Philip Burgess
(801) 369-4269 | phil@philipburgess.net | www.philipburgess.net | LinkedIn

 

UX Research Leader | Strategic Insights | Scalable Team Development | Business Impact

18+ years of experience leading mixed-method UX research teams, shaping product strategies, and delivering regulatory-ready, user-centered solutions that drive business growth.

 

Summary of Qualifications

• Strategic UX Research Leader with proven success building and scaling research teams across enterprise and global organizations.

• Specialized in mixed methods research, human-centered design, and research-to-insight frameworks that elevate product quality and mitigate risk.

• Strong background in managing cross-functional teams, aligning stakeholders, and embedding UX research into Agile and product development lifecycles.

• Demonstrated business impact: drove a $55M revenue increase at Nu Skin via research-led e-commerce optimizations.

• Adept in accessibility (WCAG 2.1), health literacy, and regulatory compliance for CMS, ACA, and marketplace expectations.

• Expert in leading usability testing, foundational research, evaluative studies, card sorting, tree testing, and jobs-to-be-done (JTBD).

• Certified Scrum Master and NN/g UX Management Certified.

Core Skills & Tools

Methods: Mixed Methods • Quantitative & Qualitative • Generative & Evaluative Research • Diary Studies • Usability Testing • Contextual Inquiry • Heuristic Evaluation • A/B Testing • Concept Testing • Journey Mapping • Personas • Task Analysis • Benchmarking • Accessibility Testing • Affinity Mapping • Storytelling with Data

Leadership & Strategy: UX Research Strategy • Research Operations (ReOps) • Research Frameworks • Stakeholder Engagement • Agile Research • Cross-Functional Collaboration • Coaching & Mentorship • Team Scaling • Executive Communication

Tools: UserTesting • UserZoom • Optimal Workshop • Lookback • Maze • Dovetail • Figma • FigJam • Miro • Qualtrics • Airtable • EnjoyHQ • Confluence • Jira • Trello • Slack • Tableau • Google Analytics • Adobe Analytics

 

Professional Experience

UX Research Manager

Centene Corporation • April 2023 – Present

• Lead a 15-person UX Research department (managing 10 directly), embedded in Medicare, Medicaid, Ambetter Marketplace, Clinical, and B2B product verticals.

• Partner cross-functionally with Design, Product, Compliance, and Engineering to drive research strategy that aligns with regulatory, accessibility, and business goals.

• Built and implemented research operations and scalable frameworks for insight standardization, study templates, and repository infrastructure (Dovetail).

• Conduct research in support of CMS audit readiness, WCAG compliance, and health equity mandates.

• Mentor researchers across mixed methods studies (tree tests, card sorting, diary studies, moderated/unmoderated testing).

• Present strategic insights to senior leadership and executives, influencing high-stakes product decisions and contract retention.

 

Global UX Research Manager

Nu Skin Enterprises • December 2017 – April 2023

• Built the UX Research practice from the ground up; recruited, trained, and managed a global team delivering research at scale.

• Partnered with Product and Marketing to run conversion optimization studies that led to a $55M revenue increase in 6 months.

• Led foundational and evaluative studies using tools like UserTesting, Optimal Workshop, and Qualtrics.

• Created playbooks and toolkits to scale research across regions and departments (standardized protocols, consent forms, reporting formats).

 

Senior UX Researcher Lead

Overstock.com • October 2016 – December 2017

• Mentored junior researchers; led usability testing, heuristic reviews, and remote unmoderated research for digital commerce flows.

• Influenced roadmap prioritization by embedding actionable insights in sprint cycles and leadership meetings.

 

UX Research Principal (Consultant)

Philip W Burgess Consulting • October 2015 – Present

• Delivered strategic UX insights for clients including Verizon, T-Mobile, Global Payments, etc...

• Specialized in regulatory-sensitive experiences (finance, telecom) with focus on usability testing, task flows, and compliance alignment.

 

Senior UX Design Researcher

American Express • May 2014 – October 2015

• Established UX research capability within the global HR systems group.

• Delivered time-on-task benchmarking and information architecture testing (tree testing, card sorting) to optimize internal tools.

 

Senior UX Researcher / Human Factors Analyst

Convergys Corporation • August 2010 – March 2013

• Led persona development, heuristic evaluations, and usability audits for enterprise applications.

• Conducted field studies and task analysis to support service design improvements across telecom and customer support systems.

 

Education & Certifications

• NN/g UX Certified, Nielsen Norman Group, 2018

• NN/g UX Research Leadership Certified, Nielsen Norman Group, 2018

• UserZoom UX Research Core Certification

• UserZoom UX Research Advanced Certification

• Forrester Mastering Customer Experience

• Certified Scrum Master (CSM), Scrum Alliance, 2008

• University of Central Florida - Psychology​