Alison MillarI am a Product Manager, User Researcher and Team Leader with over 15 years’ experience researching and developing digital products across Ed-tech, Publishing, and Global Education.

My last decade of digital:

  • 202x

     

    UX Research Consultant

    UXsentience · Freelance

  • 2019

     

    Product Manager

    Pearson Education · Full-time · 3 yrs

  • 2012

     

    Commissioning Editor (Senior Product Owner)

    MacMillan Education · Full-time · 8 yrs

  • 2008

     

    Product Owner

    Oxford University Press · Full-time · 4yrs

A blend of Research and Product Management

In my career, I have rarely had the luxury of a dedicated user research function working in my team, so for me product strategy and development has always been a blend of discovery research, workshop facilitation, creative solution design, and a large dash of tech. I have had both user and business needs at the forefront of my mind. That’s what I am professionally: a blend of Research and Product Management.

My skills

I love working and collaborating with various teams from senior stakeholders, product managers and developers to create great products that meet the objectives of the business and its users.

As a Researcher – I have devised and run research sessions, including scoping, planning, moderating, analysis and debrief. I love the satisfaction that comes from overseeing research programmes end-to-end, from concept development from initial user research to user interface/interaction design and validation testing.

As a Product manager – I am responsible for products from inception, iterating and improving where needed, and working with local teams to improve sales globally. I have the pleasure of leading globally distributed, cross-functional teams to develop new products and improve their features.

As a human – I truly enjoy working with distributed teams across the world whilst being close to my family. Hence, I’m remote-first.


I identify customer needs and business objectives, articulate what success looks like for a product, and rally teams to turn that vision into a reality.

Area of expertise

My services range from User Research, Product strategy and development, and Business innovation.

User Research

Observing and understanding people and how they interact with products and services provides a solid foundation for any project.

Methods

  • Planning and facilitating remote user research (mix of Lookback, UserZoom, Zoom)
  • Facilitating focus group with global markets
  • Designing and analysing surveys (Qualtrix, Survey Monkey) 
  • Conducting UX audits to identify website usability issues and opportunities to improve
  • Co-creation / Rapid prototyping workshops and design sprints

Product Strategy and Roadmap

Defining a customer experience vision and aligning activities and success criteria to create better experiences, resulting in happy customers, and healthy businesses.

Methods

  • Value proposition and product vision
  • Positioning
  • Business model canvas
  • SWOT analysis
  • Competitive analysis
  • Market landscape analysis
  • Stakeholder workshops
  • Product roadmap design (Goals, Initiatives, Features)

Product Management and Ownership

  • Business case and P&Ls
  • Building a shared understanding of what we’re building, who we’re building it for and why
  • Product roadmap creation and socialisation
  • Product requirement definition (JTBD, User stories, Scope)
  • Backlog generation, refinement, prioritisation and governance

What others say about me

alisonmillar experience with UX is impeccable. Their approach took us through a great flow from idea conception through to delivery, building in our feedback as we went. They didn’t hesitate to communicate best practice and effectively backed it up with the “why”.

alisonmillar always impressed me with their desire to develop the best outcomes for customers and their deep, thorough knowledge of user experience research and design. They are great to work with and are an outstanding customer advocate!

alisonmillar added significant value to our organisation in the area of digital product design and UX and I sincerely hope that I will have to opportunity to work with them again in the future.

PreviousNext

alisonmillar always impressed me with their desire to develop the best outcomes for customers and the deep, thorough knowledge of user experience research and design. The team is great to work with and are outstanding customer advocates!

alisonmillar added significant value to our organisation in the area of digital product design and UX and I sincerely hope that I will have to opportunity to work with them again in the future.

alisonmillar experience with UX is impeccable. Their approach took us through a great flow from idea conception through to delivery, building in our feedback as we went. The team didn’t hesitate to communicate best practice and effectively backed it up with the “why”.