Anastasia Arikidis

Dear Ocean Finance hiring team,

Hello, I am a UX Researcher with a background in education focused on curriculum design. My background as an educator has taught me the value of empathy, collaboration, and organization. As an educator, I constantly strive to make unbiased decisions backed by research and data, putting my student’s wellness and growth at the center of the decision-making.

My passion for research, identifying challenges experienced by my students, and problem-solving has helped me realize my strengths and made me want to pursue a career in UX Research. Throughout my professional journey, I have constantly been creating curriculum for students, which always requires a substantial amount of Generative Research, surveying, and interviewing to make the lessons (product) relevant and accessible to our students (users).

Through cultivating those skills, I have noticed that my favorite parts about working are problem-solving, ideating solutions to discover new opportunities that improve the user experience, and creating efficient systems for students and teachers (users). I want to take that experience and help companies design more user-centered products and experiences.

Recently, I volunteered as a UX Researcher with Xiggit, a company that handles retirement plans for part-time and freelance workers. Our goal was to identify the pain points that the users were experiencing, which impeded them from enrolling in the best IRA plan while using the app. In this project, I assisted my team in planning the research methodology, creating a moderator guide in English and Spanish, recruiting users, and executing the Interviews.

I have also worked on several independent projects such as Journey Mapping for Newsela, Persona creation for the different types of teachers that use educational technology, a Heuristic Evaluation for e-food.gr, Card Sorting for Muji using Optimal Workshop, and more. With these projects, the volunteer opportunity at Xiggit, and the seminars with Nielsen Norman Group, I got hands-on experience and learned a lot of essential skills and tools to become a successful UX Researcher.

I truly enjoy the investigative and problem-solving aspects of conducting UX research, and it is a field that challenges me, keeps me engaged, and inspires me to continue seeking growth of knowledge and experience.

My goal is to join a team that genuinely values the user-centered approach and believes that people/users must always be the center of the decision-making when making any design decisions. I think that Ocean Finance is the right place for me because I would love to work in a space that takes risks, believes in its employee capabilities, and strives to help build them up in a collaborative setting. Additionally, I would love to move back to Greece or Cyprus in order to be closer to my family and give back to my community after all these years of working and learning in the United States. 

Thank you so much for your time and attention, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Best,

Anastasia Arikidis

I am a UX Researcher with a background in education focused on curriculum design. My passion for research, identifying challenges experienced by my students, and problem-solving has helped me realize my strengths and made me want to pursue a career in UX Research. My drive comes from my love of research and data analysis as well as from being an effective collaborator with a diverse group of people. My goal is to join a team that genuinely values the user-centered approach and believes that people/users must always be the center of the decision-making when making any design decisions.

In 2021, I completed my certificate in UX Research from Nielsen Norman Group, a UX training and consulting leader. There I took courses such as Data Analytics, Personas, and Qualitative Research Methods (Usability Testing, Field Studies, User Interviews, Context Methods, Analysis, Reporting). 

I have a Master's degree in Education from the City University of New York at Hunter College and a Bachelor's in Humanities (Language Studies) from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. During my Master's degree, I have taken courses such as Data Analysis & Quality Assessment Creation and learned a lot about human psychology, which are very helpful in the field of User Experience. 

I have training in using different technology platforms often utilized in UX Research, such as Miro, Dovetail, Airtable, Optimal Workshop, Figma, Slack, Google Suite, Adobe, and more. Lastly, I speak four languages fluently (English, Greek, Spanish, and Portuguese) which helps me empathize and communicate with people of various backgrounds, cultures, and social ideologies.