Case Study — Usability Labs & Research Infrastructure

Spark New Zealand — 2017–2019
Role: Senior UX Researcher
Scope: Organisation-wide research capability serving 100+ agile squads

Context

When I joined Spark, UX research was ad hoc and fragmented, relying on external vendors and inconsistent methods.
With over 100 agile squads across consumer, business, and retail, the lack of in-house facilities created:

  • Slow time-to-insight for product teams.

  • Low stakeholder visibility into customer research.

  • Risk of inconsistent quality and duplicated work.

The brief: Create a scalable, high-quality UX research system that could support the speed and diversity of Spark’s product development.

Research Infrastructure Built

Two Industry-Leading Usability Labs

  • Observation Rooms: Real-time streaming, eye-tracking, and annotation tools for stakeholder immersion.

  • Multi-Platform Setup: Capable of testing web, app, and OTT platforms (including sports & movie streaming with simulated remote controls).

  • Remote Testing Capability: Moderated/unmoderated sessions across desktop, mobile, and in-store contexts.

Integrated Research Operations

  • Embedded labs into Spark’s Voice of Customer and NPS programs, creating a single insights ecosystem.

  • Built an internal insights library to reduce duplication and speed knowledge sharing.

  • Designed Agile CX/UX Research Process — sprint-friendly, repeatable, and adopted by 100+ squads.

Key Research Methods Enabled

  • In-Depth Interviews (structured & semi-structured) for deep qualitative insight.

  • Co-Creation Workshops pairing customers with product teams.

  • Retail Environment Testing in live store settings.

  • Eye-Tracking Studies for navigation and UI optimisation.

Internal Alignment & Adoption

  • Stakeholder Buy-In: Live observation sessions increased leadership participation in research.

  • Process Adoption: Methodology and training embedded across product, design, and CX teams.

  • Cross-Functional Collaboration: Research outputs fed directly into roadmap planning, CX strategy, and marketing decisions.

Impact & Measurement (post-implementation)

  • 10,000+ customer research engagements conducted via labs.

  • Reduced time-to-insight from weeks to days.

  • Increased stakeholder attendance in research sessions by over 200%.

  • Established a long-term strategic asset for Spark’s product and design teams.