SHARE A RIDE WITH

Kat Murray

Head of Research, Colorado

Kat, a woman with light skin and shoulder-length red hair, wears a stylish black jacket and peers sideways over her sunglasses. Behind her is a background of giant grasses.

Share a ride with Kat

What makes Lyft Design so special? Hands down, it’s our people. We’re a team of passionate, talented, empathetic folks committed to making a positive impact.

Spend some time with Kat, our Head of Research based in Colorado.

Kat and members of Lyft’s UXR team pose for a photo during a team offsite.

What do you love most about being a researcher?

I love thinking about organizational growth, and structure over time. Part of my job is paying attention to and anticipating how the research organization and discipline will develop in the future and making smart decisions about how to set the stage for that. For instance, how do we think holistically about early talent development on the research team and how that relates to career opportunities for folks who choose to do associateships or internships with us?

Kat laughing and enjoying the cold outdoors on a sunny day. She wears a baseball hat, sunglasses, blue jacket, and is standing up to her knees in bright white snow.

What’s been your favorite project at Lyft?

One favorite project was launching the UX Research Associate program. I had been thinking about ways to create a wider array of perspectives inside of our team and also how Lyft could play a role in creating opportunities for people to explore research careers who might not have had the same opportunities that I had. I am incredibly proud that we successfully advocated for budget allocation, have graduated our first two associates, and will be expanding across the other disciplines within PD+.

“Self care is a daily practice for me consisting of small things: drinking enough water, meditating, working out, getting enough sleep – and paying attention to what my body is telling me about how I am feeling.”

— Kat Murray, Head of Research

How do you practice self care?

Self care is a daily practice for me consisting of small things: drinking enough water, meditating, working out, getting enough sleep – and paying attention to what my body is telling me about how I am feeling. I am also a deep believer that you need to take breaks from work in order to be effective at work.

One of my little moments of resistance is my email auto responder for when I am out of office:

Thanks for your note! I am taking a couple of days off to head to the mountains for hiking, hot tubbing, and an attempt at baking a pineapple upside down cake. I will jump right back into a full day of meetings on Wednesday, Feb 9. If you need something in the meantime, ping Ari Patterson. If she doesn't have the answer, which is unlikely, she can set you on the right track

Research says that breaks are good even if only for a couple of days! I am aiming to stay as disconnected as possible to give my heart health, my productivity, and my loyalty to Lyft all a nice boost.

Best,
Kat

PS: If you are looking for a little distraction, respond back to this autoresponder with your favorite cake recipe, and it might make my line up sometime soon.

Oh, and I crochet :)

Any advice on how to get started in research?

I’d start by talking to a lot of folks who are in the field to understand the day to day of what researchers do and whether that’s truly something that energizes and engages you. From there, it really depends on where you are in your own life and career development. If you are in school, take classes in research methods and user-centered design practices and take a look for internships. If you are more of a mid-career switcher, then do some self study (or find a boot camp.) Observing the User Experience is a good book to start with. And then create research opportunities for yourself to practice with – have a favorite restaurant? Do a series of onsite observations to identify ways to increase customer happiness. Work with a non-profit? Offer to do a heuristic evaluation of their web site.