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Deborah D.
Expert-Vetted

Deborah D.

Senior UX Design & Research Strategist | Enterprise, FinTech & AI Prod

OVERVIEW Many teams know something isn't working in their product — but they're missing either the evidence to explain why or the design solution to fix it. That's where I come in. I'm a Senior UX Design & Research Strategist with over 20 years of experience helping product teams move from ambiguous problems to confident, evidence-based decisions and shipped design solutions. I work across the full spectrum — quantitative and qualitative research through end-to-end product design in Figma — so you get one senior partner who can diagnose the problem and design the fix, rather than handing off insights for someone else to interpret. What I help clients with: End-to-end UX/UI design: user flows, wireframes, high-fidelity UI, prototyping, developer handoff Design systems and scalable Figma component libraries Quantitative UX research: task success, completion rates, error analysis, survey design Usability testing (moderated & unmoderated), tree testing, card sorting Research synthesis and insight storytelling with prioritized, actionable recommendations AI-powered product design: designing AI-driven features (copilots, intelligent search, conversational interfaces) and using AI tools to accelerate research synthesis and design exploration — without sacrificing rigor How I work: I typically start with quantitative signals — analytics, survey data, task metrics — to spot patterns, then layer in qualitative research to understand the "why" behind user behavior. Every recommendation is grounded in evidence, not opinion. I've led research and design initiatives for organizations including Berry Appleman & Leiden, Visa, Silicon Valley Bank, MetLife, Teladoc Health, Caterpillar, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs — working closely with product, design, engineering, data science, and compliance teams in complex, regulated environments. Whom I work best with: SaaS and digital product teams FinTech, health-tech, and other regulated industries Startups preparing to scale Teams building AI-powered features who need both research rigor and design execution Teams that need clear, defensible UX work — not just opinions If you need research and design that drives decisions, not just decks, I'd be happy to help.

🇺🇸Oakland, United States$85/hr100% JSS4.86 (2)Since Dec 2021

Earnings and projects

MRR
$2.5k

Last 6 months ÷ 6

World#16,682 / 412k
🇺🇸Country#4,058 / 62.1k
Revenue, last 30 days
$0

Last 6 months: $15k

Total earnings
$59k

Billed in all: $66k

World#66,208 / 412k
🇺🇸Country#12,296 / 62.1k
Per project
$9.8k

$15k in the last 6 months

World#16,273 / 412k
🇺🇸Country#2,741 / 62.1k
Projects, last 6 months
1
0% fixed100% hourly
World#128,092 / 412k
🇺🇸Country#16,472 / 62.1k
Projects in all
6

Across 10 contracts

20% fixed80% hourly
World#250,290 / 412k
🇺🇸Country#35,789 / 62.1k

Earnings, last 30 days

$65.9kNothing earned in the last 30 daysBilled in all, before Upwork's fee · drag across the chart to see what was earned in any stretch
$64k$65k$66k$67kOct 8Oct 23Nov 7

Skill rankings: Top 2% in Adobe Photoshop

Ranked by MRR among everyone on Upwork with the skill.

  1. #11UserTesting206 freelancers · 🇺🇸 #3Top 5%
  2. #19User-Centered Design473 freelancers · 🇺🇸 #5Top 4%
  3. #23User Experience Strategy417 freelancers · 🇺🇸 #12Top 6%
  4. #33Design & Usability Research731 freelancers · 🇺🇸 #19Top 5%
  5. #62Competitive Analysis1,472 freelancers · 🇺🇸 #20Top 4%
  6. #108Usability Testing1,980 freelancers · 🇺🇸 #16Top 5%
  7. #112User Flow1,972 freelancers · 🇺🇸 #14Top 6%
  8. #151UX Research2,772 freelancers · 🇺🇸 #30Top 5%