Kat Martineau - Context-Aware Research & Design

Design, Strategy, and Research

A lot of my work focuses on understand the behavior needs for emerging technology. I also care about financial literacy and Get in touch to discuss your project.

Journey map exploring relationship with alcohol while drinking less

Research, Design, Strategy

01

Understanding Changing Alcohol Use

Early-stage research examining how people navigate their relationship with alcohol. This qualitative study shaped the language and design framework for a mindful drinking intervention, revealing key emotional touchpoints and decision-making patterns.

Master's thesis User Researcher

Methods Interviews, Design, Journey Mapping

Impact Design and Product Strategy

View Case Study

Professional Experience

Currently at Guardian Life as a Senior UX Researcher & Strategist — building research infrastructure, testing AI features, and designing for regulated financial products.

Guardian Life

Senior UX Engineer (Senior UX Writer and Designer) — Remote

Usability testing for AI features: Created methods that support concept testing for new AI features on websites and portals during product development.
Financial product design and logic: Developed the strategy and framework for design and content decisions for the release of annuity calculator products.
Mobile-first conversational implementation: Designed the initial version of Short-Term Disability claims for Apple and Google business chat products.
Usability testing infrastructure: Developed research governance framework and intake processes, increasing usability testing generation by 35%. Ran 30+ custom usability tests.

Recognition: Top Performer 2023

October 2022 – Present

Vanguard and CVS

UX Design — Remote (Contract)

Contributed to design system libraries and documentation sites for Search and form-based components.

March 2022 – October 2022

Fastspot

UX Strategist — Baltimore

Led UX initiatives for university clients including Johns Hopkins University, Mount Saint Mary's University – Los Angeles, Catawba College, and Sheppard Pratt.
Ran focus groups to understand requirements for campaign initiatives and full website redesigns.
Conducted user research, developed site architectures, and created design recommendations to meet stakeholder needs.

November 2020 – March 2022

Money Map Press

Quality and eCommerce Specialist — Baltimore

Ensured promotional copy was production-ready for emails and checkout pages.

February 2019 – November 2020

Park School

Data Administrator and Analyst — Baltimore

Set up queries and data segments for donor data audits across 50+ funds.
Created repeatable processes for pulling annual report data.

October 2017 – January 2019

University of Baltimore

M.S., Interaction Design and Information Architecture

Thesis focused on creating inclusive breathalyzer feedback on a digital and conversational interface. Also completed a UX Design certificate as part of the program.

The Graduate Center at CUNY

M.A., Liberal Studies — Gender & Sexuality Studies

PhD-level coursework in educational and developmental psychology, sociology, and political philosophy.

New York University

B.A., Journalism — Minors in English and Sociology

Certifications

Certificate in UX Design — University of Baltimore
Product Owner / Product Manager Certification — SAFe by Scaled Agile, Inc.

Core Skills

Content Strategy
Design Systems
Information Architecture
Product Design
UX Research
UX Writing

Design & Research

Figma
Miro
Slickplan
Maze
Qualtrics
Userlytics
User Testing

Development & Collaboration

HTML / CSS
WordPress
Postman
WCAG
Confluence / JIRA
Google Suite
Notion
MS Office Suite

AI Tools

Copilot
Claude

Contact Me

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Connect With Me

Feel free to reach out directly through this form or connect with me on social media.

katmartineau@protonmail.com