UX Research Senior Manager · Seattle, WA

I turn ambiguous
problems into
product strategy.

15+ years of research leadership across a major social platform, a language learning startup, museums, and nonprofits. I build frameworks that shape what gets built, not just validate what's already decided.

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Karen Plemons

Just Shipped · June 2026

Live Now
Facebook Creator Studio: AI Companion App

I oversaw the research strategy for the reimagined Creator Studio: a standalone AI-powered app helping Facebook Creators grow their audiences. I directed the team's focus toward AI as the primary opportunity area. The result is an app where AI is foundational, not bolted on. I worked closely with senior cross-functional leadership throughout to shape the research approach informing the app's direction.

AI as foundation, not feature
Directed team to focus on AI as the core opportunity. The assistant knows each Creator's voice, audience, and goals from day one, built in from the ground up.
Senior stakeholder buy-in
Made the case to senior leadership for building a standalone app, presenting research evidence and strategic framing that secured buy-in for the new app's development.
Research resource direction
Oversaw team resource allocation and research prioritization for a zero-to-one product launch in a new standalone app context.
Personalized Creator growth
Research informed an AI assistant delivering personalized strategy recommendations: engagement, reach, and earnings, tailored to each Creator's goals.
↗ Official Announcement ↗ TechCrunch Coverage
Creator Studio AI assistant interface showing personalized recommendations
AI Creator assistant: personalized daily priorities and performance insights
Creator Studio app showing content engagement dashboard
AI-powered comment tool: surfaces top comments and drafts replies in Creator's voice

Case Studies

Four defining projects.

Chapter I · Community Strategy
Defined "Great Community" as a Platform-Level Differentiator
Zero-to-one strategy 6-week sprint Pillar-level adoption
+
The Problem

A Creator-focused product area needed to make community a strategic differentiator, but "community" meant ten different things across teams with no research-rooted definition to anchor from.

What I Did
  • Co-led a 6-week research-to-strategy sprint with Design as a full co-owner, not research supporting design, but both co-leading
  • Authored a Hierarchy of Needs framework mapping fan and Creator needs to specific product surfaces
  • Defined community from both fan and Creator perspectives, a duality most prior work had missed
  • Co-creation mapping: participants physically mapped the product's features and surfaces, making the problem space tangible for XFN
  • Stood up a living shared team hub with daily recaps and observer access, continuously pre-socializing the strategy with stakeholders throughout
HIERARCHY OF NEEDS FRAMEWORK TIER 4 Strategy TIER 3 Community Infrastructure TIER 2 Engagement Surfaces TIER 1 — FOUNDATION Creator + Fan Needs Adopted as cross-functional reference
Results
Strategy adopted at pillar level Pre-socialized throughout; landed without resistance
Hierarchy of Needs as shared XFN reference Used by every team in community conversations going forward
Process published as org template "Starting sprints with UXR should be the norm"
Chapter II · Cross-Org Segmentation
Built Cross-Org Strategic Clarity for an Ambiguous Segmentation Problem
Latent Class Analysis 32K+ responses 22 countries Influence without authority
+
The Problem

Two organizations on a shared product surface had inconsistent definitions of overlapping user populations. Roadmap implications conflicted; leadership couldn't make structural product decisions without a shared model.

What I Did
  • Co-built a Jobs-to-be-Done framework with a counterpart researcher: true cross-org co-creation, not one team handing off to another
  • Designed and ran a large-scale in-platform survey: 32K+ responses across 22 countries, three distinct user-account types
  • Applied Latent Class Analysis to surface hidden motivational subgroups beneath self-reported identity
  • Sequenced multi-method validation: existing qual → at-scale survey → follow-on intersection qual
  • Mobilized engineering to unblock technical integration points; coordinated three parallel research workstreams simultaneously
  • Held the line on rigor; pushed back on premature use of draft frameworks until validation was complete
4 MOTIVATIONAL GROUPS Latent Class Analysis · 22 Countries · 32K+ Responses ⚡ Motivation Driven Growth and achievement as the primary goal LARGEST GROUP 🤝 Connection Driven Community and audience relationships come first 💼 Business Driven Monetization and brand building as the focus ✦ Multi- Purpose Overlapping motivations across all categories None mapped 1:1 to self-reported Creator identity
Results
Framework cited in executive decision Directly referenced in reasoning for a major product structure call
Proved binary classification was wrong Some populations mis-classified by 10–25 percentage points
Recommendation adopted Shift to probabilistic classification; unified experience with modular sub-experiences
Chapter III · AI Transformation
Built the UXR AI Curriculum and Knowledge Infrastructure for 130+ Researchers
130+ researchers Curriculum design Hands-on workshop 1:1 mentorship
+
The Problem

The research practice needed a coherent path from ad-hoc AI experimentation to real adoption, with the skills, infrastructure, and ongoing resources to make it stick across 130+ researchers.

