About Mo
Hello, I'm Mo Goltz.
I enable companies to develop a competitive advantage by empowering users and customers to reach their potential. My multi-disciplinary background has allowed me to bridge the gaps between design, research, and business in ways that inform decision-making, influence strategy, and support meaningful innovation.
As a UX Researcher, I help organizations determine what to make and do next - and more importantly, what NOT to make and do next. I approach business problems and opportunities with a UX lens, which compliments and augments traditional business and product management approaches. Intrapreneurial by nature, I have helped organizations become more collaborative, enhance their internal operations, and increase their UX maturity.
In addition to work, I'm interested in and passionate about: graphic design, story slams, teaching/coaching/mentoring, event design, and electronic music.
SELECT CLIENTS AND EMPLOYERS
PAST RESULTS AND IMPACT
🛞 Helped Bridgestone/Firestone to:
Increase dealer searches
Increase tire searches
Increase phone calls to dealers (more attributed sales)
Increase tire detail page views
Increase the number of pages per visit,
Increase time spent on site
☁️ Helped Salesforce to:
Reduce the complexity of workflows and approvals (an automation process) by 46% for users and reduced the learning curve by 92% by redesigning the user experience from the ground up
Improve UX Operations by establishing a new and improved methodology for both research and prototyping; trained key employees in this new process to support adoption in the design department and the company
🚗 Helped Allstate to:
Increase customer satisfaction and sentiment with the claims experience
Increase the number of customers who accept a cash settlement without negotiation
▶️ Helped Accenture to:
Increase the adoption and application of design thinking methods in my department by developing a design thinking "Cook Book" which distilled company-wide established practices and customized methodology to suit the Operations Studio team's needs
Win new and deeper work with Microsoft as a client by pitching to them utilizing storytelling and rapid prototyping
🖥️ Helped Microsoft to:
Prototype a chatbot in just three days while teaching team members the fundamentals of design thinking and the design sprint (2.0) approach
Validate and invalidate app concepts in less than a week, which teams had been wrangling with for months
Coach teams to work in a more agile and lean manner, moving away from waterfall processes and significantly reducing the time needed to go from idea to execution and to the next iteration
🧑💻 Helped User Testing to:
Increase user Activation by redesigning the main "UX Study Dashboard" to make sure new users see value the very first time they launch it
Reduced task abandonments (fallout) during mobile onboarding by streamlining new user's first-time use and setup
Decrease the time needed for customer support to respond to tickets by redesigning and optimizing the main input form for users to request help
Improve company-wide collaboration among Client Success, Customer Support, Client Research Services, and Product by starting a “360° User Task Force” where representatives from each department routinely shared their views of users and provided cross-functional feedback on in-progress UX work
Enhance collaboration among members of the product team by Introducing user story mapping as a shared road mapping approach among project managers, engineers, and designers.
🗣️ Helped Hearsay Systems (Hearsay Social) to:
Increase engagement in the "post library" and "post scheduler" areas of the product, resulting in users (financial advisors), posting more on social media (shares)
Increase access to users for research purposes by 95% by working with the legal team to update client contracts which previously prohibited contacting or interacting with users
Reduce the amount of time and clicks/taps needed for users to write customized direct messages to clients by rapidly prototyping and iterating on the "Social Signals" product. Worked directly with product managers to establish and improve baseline levels of interest and desirability in this feature
Increase the design maturity of the product team by initiating the routine use of remote usability testing each sprint, conducting company-wide UX knowledge-sharing events (i.e. persona set sharing), and assisting in the creation of a UX/UI design system
Develop research best practices and prototyping methods for the first mobile-first team within the company
👪 Helped The Village (single-parent-focused startup) to:
Develop strong signs of problem-solution fit
Discover high indicators of desirability from potential users
Learn to adopt a more systematic UX design and research approach based on entrepreneurial best practices - trained key employees in fundamental UX research methodology
📄 Learn more about Mo's past accomplishments in his resume - download a pdf / doc or checkout his Linkedin profile
WHAT I CAN HELP YOU DO
🚀 Launch products/services/and features with:
more confidence, based on a more holistic understanding of your users/customers/audience
💨 Go to market and adapt to changes more quickly by:
