UX Research · Product Strategy · Rapid Prototyping

Evidence over assumption: research that changes what gets built

What I bring to a product organization:

Strategic research that drives roadmaps and business decisions
Evaluative research and rapid prototyping that provide concrete product and design recommendations
Complexity fluency across regulated domains and AI-native products
AI-enabled research that's fast and rigorous

Selected work

Case studies are password-protected. Please reach out for access.

Rethinking Assessments How strategic research turned a failed feature into a roadmap priority

The product's first Schedule of Activities feature missed what users needed and was pulled from the build. Research into why changed who the product was built for.

Increased CSAT over legacy product 2.7x (27→74)Password required

Insights > Rapid Prototyping > Feature

Reducing Patient Burden How rapid prototyping validated a design hypothesis

I prototyped a design concept from discovery, validated it with core users, and defined a feature that made patient burden data actionable earlier in clinical trial design.

More valuable data for end usersPassword required

AI-Enabled Research Tool

Rigor at Speed AI synthesis with a human at every step

A research system that moves AI from shortcut to research instrument, adopted across a research team, with a researcher reviewing and approving every pass.

Synthesis & artifacts accelerated up to ½ dayPassword required

AI-Native Product Research

The Trojan Horse How evaluative research filled discovery gaps

A team skipped discovery to ship an AI-native product fast. I used the evaluation they asked for to identify improvements and map the user journey and value space.

100% discovery recommendations implemented in SOAPassword required

About

Sam Haraway, smiling, outdoors in front of green trees

I am a strategic researcher who specializes in turning ambiguous, high-complexity problems into concrete insights, journeys, and roadmap decisions teams can act on with confidence.

I thrive with strategic, discovery research projects, but I'm comfortable owning research anywhere within the triple diamond. My experience ranges across broad industries such as life sciences/pharma, healthcare, aerospace, retail, and telecommunications. I also enjoy enabling other researchers, designers, and product directors to run their own research, when applicable, and I've recently built an AI-augmented research workflow that allows teams to move fast without sacrificing rigor.

My T shape includes deep UX research craft, backed by rapid design prototyping and product strategy.

Experience: 10+ years of applied research
Education: PhD, Sociology, UC Davis
Domains: Life sciences, pharma, healthcare, aerospace, retail, telecom
Based in: Denver, CO