What I Did
  • Co-developed the UXR curriculum track for the org's AI Transformation Week (part of a broader 7,000-person company event), specifically serving 130+ researchers
  • Organized and ran a hands-on AI workshop giving researchers direct practice with tools and workflows, not just conceptual exposure
  • Provided 1:1 mentorship to researchers on applying AI within their own research practice
  • Built the curriculum site to house all training materials, making them accessible and reusable beyond the event itself
  • Followed up by building a dedicated resources and trainings site for continued learning and support after AI Week ended
UXR AI TRANSFORMATION TRACK 130+ RESEARCHERS IN UXR TRACK 7,000+ COMPANY-WIDE EVENT (UXR track was part of this) WHAT WAS DELIVERED 1 Co-developed UXR curriculum for AI Week 2 Organized hands-on AI workshop 3 Provided 1:1 mentorship to researchers 4 Built curriculum site to house all materials 5 Built follow-up resources site for continued learning Reference team for AI-powered research Sustained learning infrastructure beyond the event
130+ researchers equipped with AI skills Through curriculum, workshop, and 1:1 mentorship, not just a one-day event
Sustained learning infrastructure Curriculum site and resources site gave researchers ongoing access well beyond AI Week
Chapter IV · Creative Storytelling
Used Creative Storytelling to Win Multi-App Investment in Social Connections + GenAI
Board game method 3 countries · 5 cities 108 participants 43 live observers
+
The Problem

Social messaging was a multi-app problem but leadership hadn't internalized it viscerally enough to invest. Abstract data wasn't landing; we needed something people could feel.

What I Did
  • Designed and pitched a custom board game that made the multi-app argument concrete and unignorable for XFN leadership, explicitly called out in formal feedback as a creative-method strength
  • Co-led international field study: 3 countries, 5 cities, 108 participants, 51 sessions (1:1, dyad, small group, 20+ street intercepts)
  • Recruited 43 cross-org researchers and XFN partners to attend live sessions in-person, building shared understanding across organizations
  • Used findings to shape the GenAI strategy; ensured research was represented in concept testing and drove ongoing feedback loops
  • Drove cross-org GenAI research operations for alignment and research-informed strategic narratives
INTERNATIONAL FIELDWORK 108 PARTICIPANTS 51 SESSIONS 43 LIVE OBSERVERS UNITED STATES US Denver Colorado US Chicago Illinois INDIA IN Lucknow Uttar Pradesh IN Kolkata West Bengal PHILIPPINES PH Manila Metro Manila 1:1 · Dyad · Small group + 20 street intercepts
Informed a major cross-app integration And the platform rebrand
Multiple feature launches shaped Social connection surfaces, presence indicators, home-feed optimizations, GenAI social features
Board-game approach recognized Called out by manager as a top creative-method strength in formal year-end review

What People Say

In their own words.

"

Strategically minded with a strong POV on product experience direction backed by research... helping the team to balance decision-making by ensuring the voice of the customer.

Cross-functional partner · Product
"

Karen and her team are always complementary collaborators... clear and transparent communicator... really appreciate her transparency and direct communication style.

Cross-functional partner · Product Marketing
"

Earned a "greatly exceeds" rating... led research and had significant impact across the org... from driving new features to reducing toxicity and driving industry good behavior standards.

Former manager · earlier career

Earlier Work

A consistent pattern of impact.