working in an agile, lean, and iterative way - doing just enough research to be dangerous, at the right time and at the right places
🤔 Improve decision-making by:
becoming more data-driven - complimenting your research with rich, nuanced, and deep qualitative insights
📈 Increase the effectiveness (ROI) of research and development by:
working in a scrappy way while infusing human-centered design and design thinking into existing processes
📉 Reduce risk when trying to innovate by:
testing hypotheses and concepts early and often - evolving our approach continuously
📊 Ensure the products/services you offer are:
relevant, desirable, usable, and accessible while supporting meaningful improvements in your user's/customer's life
🥇 Outsmart and outmaneuver your competition by:
aligning with your users/customers more frequently in ways that make a difference
⭐ Enhance the impact your offerings have in the world by:
developing strategy that connects to tactics, seeing what others miss/ignore, and translating vague ideas into decisive plans that lead to new opportunities we can take advantage of, or even create together
Services
UX Audit (expert review) / Bespoke Research / Prototype Validation / Research Sprint / Strategy Sprint / Design Sprint / UX Ops sprint / Custom Workshop Development and Facilitation / UX Training (upskill faster) / Career Coaching and Mentorship
Coaching, Mentoring, and Teaching UX
Mo has helped upskill people in UX at institutions such as: IDEO U, the Flatiron School (Designation Bootcamp), and the Illinois Institute of Technology - Institute of Design. His educational materials have been utilized or referenced in books, textbooks, and university course packs including: Design Is Storytelling by Ellen Lupton, Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction (4th Edition), A Field Guide To User Research, and Harvard Business Review “Entrepreneurship Laboratory" MBA course.
Seasoned UX Professional with a track record of upskilling others:
📚 Publishing UX educational material since 2007
🏫 Teaching UX since 2009
🏋️ Coaching and mentoring UX professionals since 2012. Sign up for a free session
📰 You may know him from his articles on Smashing Magazine about Personas (top Google result for many years):
A Closer Look At Personas: What They Are And How They Work - Part 1
A Closer Look At Personas: A Guide To Developing The Right Ones - Part 2
He also has newer UX resources available here as well as a blog
Mo is currently developing a course on usability testing while writing "Mo's Notes" and "Becoming UX" resources. (Ask him about it!)
SKILLS
Research
Helping teams learn about users and customers: I specialize in qualitative research and UX testing, utilizing a diverse set of research methods, and know when to be lean and scrappy and when to be rigorous.
Product and Service Strategy
Inspiring action and influencing decisions: I uncover and prioritize areas of opportunity, reframe problems, set the vision, goals, and direction for projects, as well as formulating recommendations that guide product and service design.
Workshop Facilitation
Running collaborative problem-solving activities: I create interactive events for people where decisions get made and consensus is built.
UX Design and Prototyping
Making ideas tangible: I create low to medium fidelity prototypes to bring concepts to life and generate feedback on products, services, and systems
Presenting
Reporting and storytelling: I share research across various audiences at varying levels in engaging, persuasive, and creative ways that increase empathy, inspire change, and direct action.
Information Architecture
Organizing content and functionality: I determine how to optimize the structure of data in ways that match user’s mental models to accelerate their navigation.
Information design and Visual Communication
Facilitating efficient and effective understanding: I create data visualizations that distills complex ideas to their essence.
Content and Content Strategy
Planning, development, and management of content: I support the creation of multimedia, write, and edit copy
TESTIMONIALS
I rarely come across real talents who stand out like Mo. Mo’s attention to detail and thoughtfulness was unlike any I’ve seen before and made a dramatic increase in the quality of workshops we conducted as well as the thought leadership we published for our organization internally. No matter how tense a project or meeting, Mo made sure everyone left with a smile.
Dujon C. Smith
Principal at Accenture Ventures
Working with Mo was wonderful. Mo has the ability to quickly adapt to changing project constraints all while maintaining a collaborative team environment. Working with him was a great experience.
Andrew Russell
Design Researcher at Sylver Consulting
Mo has the true soul of a researcher and design professional, neither content to stop at a surface-level evaluation or just solve for low hanging fruit. He pursues the vision of a better product or process with tenacity and most importantly, is a kind caring person.
Douglas Bantz
Creative Director & Lead Instructor at The Flatiron School
THE MANY WAYS TO WORK WITH MO
Where is Mo? You'll find him in lots of useful places.
Choose the best place for you, and he'll be there.
