Hi, I'm Kirsten.

I help SaaS teams understand the people they build for.

I'm a UX researcher with more than eight years in complex B2B SaaS. I dig into messy, technical problems, find the people inside them, and turn what I learn into strategy a team can actually act on.

Lead UX Research Strategist @ IBMSee my résumé →
Where I've worked
Click a company ↓

Lead UX Research Strategist

Mar 2026 — PresentBoston, MA
  • Leading foundational and generative research for the Security Lifecycle Management space, shaping product strategy in a fast-evolving technical domain.
  • Scaling research capacity by building a Senior UX Researcher Agent in Claude and IBM Bob — letting designers run and synthesize studies with minimal guidance.
  • Optimizing participant-recruitment pipelines and founding a collaborative UXR community to share best practices.
  • Mentoring junior researchers toward higher-complexity work and broader skill sets.

Selected work

2019 — 2026
01

IBM · Secure UX

An agent that challenges designers to become senior researchers

Research-ops designAI toolingFramework design
02

Google · Cloud Monitoring

Demystifying the Watchtower and the Magnifying Glass

Goal-based framingSurveyIn-depth interviews
03

Google Cloud · Observability for AI agents

Designing for beginners in a beginner industry

Foundational interviewsCustomer discoveryWorkflow mapping
04

Google Cloud · Telemetry Explorer

The redesign they loved, and the problem it hid

Mixed methodsInterviewsSurvey
Kirsten Hosic
Outside the research

The curiosity doesn't clock out.

Long before research was my job, I was the kid who kept asking why people are the way they are. That itch never went away. It just keeps finding new places to live.

So when I step away from work, I'm usually chasing the same thing: a better feel for people, places, and how we're shaped by what surrounds us. Here's some of what keeps me curious.

01

The Mind

I read behavioral psychology and personality research for fun. The same questions that pull me into a study pull me through my evenings. I'm fascinated by how we become who we are, what quietly changes us, and why no two people land in the same place. I don't think the best researchers ever lose that itch.

02

The World

I travel every chance I get. Not for the postcard version, but for the small, disorienting moments that rearrange how I see things. A wedding in Punjab. A wrong turn that becomes the best day of the trip. Every place I visit leaves me a little more curious, and a little less sure I had it all figured out.

03

The Space

Home is my favorite experiment. I'm always playing with color, light, and texture to see how a room can shift a mood. It's the same instinct behind my work: shaping an environment around how people actually feel inside it.

04

The Gym

Weightlifting is how I stay grounded. There's something honest about it. You show up, you do the work, and the bar doesn't care about your title or your day. It keeps me humble on the hard days and a little fearless on the good ones.

Kirsten in Indian formal wear with friends at an outdoor wedding celebration in India
Kirsten standing by a courtyard pond framed by trees and colorful architecture in India

⌖India. A wedding, and all the color around it.

What's next

Let's get in touch.

I love being challenged by new ideas and unfamiliar problems. Whether you want to talk UX research, build something together, or just say hello, my inbox is always open. I'd genuinely love to hear from you.

Let's connect →