UX Researcher & Design Strategist

I make innovation decisions safer through behavioral evidence

When stakeholders disagree about what users need, I produce the evidence that breaks the tie — through behavioral research, structured provocation, and mixed methods that connect design decisions to measurable human outcomes. PhD-trained, Fortune 500 tested, startup velocity.

7+
Years industry research
5
Industries
20+
Publications
5
Design awards
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Selected Work

Featured Projects

Research that shipped products, changed strategies, and won awards — across Fortune 500 companies, startups, and cross-sector innovation.

Rheem Smart Home Ecosystem
Rheem × Harman (Samsung)

What happens when a 100-year-old manufacturer discovers not everyone wants a smart home

Ecosystem-level research revealing that smart home adoption is blocked by psychological diversity, not missing features. 30% UX improvement, product launched to market.

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IXIS Business Intelligence
IXIS Digital

Why an analytics platform built for 400 dealerships couldn't get anyone to talk

Reframed engagement from performance to psychological safety. Built research infrastructure as first UX researcher at a B2B SaaS startup. 40% faster decision cycles.

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Behavioral Research Lab
Harman International × PhD Research

Can you prove a design decision changes human motivation? I built a lab to find out.

Zero-budget behavioral lab producing statistically significant findings (p=.03). Fast Company World-Changing Ideas 2020. Presented at CES.

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MultiCarp AI-Augmented Strategic Transformation
MultiCarp · Colombia · AI-Augmented Design Thinking

What happens when AI becomes the seventh person in the room

A 30-year Colombian logistics company needed to professionalize without losing its soul. Three workshops, eight weeks, one AI partner — six personas, 17 quick wins, and a strategic framework built to last.

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Research Through Provocation
IIT Institute of Design × Fortune 500 Partners

Seven years inside Fortune 500 companies developing a methodology to de-risk innovation — then peer-reviewed

Provotyping: structured provocation through low-fidelity prototypes that surface hidden assumptions before they become expensive mistakes. 6 case studies across 5 industries. 5 publications. 10 actionable heuristics.

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What I Do

Capabilities

Bridging behavioral science, emerging technologies, and design methodology to produce evidence that drives product decisions.

Behavioral Design & Research

Self-Determination Theory, loss aversion, psychological safety frameworks — connecting design decisions to measurable motivation outcomes. Not just understanding users, but understanding why they do what they do.

AI-Enhanced Research Methods

Pioneering AI-human partnership workflows that compress research timelines from weeks to days. Synthetic persona generation achieving 90% validation accuracy while maintaining rigor.

Research Through Provocation

Structured early prototyping that unveils hidden stakeholder assumptions and accelerates alignment. Manipulating interaction attributes to create provocations that transform rejection into ownership.

Ecosystem & Systems Research

Multi-actor research across IoT, smart home, automotive, and connected services. Designing for the full value chain — not just end users, but contractors, technicians, and stakeholders who influence adoption.

How I Work

Research Methods & Approach

Combining rigor with velocity through mixed-methods research and strategic prototyping — adapting to the constraints and pace each project demands.

Stakeholder Co-Creation

Workshop facilitation, assumption mapping, collaborative alignment

Behavioral Personas & Journey Mapping

Psychological archetypes that predict adoption — not demographic segments

Mixed-Methods Research Design

Statistical validation + qualitative depth = evidence VPs stake decisions on

AI-Augmented Analysis

Compressing synthesis from weeks to days with human validation at every step

Information Architecture & System Design

Structuring multi-device, multi-actor ecosystems for cognitive consistency

Behavioral Science Integration

Self-Determination Theory, loss aversion, proxemics — applied to real products

Provotyping vs. Traditional Approaches

My doctoral research produced a framework distinguishing when to use which approach — preventing expensive misalignment before it happens.

WhenEarly stagesMiddle → End
IntentUnveil assumptionsExplore → Validate
HowChallenge beliefsBuild agreement → Refine
FocusMeaning framesProblem → Solution
MindsetProvocateurFacilitator → Expert
ApproachStakeholder-centeredUser → Expert
Background

About

Dr. Jaime Rivera

Dr. Jaime Rivera

I'm a strategic UX researcher with a PhD in Design from Illinois Institute of Technology — the largest graduate design school in the US and the first to open a doctoral program in design. My doctoral research wasn't structured to generate academic results in isolation. From its inception, it was designed to generate new knowledge for industry, rooted in my experience working embedded inside multiple corporations.

My career bridges Fortune 500 companies like Harman International (Samsung) and JP Morgan Chase, startups like IXIS Digital, and cross-sector innovation from healthcare to automotive to financial services — delivering research insights that drive measurable business outcomes including 30% UX improvements and 40% faster decision cycles.

Based in Colombia with extensive US experience, I bring cross-cultural competency to global innovation challenges. Beyond work, I'm passionate about fitness, biomechanics, building Japanese robot scale models (Gundam), history, and karaoke.

Education
PhD in Design, IIT Institute of Design
Location
Bogotá, Colombia
Languages
Spanish, English (C1)
Specialization
Behavioral Research & Design Strategy
Recognition

Publications & Awards

Selected Publications

Research Through Provocation: A Structured Process to Design New Information Technologies
Doctoral Dissertation · IIT · ProQuest, 2023
Research through provocation: a structured prototyping tool using interaction attributes
The Design Journal, 20(sup1) · 2017
Research Mix Methods for Persuasive Technologies
Persuasive 2018, Toronto · Research Poster
User Experience Design for Contextually Persuasive Systems
Persuasive Technology Conference, Salzburg · 2016

Awards & Recognition

Fast Company — World Changing Ideas 2020
Honorable Mention, Transportation Category
UMA autonomous mobility concept for 2030
Core77 Design Awards 2015
Winner, Service Design · Runner-Up, Strategy & Research
Pediatric asthma ER discharge redesign
IDEA Bronze Medal 2008
Research Category — MEDIVENT System
Lápiz de Acero 2009 — Ganador
Concept Category — MEDIVENT System
Colombia's premier industrial design award
Colciencias-Laspau PhD Scholarship
Colombian Science, Technology & Innovation Program
Full doctoral scholarship for PhD studies at IIT

Let's connect

Interested in collaboration, research partnerships, or discussing how behavioral evidence can inform your next product decision?

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