Anastasia Sternberg
  • anastasia.uxr@proton.me
  • linkedin.com/in/ana1
  • github.com/Madame-UX
  • kogniolabs.com
Anastasia Sternberg portrait

UX Research

End-to-end research for complex products, from field studies to information architecture and roadmap direction.

Mixed-methods research across regulated and enterprise products: generative field work, usability testing, information architecture, and research operations that give teams a durable evidence base instead of one-off studies.

01About

I specialize in research environments where the users are hard to reach, the products are hard to study, and the stakes are high enough that bad insights cost more than no insights.

My work spans regulated healthcare, commercial aviation, and enterprise SaaS. I run field studies inside clinical systems and ground control environments, build information architectures at scale, and design research programs that give product teams a durable evidence base rather than findings that disappear after the readout.

At ForeFlight, I led a global gap analysis across 200+ airline operators that directly shaped the product roadmap. At SMRC, I was embedded with 2,000+ clinicians through a statewide Medicaid eHR rollout, translating field data into system design changes in real time. Through Kognio Labs, I bring that research depth to clients across MedTech, B2B SaaS, and human-AI interface work.

I prototype directly in Lovable and Figma Make, building interactive web apps and SaMD interfaces to run usability studies without waiting on a designer.

Professional affiliations

User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA)Nielsen Norman Group UX Certified
02Methods & Skills

Methods

  • In-depth interviews & contextual inquiry
  • Ethnography & embedded field research
  • Moderated usability testing (SUS, NASA TLX)
  • Card sorting & tree testing
  • Surveys and A/B testing
  • Competitive & gap analysis

Deliverables

  • Journey maps & service blueprints
  • Personas & jobs-to-be-done
  • Information architecture models
  • Research repositories & ops
  • Workshop facilitation
  • Roadmap-facing insight reports

Domains

  • Healthcare
  • Aviation
  • B2B SaaS
  • MedTech
  • Human-AI interfaces

Tools

DovetailAureliusCondensLookbackOptimal WorkshopFigmaFigma MakeAirtableSurveyMonkeyClaudeCoworkLovable
03Selected work
Usability for a $1M Medicaid eHR rollout
SMRC2021

Usability for a $1M Medicaid eHR rollout

Conducted research and training with clinicians during a system-wide eHR implementation, informing usability recommendations and risk mitigation.

Brief overview

Statewide Medicaid eHR Implementation & Change Management · research initiative within a university social work program

Context. Medicaid agency implementing a new electronic health record system for intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD) care coordination, including an embedded Level of Care Tool for clinical decision support.

Challenge. A new eHR system launched alongside a major change-management shift from paper-based documentation, increasing cognitive load, disrupting clinician-patient rapport, and introducing new use errors across the statewide rollout.

Solution. Conducted research and training with clinicians during a system-wide eHR implementation for an inter-operational platform between providers and clinicians, informing usability recommendations and risk mitigation.

Results

  • Trained 2,000+ clinicians and administrators across the statewide rollout
  • Capped caseloads at 32 and documentation fields at 20 (down from a proposed 50) based on cognitive-load findings, reducing errors and burnout
  • Recommendations shaped a phased paper-to-tablet transition that increased adoption

Methods & Tools. Ethnography · Contextual Inquiry · Usability Testing · A/B Testing · Focus Groups · Service Blueprint

Frameworks. HIPAA · Medicaid Waiver Compliance · DMH/BIDD Regulatory Requirements

Scaling EFB research across 200+ airlines
ForeFlight2023

Scaling EFB research across 200+ airlines

Led full-motion flight simulation testing and a cross-regional gap analysis across US, European, and Asia-Pacific airlines, informing feature prioritization on the product roadmap.

Brief overview

FliteDeck ProX · Jeppesen's FliteDeck ProX Electronic Flight Bag, ForeFlight, a Boeing Company

Context. ForeFlight, a Boeing company, building the airline industry's first fully integrated Electronic Flight Bag (EFB), consolidating flight planning, charts, weather, and hazard awareness into a single safety-critical tool.

Challenge. Pilots needed to replace fragmented, paper-based workflows without adding risk in high-workload cockpit environments, all while meeting strict FAA/EASA usability guidelines for the 4.8-to-5.0 feature transition.

Solution. Conducted high-fidelity LOFT simulation testing (real routes, diversions, geographic edge cases), moderated usability sessions using think-aloud, SUS, and NASA TLX, A/B testing of briefing and integration flows, and FAA/EASA heuristic evaluations. Led a gap analysis across 200+ airline operators globally to prioritize the roadmap.

