Her Story
About Shreya
I've been in the research field for about 6 to 7 years now, and I'm currently a UX Researcher at Butcherbox, where I started about a year ago. As the sole person on my research team, I'm responsible for scaling and running the entire research practice at the company. In simple terms, what I do is build in the customer's voice and understand what customers are looking for when they interact with our product and digital experience. My day-to-day involves collaborating with designers, product managers, and data analysts to identify gaps in our current experience. I then build hypotheses and interview customers to get a deep dive sense of whether they're experiencing these gaps. After that, I take all of that data, make sense of it, and create recommendations for how we can improve the experience. Then I work with designers and product managers to bring those recommendations to life. One of my most notable professional achievements has been building visibility and trust with all of my stakeholders and teams, and having the influence to drive specific product decisions. I've even been able to stand up to the CEO and say, 'Hey, this is not what customers are looking for, and I think we need to really pause and not be in a hurry to launch it because our competitors are doing it.' I supported it with evidence, and it turned out to be the right decision. For me, that power in the room and being able to make those calls has been my most recent professional achievement.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Shreya
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I think right now, AI is the talk of the town, and because we work a lot in the tech industry, a lot of our work is heavily integrated with what's happening in the tech world. So I feel when you're part of this industry, you have to be open to change, and you have to be adaptable. You should be able to be on top of what's happening, what are the trends that are changing, and network. Network as much as possible, because I feel like when we're only interacting with our closed set of people, we always feel like you're in the same bubble, maybe you're all alone in the issues that you're experiencing. But when you go out of your comfort zone and talk to other people in your industry, you actually realize that what I'm feeling is so evident, and it's very mutual with what other people are feeling. And it just opens up your horizon, it opens up your perspective, it really helps you understand what the world is thinking about tech, AI, and what's the future. So I would just say, two words: be open to change and network as much as possible.
02What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
When I started out in this field, I've always wanted to work in the field of social impact and really use this skill that I have to do something that's not just focused on growing the business or getting more commercial clients in. I really want to go back to that value of mine, and just be able to do something in the nonprofit space, and use these skills in a way that I can impact people's lives where everything is not just about tech. In the next 5 years, I'm keen to set up my own practice where I'm able to pick and choose values that have worked for me, both in India and in the US, and deliver something of my own, and really build that one-on-one connection with people who I'm working for.
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