Creator Analytics Modernization
3-researcher program, 11-week 7-round RITE testing, pre/post usability and competitive benchmarking. Contributed to a 3% DAU lift at ship and a reusable framework for future Creator analytics integrations.
Comments Experience Research
Model evaluations and design research that drove a ~30% reduction in negative sentiment indicators at launch of a modernized comments experience.
Notifications Research
Achieved 50%+ reduction in notification "show less" rate via insights on a new ML model and notifications sentiment survey. In-flight results showed the ML launch group reported significantly more positive notification perceptions.
Content Rights / IP Protection
Designed and executed a targeted alpha-user survey without a dedicated researcher on the pillar. Informed the confident launch of a Creator IP protection product that exceeded retention goals.
Cross-Study Synthesis at Scale
Led synthesis of 300+ studies in the team's research repository to produce a top-issues report used by senior leadership for roadmap prioritization.
Standalone Gaming App Launch in roughly 6 Weeks
Research supported a consumer mobile gaming app from concept to launch in roughly 6 weeks through tight research-design-engineering loops. Internally cited as the smoothest adoption of any product at that scale.

About

Research that shapes
strategy, not just validates it.

I'm a UX Research leader with 15+ years of experience spanning a major social platform (9 years), a language learning startup, museums, and nonprofits. Most recently, I managed an 8-person research team supporting the Creator product organization.

Senior leaders consistently trust me to define entire problem spaces (community as a platform differentiator, cross-org user segmentation, AI in research practice) before the answers are known. My strongest work shows up in spaces that are early, contested, or under-defined.

I lead from the back: I place direct reports in leadership rooms rather than taking their seats, and build adoption through demonstrated value rather than formal authority.

Seattle, WA · Open to hybrid or remote · UX Research Senior Manager or Director scope

Core Strengths

Research → strategy translation
Repeatedly trusted to take an undefined problem space and produce both the framework and the recommended path forward, not just findings.
Mixed methods fluency
Equally comfortable managing researchers with a 30K-respondent multi-country survey, or a 3-day participatory design workshop. I work with my team to match method to question.
People leadership through change
5 hires in one year. Team engagement mid-70s → mid-90s in 12 months. Shipped through 6+ org restructures and two layoff events.
Player-coach leadership
I operate at every level: managing researchers, working with vendors, and rolling up my sleeves to execute qualitative research directly. I lead without losing touch with the work.

Resume

Career trajectory.

Experience
2017–2026
Major Social Platform (Meta)
UX Research Manager → Senior Manager
Led 8-person research team across Creator analytics, AI experiences, content rights, community, and notifications. Oversaw research strategy for the new Facebook Creator Studio AI app (launched June 2026).
Promoted from IC → Manager in 2021 · Scope expanded to multi-pillar by 2024
2016–2017
Babbel · NYC & Berlin
Senior UX Researcher → Research Manager
First researcher in NYC office. After 3 months, expanded to manage 5 researchers across the US team. Ran research across all phases of product development: a/b tests, surveys, usability tests, stakeholder management.
2013–2016
The Metropolitan Museum of Art · NYC
Associate Museum Educator, Research
First researcher in the Met's Education department. Research led to the Met App (now the mobile website), the MetKids interactive site, and the Met's website rebrand. Reported to the Chair of Education.
2012–2013
New Knowledge (now Knology) · NYC
Research Manager
Employee #1. Built a research consultancy from the ground up: filed 501(c)(3), established processes, pitched clients, hired and led a team of 10 researchers serving museums, coalitions, and public art organizations.
2009–2012
Institute for Learning Innovation · Remote
Consultant / User Research Associate
Research and evaluation projects across informal learning settings: NY Hall of Science, American Museum of Natural History, Mystic Seaport, Wildlife Conservation Society, TERC.
Education
2010
M.S. Ed., Research & Evaluation
Bank Street College of Education · NYC
2005
B.A., Art & Design History / Arts Administration
The Evergreen State College · Olympia, WA
Skills
Research Methods
Mixed Methods Survey Design JTBD Frameworks Diary Studies In-Depth Interviews Participatory Design International Fieldwork Cross-Study Synthesis RITE Methodology Usability Testing AI-Augmented Workflows
Domains
Creator Economy Community & Fandom AI Products GenAI Trust & Safety Notifications Identity & Profile Social Gaming Language Learning Museum & Cultural Institutions Creative Tools Social Messaging Commerce
Leadership
People Management Hiring & Onboarding Cross-Org Influence Stakeholder Management Research Strategy Research Ops Mentoring