studying how data is collected and monitored across classrooms, schools, and institutions.

    • Looking at the personal and academic use cases in studying how students and teachers could improve outcomes.

I am proud of the work I did at Turnitin, and I believe that my research had a positive impact on the company's products and services. I am confident that I can use my skills and experience to make a positive impact on the lives of users in my future roles.