Results

  • Gap analysis across 200 operators spanning 3 continents directly informed feature prioritization
  • Validated designs reduced briefing time and heads-down time for pilots
  • Findings shaped trust-signal requirements for new digital sync features and confirmed the need for manual override on Auto SID/STAR

Methods & Tools. LOFT Simulation Testing · Moderated Usability Testing (SUS, NASA TLX) · A/B Testing · Cognitive Walkthroughs · FAA/EASA Heuristic Evaluation

Reducing cognitive load and flight delays
LexTech Global Services2025

Reducing cognitive load and flight delays

Investigated how cognitive overload in flight crews contributes to operational delays, translating findings into actionable design and workflow recommendations.

Password protected

Brief overview

No Delay · Redesigning a legacy pilot operations platform, major global airline carrier

Context. One of the world's largest airline carriers, running a 40-year-old legacy platform for pilot and ground-support operations.

Challenge. An 18-section navigation structure buried critical pre-flight and post-flight information behind layers of submenus. With every piece of operational content living in the same surface, pilots and support staff faced severe information overload when they needed answers in seconds, not minutes.

Solution. Led a 10-month research engagement, 40+ interviews, live card sorting, contextual inquiry with duty pilots in ground control, and iterative testing across web and mobile, to restructure the platform's information architecture from the ground up.

Results

  • Restructured IA from 18 navigation categories down to 5
  • 1,000+ pieces of content tagged and organized into a working hierarchy
  • Findings directly informed the platform's CMS relaunch and handoff content templates

Methods & Tools. Contextual Inquiry · Card Sorting · Journey Mapping · Service Blueprint · Personas · Jobs-to-be-Done · A/B Testing · Aurelius · Dovetail · Airtable

AI sales intelligence for biotech SaaS
Kognio Labs2025

AI sales intelligence for biotech SaaS

Led competitive analysis, high-fidelity wireframe design, AI function specification, and heuristic evaluation for an in-call sales coaching platform, surfacing six market gaps and specifying four agentic AI modules grounded in active-call cognitive load.

Password protected

Brief overview

AI Sales Intelligence, Biotech SaaS · Kognio Labs, Confidential client (NDA)

Context. A biotech company developing a SaaS sales coaching platform needed HFE-grounded design and evaluation for a dashboard used by sales representatives during and after client calls. No existing product benchmarks were provided; the engagement ran entirely from client-supplied process videos and whiteboard documentation.

Challenge. User interviews and workflow validation were proposed, scoped, and removed per client decision, leaving cognitive load patterns, information timing under active calls, and task flow assumptions unvalidated.

Solution. Led competitive analysis, user flow reconstruction, high-fidelity wireframe design, AI function specification, and heuristic evaluation across the full product. Benchmarked four direct competitors, identifying six market gaps and specifying four agentic AI modules with interaction constraints grounded in active-call cognitive load.

Results

  • Identified six market gaps across competitors and structured design direction to address each without expanding scope beyond client-approved features
  • Capped AI coach recommendations at three per interaction based on Miller's Law; validated information chunking, radio-button disclosure patterns, and color-as-signal use across all states
  • Delivered design structured for future validation: task flows and AI triggers ready for usability protocol development, with known gaps formally documented

Methods & Tools. Competitive Analysis · User Flow Reconstruction · High-Fidelity Wireframing · AI Function Specification · Heuristic Evaluation · HFE Risk Documentation

Frameworks. Von Restorff Effect · Fitts's Law · Hick's Law · Miller's Law · Gestalt Principles

04Career
  1. 2023 — NowHuman Factors ResearcherKognio Labs
  2. 2022 — 2023UX ResearcherForeFlight
  3. 2021 — 2022Usability SpecialistBlackHagen Design
  4. 2017 — 2019Training CoordinatorUSM
  5. 2012 — 2017, 2020 — 2021Support CoordinatorSMRC
05Recommendations

"Anastasia was extremely professional and thorough — excellent direction and guidance for our team, and an excellent UI design framework. Communication, timing, and delivery all excellent."

Senior Director, Product Development
Surgical Ablation Platform (name withheld per NDA)
Client Engagement · June 2026

"I had the pleasure of working alongside Anastasia for 10 months on a client project where she served as the lead UX researcher. As the principal researcher and designer on the team, I got to see firsthand the depth of her expertise and the energy she brought to the work."

"Anastasia led all facets of the research effort, from recruiting users and conducting interviews, to synthesizing data, coordinating and helping facilitate collaborative workshops, and managing a wide range of stakeholders. She not only brought structure and clarity to a complex research process, but also demonstrated a knack for adjusting course and offering fresh strategies when something wasn't quite working."

"Beyond her research skills, Anastasia built strong rapport with the client through her natural enthusiasm, articulate communication, and thoughtful approach to collaboration, qualities that helped us build trust and ultimately secure buy-in for user research from a client who had historically been hesitant to invest in it."

"I'd highly recommend Anastasia to any team looking for a skilled, strategic, and collaborative UX researcher."

Brian Mila
Design Leader, Enterprise UX & Product Strategy at LexTech Global Services
Project · July 2024–April 2025

Let's talk

Open to full-time roles and select contract engagements across regulated, safety-critical, and complex products.