Ready to work: Open to new clients in early 2024! I am available for long-term contracts and am open to full-time employment for the right fit. Based in Chicago, I am open to remote and hybrid positions. I look forward to creating meaningful change with you.
Mo is also available "wherever you find your podcasts" all over the interwebs for:
• UX research on demand (When you need results yesterday!) on Upwork
• UXR consulting on demand (paid) on Expert Session
• UX coaching/mentoring (free) on ADP List
• UX guides and templates (free and paid) on Gumroad
• Articles about timely UX topics on Medium and Substack
• Discover the musings of "UX Shower Thoughts" by following him Linkedin
PUBLISHED WRITING
Writing and referenced in the following books: Design is Storytelling, Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction, 101 Design Methods: A Structured Approach for Driving Innovation in Your Organization
Referenced in course materials at the following universities:
Stanford, UC Berkeley, and Harvard
Curriculum and learning design content created for: Flatiron School, Designation, Curiosity Tank, and IDEO U
AREAS OF FOCUS, INTEREST, AND PASSION
MY RESEARCH APPROACH
⏷ WHY I DO IT (MOTIVATION)
After a few career pivots and soul searching, I discovered that my niche/"sweet spot" is UX research and strategy.
UX research and strategy combine: what I love, what I'm good at, what the world needs, and what I am paid for. UX research is my "Ikigai" - which is the Japanese word meaning "reason for being". (Ikigai is often explained visually, in a venn diagram, which makes it easier to understand and I think the visualization looks pretty cool.)
Research and strategy allow me to combine right and left-brained thinking that scratches my creative itch, in a way that is challenging, inspiring, and fulfilling. Yes, this profession does make it easier to jump out of bed each morning. I know I'll be working in a "flow state" while helping create new and improved experiences for others. This is my way of "making a dent in the universe".
⏷ WHAT I DO (RESEARCH EXPERTISE)
Responsibilities
• Plan, manage, and conduct end-to-end research by writing plans, running studies, and then presenting results/recommendations to different audiences at various levels throughout an organization
• Work iteratively to support cross-functional product teams in creating, testing, and validating concepts for products/services
• Work flexibly to address constraints in approach, scope, timeframe, and budget through the versatile use of mixed-methods (qualitative and quantitative), generative, and/or evaluative research (testing)
• Collect, analyze, and report on key metrics (KPIs) to ensure clients accomplish their goals for users and the business, as well as assess the positive impact and return on investment (ROI) of UX work
• Document/share bugs and feature requests emerging from research to help inform product and engineering prioritization
• Manage relationships with contractors/freelance providers, third party vendors, and external recruiters
• Design cross-functional workshops and create new opportunities for non-UX team members to contribute, share their perspectives, and hear directly from users/customers about usability, efficacy, and desirability issues
• Develop ways to increase the frequency and consistency of research throughout my team, department, and company
• Proactively build deeper relationships with team members and other coworkers to understand their needs, help streamline decision-making, achieve alignment, and collaborate more effectively
• Mentor and coach less experienced team members
• Look for opportunities to improve operational processes (UX Ops) that increase the quality of work, then create templates, guides, and other resources that increase the adoption of new techniques and technologies
• Evangelizes user experience by building an inclusive and collaborative culture that democratizes research through socialization and education
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Services Offered
UX Audit (expert review)
Bespoke Research
Prototype Validation
Research Sprint
Strategy Sprint
Design Sprint
Custom Workshop
UX Training (upskill)
Career Coaching
⏷ HOW I DO IT (PROCESS)
I don't have a one-size-fits-all, reusable process.
Rather, my processes are contextual due to project demands and constraints, as well as the needs of my clients. My processes are ever-evolving as I gain more experience. So I don't have just one process to show you.
My process is open, transparent, and collaborative:
I bring others into my process, I'm not a "black box" solo practitioner. Through co-working sessions, discussions, meetings, and workshops I share my work, show progress as I go, and check in for milestones to ensure everyone is aligned, on the same page, and has shared expectations to achieve success.
