I am a mixed-method researcher who is passionate about uncovering user pain points, identifying practical solutions, and representing the user voice to support the integrity and meaningfulness of people’s online experiences.
Research Experience
Meta | UX Researcher
Reality Labs — June 2022 - Present
Facebook Marketplace — August 2022 - June 2022
Facebook | UX Research Intern
Video Integrity — June 2021 - September 2021
Northwestern University | Cognitive Psychology Researcher
Reading Comprehension Lab — September 2017 - June 2022
Technical Skills
Survey Design
Experimental Design & A/B Testing
Data Manipulation & Analysis (R, SQL)
Statistical Analysis (Regressions, t-tests, ANOVA, Causal Modeling, Mixed Effect Modeling)
Data Visualization (ggplot, Tableau)
Participant Sampling
User Interviews and Focus Groups
Longitudinal Research and Diary Studies
Vendor Management
Workshop Organization
Recent Projects
In-Market Research on Quest 3S
Led team of 6 senior hardware and software research in a mixed-methods workstream aimed at understanding Quest 3S users after its launch in Oct 2024. Reported on purchase motivations, engagement trends, and holiday gifting experiences
An Audit of How Trust is Measured Across Meta
Audit of how trust is measured across Meta’s family of apps to make recommendations of how measurements can be consolidated and improved for consistency and validity.
Assessing the Impact of “Watchbait” Videos on User and Brand Harm
Survey and log data analysis to understand the extent to which “watchbait” (clickbait videos) negatively affect users’ experience on Facebook and their overall perception of the quality of the app.
Developing User Education for Quest
Used both surveys and qualitative interviews with new Quest users to understand critical knowledge gaps; worked closely with design to create interactive tutorials to educate users on foundational aspects of Quest (e.g., navigation and input basics) during first-time setup.
Understanding Trust & Safety Across the Buy/Sell Journey
In-depth interviews with Facebook Marketplace users to understand what trust & safety do and do not look like at different stages of the buy/sell journey (e.g., browsing, messaging, exchange), and how to best support safety at these stages.
Creation and Validation of Coding System to Classify “Watchbait” Videos
Designed and validated coding system to classify different types of “Watchbait” (clickbait videos) used to train human labelers & ML models.
Identifying Needs & Pain Points of Unengaged Users on Facebook Marketplace
Survey analysis of differentiated needs, use cases, & shopper problems in terms of severity and prevalence across engagement levels on Facebook Marketplace.
Competitive Analysis of Safety Tools and Features Across Meetup Apps
A competitive analysis of the safety tools and features offered by popular apps that encourage in-person meetups (e.g., ride share apps, dating apps, and other local marketplaces).
Redesigning Click-Through-Actions for Communicating on Facebook Marketplace
In-depth interviews with Facebook Marketplace buyers' and sellers' to identify top needs for click through actions when communicating with one another on Messenger.
Assessing Impact of Seller Reviews on User Trust & Engagement
A/B test and survey assessing the importance of Facebook Marketplace seller ratings & reviews in driving buyers’ trust and engagement.
Latent Behavior Analysis into Users “Hacking” Instagram to Buy and Sell
Latent behavior analysis into how young adults are “hacking” Instagram to buy and sell items secondhand, offering recommendations into how Facebook Marketplace can integrate with Instagram to make individual resale shopping and selling even easier.
Case Study on Top “Watchbait” Creator
A deep dive, case study into one of the top “Watchbait” (clickbait videos) creators on Facebook Watch and YouTube, including history, strategy, and monetization.
Testimonials
I had the wonderful experience of working closely with Nikita, one of the strongest UX researchers I've had the pleasure of working with at Meta; I know any team would be successful with her expertise and strengths. She set the team up for success through her strengths including strong collaboration + execution, leadership and storytelling. Specific examples include the following:
Collaboration + Execution: When preparing research feedback sessions, she proactively looped the team in early by sharing early discussion guides, provided feedback on designs/prototypes, and always welcomed comments and questions to ensure sessions ran smoothly. After research sessions, she worked quickly to prepare in-depth analyses for the team to leverage concrete, actionable insights from her in-depth work. This was especially critical in helping the team move forward for a key Marketplace project within the Messaging space.
Leadership + Storytelling: She supporting multiple teams and viewed as a leader and voice for the user. Her enthusiasm to speak both about pain points and package it in a tangible way to help teams moved forward at scale still continues to have impact today. She created rich presentations through data visuals, quotes, and excellent writing skills. These artifacts were especially impactful for quarterly planning and design sprints.”
— CYNDY ALFARO, PRODUCT DESIGNER @ META
Nikita is a phenomenal UX researcher and would be an asset to any team. Her understanding of research design is remarkably strong, she executes her projects, and she effectively communicates with cross functional partners. Beyond that, she’s a fast and determined learner (she picked up SQL incredibly quickly) and a wonderful colleague.