Alex Graves   Mixed Methods UX Researcher

(336) 963-1516 | angraves9070@gmail.com | linkedin.com/in/alexander-n-graves | alexandergraves.com

UX/UI designer that transforms behavioral insight into clear, high-performing products. I thrive in fast-paced environments, collaborating across disciplines to solve complex product experience challenges and shape scalable design systems. My work delivers quantitative and qualitative research insights to build cohesion in developing product ecosystems and to inform mission-critical accessibility-focused UX strategy that improves both user outcomes and business impact.

Core Expertise

UX Research and Strategy: User Interviews, Survey Design, Heuristic Evaluation, Usability Testing, Journey Mapping, Persona Development, Quantitative Data Analysis, A/B Testing

Product and Interaction Design: Prototyping, Interaction Design, Information Architecture, Design Systems, Accessibility (WCAG)

Tools & Technologies: Adobe Creative Suites – UserTesting – Invision – Mural/FigJam – Figma – HTML/CSS – Jira – AI Tools – Python

Recent Professional Experience

RESEARCH STRATEGIST –  GOOGLE ADS – Google via Scalence ▪ New York, NY ▪ 2026 - present

Quantitative research strategy for advertiser-facing products: survey design, measurement, and analysis, plus direct management of sponsor-user relationships.

  • Lead survey participant recruitment and outreach across large-scale customer segments and internal product teams.

  • Design, administer, and monitor surveys end-to-end, from instrument development through fielding and response tracking

  • Collect and quantitatively synthesize survey data into findings and recommendations shared with cross-functional stakeholders.

LEAD VISUAL DESIGN RESEARCHER – ENTERPRISE TOOLS ▪ IBM ▪ New York, NY ▪ 2020 – 2025

Developed and executed the enterprise-level research strategy for a suite of DevOps modernization tools, influencing larger product and commercialization strategies while directly contributing mixed-method research, streamlined UX workflows, and brand-aligned visual design elements.

  • Lead mixed-method UX research ( user interviews, usability testing, survey analysis)and launch strategy for the z/OS Containers beta program, addressing technical issues and security concerns while clarifying the mainframe testing tool’s applications in larger markets prior to its general release.

  • Partnered with cross-functional technical teams to enhance the interface design of the IBM Hardware Management Console, updating the end-user experience to improve accessibility and align with the newly established design system and best practices.

  • Oversaw the design and iterative development of a centralized resource for UX research and user engagement data, leveraged by senior leadership to influence product strategy and track the impact of newly developed features.

  • Drove the user validation testing for early-stage agentic AI workflows for the Test Accelerator for Z offering, laying the groundwork for a future release and influencing the division’s larger product roadmap.

  • Promoted a culture of collaboration and iterative learning, creating and facilitating opportunities for engagement, including design community learning events, coaching, workshops, and design challenges.

Entrepreneurship

UX UI DESIGNER AND RESEARCHER ▪ Self-Employed ▪ New York, NY ▪ 2016 – Present

Strengthened relationships with early-stage businesses across a range of industries, leading the end-to-end execution of UX research and design initiatives, enhancing each brand’s identity and driving customer engagement across web and mobile channels. Areas of expertise included design system development, brand development, visual design, and prototyping.

  • Created the design system for an EdTech company’s online student marketplace, which saw a 40% increase in user traffic post-launch – owned the development of UI assets, color schemes, user flows, and a redesigned logo.

  • Oversaw the redesign of a skincare brand’s visual assets, creating a unified design vision for the company’s logo, business cards, stationery, social media content, and webpage – client saw a 20% year over year increase in customer engagement.

Education

Master of Professional Studies, UX Design ▪ Maryland Institute College of Art

Bachelor of Arts, Art Education – Minor in Psychology ▪ University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Professional Development

Applied AI & Data Science ▪ MIT Professional Education

Data Analytics ▪ College of Staten Island CUNY

Certification – Business Leadership ▪ McKinsey & Company

Enterprise Design Thinking Practitioner ▪ IBM

Patents

“Dynamic LLM benchmarking of complex code tasks based on ease of converting”  -  Filed 03/09/2026

Community Engagement

Design Thinking Coach / Design Challenge Facilitator ▪ Advancing Minorities’ Interest in Engineering (AMIE) ▪ 2022 – Present

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