My general UX process is heavily influenced by:
design thinking and human-centered design (HCD) (popularized by IDEO and Stanford - which I first embraced in grad school)
goal-directed design (developed by Cooper - where I was an intern)
Bauhaus design (which I adopted in college)
My work is also grounded in the theory and practice of skills which I have developed in continuing professional education:
human-computer interaction (HCI)
cognitive psychology
behavioral psychology
ethnography
business design
service design
participatory design
"lean startup" based entrepreneurship
Design sprint (v1.0 - 4.0)
⏷ RESEARCH METHODS (MO'S TOOLKIT)
Mo is familiar with many types of research - including but not limited to:
survey/questionnaire writing
interviewing/contextual inquiry
usability testing
competitive analysis/secondary research/meta-analysis
workshop design and facilitation
UX design/prototyping
presenting/reporting
user journey mapping/story mapping
UX benchmarking
heuristic evaluation
ethnographic observation
concept testing
user personas/empathy mapping
desirability testing
card sorting
content auditing
and more!
WHAT MY RESUME WON'T TELL YOU
⏷ STRENGTHS
Woo
I love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. I derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with another person.
Strategic
I create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, I can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.
Futuristic
I am inspired by the future and what could be. I aim to inspire others with my visions of what is next.
Individualization
I am intrigued with the unique qualities of others. I have a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively.
Overall
I’d describe myself as a collaborative, communicative, and optimistic person. My colleagues would describe me as determined, energetic, and proactive. I naturally search for better ways of doing things in all domains of my life and work. When I come up with new ideas, I prefer to build up a consensus, feeling that I’m supported by others before I commit myself. Coordinating and structuring the efforts of other people is where I excel.
⏷ MORE PUBLISHED WRITING
A Closer Look At Personas (2-part Series) - In Smashing Magazine
How to develop and utilize personas to create a nuanced and empathetic mindset from which to generate more user-centric concepts.
These articles were later utilized or referenced in books, textbooks, and university course packs including: Design Is Storytelling by Ellen Lupton, Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction (4th Edition), A Field Guide To User Research, and Harvard Business Review “Entrepreneurship Laboratory" MBA course
Creating Wireframes And Prototypes With InDesign in Smashing Magazine
Learn how to use Indesign as a powerful supplement to traditional UX tools that can produce interactive and responsive websites.
This article as alter utilized and referenced in the online video training course “UX Design Tools: InDesign” on Lynda.com
iOS Prototyping With TAP And Adobe Fireworks (3-part series) in Smashing Magazine
Augment existing wireframing tools with this unique plugin to create animated ios prototypes that respond to gestures in minutes.
Evolution of the Protest
Educational materials designed for and utilized by Howard Rheingold to teach courses at the UC Berkeley School of Information and Stanford University School of Communication
Referenced in the following books: Design is Storytelling, Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction, 101 Design Methods: A Structured Approach for Driving Innovation in Your Organization
Referenced in course materials at the following universities: Stanford, UC Berkeley, and Harvard
Curriculum and learning design content created for: Flatiron School, Designation, and Curiosity Tank, and IDEOU
⏷ PUBLIC SPEAKING
Design and Sustainability at CreativeMornings Chicago
Spoke with three other creative professionals on a panel to explore how creativity and technology work in harmony to cultivate sustainable solutions in Chicago.
Imposter Syndrome at Flatiron School (Designation)
Produced and facilitated a multimodal event that helped bootcamp students learn to identify feelings of fear and self-doubt while practicing skills to manage feeling like a fraud as new professionals in tech.
Constraints and Adaptations at Flatiron School (Designation)
Lectured about how embracing constraints leads to great design
User-Centered Design and Code-Free Prototyping at Barah Tikun Olam Hackathon
Introduced non-designers to the fundamentals of UCD, design thinking, and prototyping without code.
User Story Mapping for Agile Teams at the SF Lean Startup Circle
Spoke about how product teams can enhance collaboration by adopting a methodology that defines a shared vision that is always in sync, while liberating each discipline to work with different views of the same map using their own preferred tools.
⏷ KEY CONTRIBUTIONS
Intrapreneurialism is in my DNA. I strive to maximize my impact by developing improved processes that empower those I work with to be more efficient, effective, and collaborative at a team, department, and company-wide scale.
