Customer Experience Non-Profit

Akila Sarathy

Phone: 609-***-**** Email: **********@*****.***

Portfolio LinkedIn

SalientHQ – Lead Customer Experience Researcher &

Strategist

Oct 2024 – Present

● Led persona-based studies (interviews, usability tests) on KeelWorks newsletters and website, uncovering reader motivations and optimizing content personalization.

● Analyzed Red Cross volunteer service hours and engagement trends using analytics platforms like Power BI, translating data into narrative-driven content strategies.

● Presented insights to product, marketing, and volunteer-ops teams, co-developing roadmap priorities grounded in user needs.

● Mentored junior researchers in qualitative methods and storytelling, elevating team expertise in user-centered content design.

E Source – Customer Experience Insights Analyst

Mar 2023 – Jun 2024

● Orchestrated Ask E Source inquiries for Customer Experience Strategy accounts, guiding utilities through journey mapping, personas, and VOC analysis (CES Report VOC Report Outages Report).

● Synthesized qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys into strategic reports that shaped utility clients’ digital product roadmaps and content frameworks.

● Employed AI-powered analytics to uncover content delivery gaps and optimize messaging across web and mobile interfaces.

● Authored and delivered 10+ narrative presentations highlighting user behavior patterns and actionable UX-writing recommendations.

● Partnered with Research Ops to refine participant screening and streamline fieldwork logistics, improving data quality and turnaround times. Cambio Labs – Customer Experience Design & Research Specialist

May 2022 – Mar 2023

● Conducted 18 in-depth interviews and journey-mapping workshops to uncover onboarding friction, recommending UX-writing enhancements for self-service tools.

● Collaborated with product and engineering to embed user feedback into iterative releases, boosting activation rates by clarifying in-app microcopy.

● Defined recruitment profiles and managed study logistics, ensuring alignment with research goals and timelines.

● Conducted journey mapping for Journey initiative, identifying content gaps and streamlining user flows across digital touchpoints. Argos Education – Customer Experience Design &

Research Specialist

Jan 2022 – Apr 2022

● Executed remote usability tests via UserZoom to benchmark platform performance and reveal key UX-writing bottlenecks.

● Delivered insights to executive leadership, driving prioritization of interface redesigns and tone-of-voice updates.

● Advocated rapid-test methodologies to validate content hypotheses and accelerate decision cycles.

● Crafted and tested conversational content flows for Sojourner digital-assistant prototypes, ensuring natural, brand-aligned interactions. Comida For Familias – Customer Journey Specialist

Jan 2021 – Dec 2021

● Coached junior teammates on qualitative frameworks and analysis techniques, standardizing CX-research best practices.

● Developed dashboards visualizing volunteer retention and engagement metrics, informing content and program improvements.

Customer Experience & Brand Strategy Consultant –

Freelancer

Jun 2018 – Aug 2020

● Shareablee (Customer Success Analyst): Analyzed engagement metrics and customer feedback to uncover knowledge-base content gaps, then partnered with Product and Marketing to refine self-service articles and enhance user satisfaction within Salesforce.

● V Group (Chatbot Content Specialist): Developed and launched an ecommerce chatbot using Salesforce and Zendesk, authoring standardized response macros and workflows that streamlined inquiry resolution within three months. Education

B.S. Psychology, Digital Communication and Media

Rutgers University, New Brunswick

Certifications

● User Researcher Certification, Interaction Design Foundation 2024

● Front-End Web Development Immersive, General Assembly 2021

● User Experience Design Immersive, General Assembly 2019

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