This research shows how I use time to inform user engagement, performance, and profitability.
Linking Watch Time to Profit
Role: Freelance Market Analyst
Impact: Identified the acquisition channel where customers spent the most time with an ad and showed that time investment predicted a demographic with strong purchasing power.
The channel bringing in the most customers looks like the channel worth the most investment. I was asked to test that assumption and find a better predictor of return. One channel brought in about 5% of total customers, but those customers spent significantly more time watching the ad than customers from other channels. Profit from those customers was about 30% higher on average, but they only contributed around 10% to total profit. Time spent with the ad was the best predictor of customer value. I projected around a 25% revenue increase if marketing was directed to the demographic spending the most time with the ad.
Optimizing Inputs Over Time
Role: Lead User Researcher
Impact: Developed best-use cases for holding and tapping timed inputs that improved user performance and satisfaction.
Button input design directly affects user engagement and satisfaction over time, but is often overlooked in early development. I was asked to evaluate how holding and tapping influence playtime for an indie game development team. Users spent about 30% more time exploring when holding during shorter sessions. Users were about 20% more accurate when using tapping for time-sensitive tasks, but it caused fatigue with repeated use. I created best-use cases for holding and tapping inputs aimed at user satisfaction and performance for both familiar and unfamiliar users.
VR Teleportation is convenient, but it strips away the body-based cues people normally use to track distance and time. This research examined the influence of body-based cues in VR navigation interfaces. My contribution tested whether time spent weekly playing video games explained interface performance and preference. Time spent gaming predicted which VR interface users preferred, but not how well they performed. Interface design alone determined how well users navigated in VR. I created three design recommendations for VR interfaces aimed at increasing user satisfaction and performance.