Flatiron School
Co-developed improved project management processes used by instructors globally to automate routine tasks, and reduce the amount of time instructors need to spend on administrative work while also increasing transparency among teams, making collaboration easier
Accenture
Led feedback and ideation sessions with multiple internal studios to increase the quality and flexibility of materials consultants use to successfully apply design thinking and workshop methodology across Accenture
Allstate
Developed the foundations of a video repository that would allow researchers to easily discover relevant moments tagged in footage gathered by other teams
UserTesting
Established a new process and format for designing user journeys that enabled product management, engineering, and design get on the same page while viewing and manipulating parts of the journey in different ways beneficial to each discipline and trained key employees in this new process to support adoption
Established a communication process and meeting format to unite the previously siloed departments of Customer Success, Technical Support, Client Research Services, and Product so they could regularly to share perspectives on users and develop a shared understanding of their customers
Hearsay Systems
Initiated the regular use of remote usability testing tools and among the product team and created documentation and templates to support adoption
Led an initiative to update client contracts with the legal team to gain access to users for research purposes
Salesforce
Established a new methodology for prototyping and trained key employees in this new process to support adoption - this methodology was later published online on a professional UX blog and as part of a lynda.com video series
Initiated collaboration with internal training teams to Identify areas of the product that were difficult for users to learn to improve future product development, and enhance training / onboarding materials
Cooper
Established a new methodology for rapid prototyping for the iPad that retained current tools and processes while streamlining and increasing flexibility of production. Trained key employees in this new prototyping process to support adoption - this methodology was later published online in a professional UX blog
Wrote a series of blog posts about personas as a research methodology, which were later published in books, textbooks, and university course packs
⏷ FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)
More about Mo
What's Mo's background, in a nutshell?
I started my career as a graphic Designer, transitioned to UX designer and have now pivoted to become a UX researcher and design strategist. As a former UX Designer, I know how to leverage research to inspire product teams, inform decision-making, and influence design strategy. I ensure that teams have prioritized principles, guidelines, and recommendations that are specific and actionable within constraints, while also clearly articulating possible tradeoffs and explaining the reasoning behind my proposals.
I have experience in the following environments:
enterprise
startup
B2B and B2C SAAS
consultancy/agency
in many industries (verticals) with vastly different business models
on teams that worked in both agile and waterfall ways
at companies of various sizes with unique cultures, both in person and remotely
Does Mo do mixed methods research?
Yes! He combines qualitative research (his main area of expertise), with light quantitative research (an area he's growing in) in order to "triangulate the truth". Mo has a proven track record of working with data/analytics teams and quantitative researchers to do more sophisticated quant work is needed.
Does Mo do UX Design?
Yes and no. I often help create early-stage, concept-level wireframes and prototypes that are low-fidelity. I no longer do pixel-perfect mockups and high-fidelity prototyping like I used to, previously. I see UX Design as a secondary skill at this point in my career that supports the research.
Does Mo do pixel-perfect user interface (UI) visual design?
I no longer lead on the visual side of production-ready assets, but can pitch in when necessary. Now, I use my graphic design background to create research deliverables such as data visualizations, presentations, and journey maps. Telling visual stories to communicate research findings, insights, and recommendations.
Is his name really Mo?
Everyone calls me Mo. Its spelled without an "e". My legal name is Shlomo, if you must know. I identify with the he/him/his pronouns.
What is Mo's spirit animal, and why that animal?
Ask him and you shall find out.
What has Mo done to keep up to date on UX best practices over the years?
Professional Training and Certifications:
Qualitative UX Research Ask Like a Pro "All-In" series by Curiosity Tank
Presenting Work with Confidence by Mule Design Studio
Google Analytics for Beginners by Google
UX Research at Scale by University of Michigan at Coursera
UX Research - Methods and Best Practices by the Interactive Design Foundation
Usability Testing by Userfocus
Problem Space Research (mental models) by Indi Young
Psychology For Digital Behavior Change by Academy of Alerspark
The Storytelling Leader by David Hutchens
Storytelling for Teams by StoryMode Chicago
Foundations in Design Thinking by IDEOU
Goal-Directed Interaction Design by Cooper U
More about user experience (UX)
Is research right for me?
Probably, but it depends. Here are some things to consider:
What is design thinking?
Watch this short video to learn more (it's my absolute favorite video about design thinking)
Isn't design thinking dead?
No, I don't think it is. I still find this approach very helpful. It's not a magical, one-size-fits-all approach, but it does inform what I do and how I do it. Read this article to learn more
What is user-centered design?
Watch this short video to learn more (I hope you like cats)