Leeza Pesenson
Hi! I'm a UX Researcher who loves utilizing my deep listening skills, innate curiosity, and creative problem-solving to uncover insights that drive meaningful change. I thrive on collaboration—working across teams to challenge assumptions, connect the dots, and translate findings into action.
With over a decade of experience in tech and a Master’s in Cognitive Science, I use qualitative methods and analytics to help teams design and refine services used by millions.
I’m eager to bring my passion for human-centered design to an established UX team that values learning, efficiency, and customer obsession as much as I do. In the meantime, you’ll find me swing dancing, cycling around the SF Bay Area, or coaching and teaching Nonviolent Communication.
Recent Experience, Projects, and Awards
U.S. Bank
Nov 2016 - Mar 2024 (7 yrs 5 mo)
At U.S. Bank, I collaborated with multiple cross-functional teams on projects ranging from a full redesign of the mobile app to AI-powered insight cards, real-time payments, and complex money movement solutions for retail, wealth, and small business customers. I conducted qualitative research, usability testing, diary studies, surveys, data analysis, and supported designers in conducting their own studies—both independently and in partnership with other teams—to drive strategic insights and enhance the customer experience.
Strategic Research: Bill Pay Assessment
Opportunity: Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) scores were low, and the Customer Experience team identified multiple pain points both above and below the glass. Leadership needed clarity on where to focus efforts next.
Approach: I conducted qualitative interviews and combined insights with data from Quantum Metric session analyses, feedback surveys, and a competitive review. This multi-source approach allowed me to develop a holistic understanding of the key issues and create a prioritized action plan, which I then mapped onto an existing product framework.
Impact: CSAT increased from 50% to 67% as this work reshaped priorities and inspired similar investigations by teams such as the call center. Aligning insights with an established product framework made it easier for product leaders to quickly grasp and integrate recommendations into their existing mental models, leading to faster adoption.
Bill Pay as seen live on the U.S. Bank website.
🏆 Award: Human Insight to Action
UserTesting.com awarded our Bill Pay experience an illumi award for Human Insight to Action for improvements based on research that I had supported the design team in crafting and conducting in 2024.
"U.S. Bank worked with UserTesting's Unlimited Insight Services function to improve the bank's autopay function—putting client feedback at the center of designing an intuitive entry point to set up autopay, manage autopay, and confirm they had set it up correctly. U.S. Bank's Experience Design Team built a winning experience that earned them a 14% increase in page visits, while generating a 7% decrease in calls to their contact centers."
UserTesting's illumi award badge for USB.
Usability Testing Support: Autopay Enhancements
Opportunity: Autopay setup and edit features were not getting used as much as expected and we were noticing confusion in autopay set up and management during qualitative user testing that I had conducted.
Approach: I supported designers in framing the problem, helped brainstorm solutions, and guided them in setting up, running, and analyzing UX research studies which resulted in design changes like adding "Set up autopay" & "Manage autopay" buttons on the account dashboard and a critical new line of content indicating whether autopay was or was not set up for the next payment.
Impact: Autopay edit visits: 59% increase. Autopay edit confirmations: 40.3% increase. Autopay setup visits: 36.7% increase. Autopay setup confirmations: 35% increase.
Autopay set up as seen live on the U.S. Bank website.
🏆 Award: Best UX - Mobile Check Deposit '20-'23
Cornerstone Advisors ranked 20 banks on Mobile Check Deposit and awarded 1st Place to U.S. Bank from 2020 until 2023, when they stopped releasing reports. I was the sole researcher supporting the Mobile Check Deposit team during those years.
"U.S. Bank has demonstrated remarkable prowess in optimizing their mobile deposit system, making it a standout in the realm of user experience. [...] The bank also excels in communication with its users. [...] U.S. Bank should continue their tried-and-true method of innovating new ways to offer their customers excellent quality from their digital experience."
Screenshot from the award page of Cornerstone Advisors.
Wells Fargo
Jul 2015 - Nov 2016 (1 yr 5 mo)
At Wells Fargo, I designed, conducted, and communicated user research studies for the Physical Channels Design team. My primary focus was streamlining the teller experience across software, hardware, and physical spaces to improve efficiency and usability. Additionally, I helped simplify the customer experience by gathering and applying actionable user feedback on ATM and PIN Pad interactions.
Diary Study & Visits: Cash Loading in ATMs
Opportunity: NCR, a leading ATM manufacturer, partnered with us to test new cash-loading drawers for ATMs. The goal was to evaluate their usability and efficiency in real-world banking environments.
Approach: After the new drawers were deployed and in use, I conducted a diary study and visited multiple bank branches across the Bay Area to gather firsthand feedback from tellers and bankers. This qualitative research helped capture their experiences, pain points, and workflow impact.
Impact: The study revealed both effective features and areas where the new drawers slowed down operations. I shared these insights with NCR, leading to hardware refinements for the next design iteration, ensuring a more seamless and efficient cash-loading process.
An ATM screen as seen live on a Wells Fargo ATM in 2016.
Microsoft
Sep 2014 - Jul 2015 (11 mo)
At Microsoft’s San Francisco office, I conducted design research for the Windows Phone digital assistant, Cortana. My work focused on designing intuitive and engaging voice-based interactions, and leveraging research-driven insights to enhance the user experience. I also optimized quantitative data collection and analysis methods, developed and localized interaction sequences for 14 countries, and synthesized findings from ethnographic research to inform product decisions.
AI Personalization with Machine Learning: Cortana OOBE
Opportunity: My manager and I were tasked with crafting the interactive element of the Windows phone onboarding process (a.k.a. the Out Of Box Experience (OOBE)).
Approach: We created the OOBE as a verbal question and answer game to add an element of delight. I had the idea to match the customers' answers with their Big Five personality characteristics so that future features could be marketed more effectively. I created a process using Amazon mTurk, partnered with other Machine Learning experts, and later tested the experience using the Wizard of Oz testing technique.
Impact: Testers raved about the experience and we later received Patent US10997512B2 "Inferring cues for use with digital assistant." Then Microsoft shelved the project to be used at just the perfect, necessary moment in the future. Just kidding, I don't know why they did that.
The many moods of Cortana, the Windows phone digital assistant, 2015.