Andy Hay
UX Research Executive · Mercer Island, WA
25+ years building research teams, products, and companies. Co-founded User Research International, scaled it from 2 to 100+ people, exited after 17 years.
Hi, I'm Andrew (Andy) Hay. I'm a tech enthusiast who followed a path to Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) because I've always wanted to live in "tomorrow's world" today by helping cutting-edge technology improve our lives.
Areas of Practice
Research Strategy
Designed multi-year research programs for products now used by millions worldwide and generating hundreds of billions in annual revenue. Full spectrum of qualitative and quantitative methods supporting research across the product lifecycle from concept, to production, and continual growth.
Complex Domains
Specialized in complex enterprise cloud infrastructure, platforms, services, and tools, covering AI/ML, AR/VR, IaaS, Data & Analytics, Observability, Security, Search relevancy, and more. Built teams and processes that enabled us to test virtually anything.
Product Development
Designed and built research labs for URI and at Microsoft Developer Division and Microsoft Research. Built a 76,000+ participant panel with complex screening and categorization. Created Panel Pro, a self-service panel management platform, from concept to production.
Team Leadership
Grew URI from 2 to 100+ people. Hired, trained, and mentored researchers at every level and across disciplines. Built from scratch: Quant team of PhDs, Cloud Research team, Research labs and facilities team, IT team, Cloud Operations team, and product development team of Developers, Designers, and PM.
Research programs delivered for companies including
Specialized domains include
Independent Builder & Strategic Advisor
AI-Enabled Research & Product Development
- Built demand-supply gap analysis using ML clustering (HDBSCAN, UMAP, BERTopic, LLM analysis) comparing 14,691 user forum posts against 7,209 solution templates; identified structural category mismatches that reframed product investment priorities
- Developing AI agents on cloud infrastructure (Oracle Cloud, Anthropic Claude), working daily with frontier AI models to understand capabilities, limitations, and application to real problems
- Designed and built AI-powered voice agent combining database architecture, workflow automation (n8n), and conversational UI for complex information retrieval
Strategic Advisor, Zila Tech Limited
- Pro bono advisory for Google Education partner supporting school and business deployments in Kenya
- Built AI-powered automations to support business development operations
Executive Board Member, User Research International
Transitioned from 17-year co-founder role to board governance
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
User Research International
Building and Scaling the Research Organization
- Scaled from 2 to 100+ employees across research, operations, and engineering
- Built specialized teams from scratch: Cloud Research, Quantitative Research, AR/VR Research, Cloud Operations, IT & Security, Labs and Facilities, and Product Development
- Defined research vision, strategy, and operating model; built hiring, mentorship, and quality systems that sustained growth across 17 years
- Managed P&L, client relationships, and strategic direction
- Served 7 of the world's 10 largest tech companies
Researching Expert Professional Users in Complex Domains
- Led foundational research for Microsoft Azure before public launch: instituted usability benchmarking program with executive-level sponsorship for go/no-go service launch metrics. Research contributed to Azure platform now generating $75B+ annual revenue.
- Led foundational research for Google Cloud Platform, including service usability benchmarks. Research contributed to GCP platform now generating $50B+ annual revenue.
- Pioneered research methodologies and programs for Meta Reality Labs (AR/VR) and wearables teams when no established methods existed
- Planned and led research programs with information workers and productivity tools including Google Docs, Google Sheets, Microsoft Office, and Microsoft Teams
- Career focused on expert users (cloud engineers, IT administrators, data professionals, developers, information workers, enterprise buyers) operating in technically complex environments
Mixed Methods Research and Product Strategy
- Built dedicated Quantitative Research practice alongside qualitative research teams
- Positioned research as strategic input to executive decision-making, not just evaluative feedback
AI Initiatives and Research Infrastructure
- Drove AI initiatives across URI: managed a team building AI-powered UX research tools for translation, survey research analysis, and qualitative research analysis
- Qualitative research analysis tools reduced analysis timelines 80%, from 5 days to 8 hours
- Created Panel Pro, an enterprise SaaS research platform, from scratch: 1,500+ participant profiling attributes, identity verification, and automated quality management; managed designers through full product lifecycle
- Built proprietary research participant panels to reduce dependency on third-party vendors and improve data quality
Innovation: Contactless Lab Pods
- Designed NSF-certified single-occupant clean rooms for hardware research during COVID-19
- HEPA filtration (12 air cycles/hour), UV-C sterilization, remote moderation
- Grew hardware testing client base while industry paused; turned constraint into competitive advantage
UX Research Lead
Microsoft
- Led UX research for Microsoft.com, TechNet, MSDN, Windows Server and Systems Center teams
- Gold Star award for System Center Essentials contributions (a v1 product that became the template for enterprise Systems Center products)
- Developed IT Professional customer model spanning 29 personas and 1,000+ workflows, utilized by all Windows Server product teams
- Rebuilt trust with engineering teams that had previously rejected UX research partnership, establishing research as valued input to product decisions
- Patent: Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), issued January 2006
Information Architect · Research Intern
Oyster Partners · HP Labs
- Information Architect for digital consultancy (Oyster Partners)
- Patent: Trusted Computing Interface Design at HP Labs (US 20020089528)
Teams Built from Scratch
Research Methods
MSc Ergonomics & HCI
University College London
BSc Psychology
Goldsmiths, University of London
Multivariate Statistics & Experimental Design
