During a 12-week UX research internship at holm.site, a fast-growing startup, I led comprehensive research initiatives that directly informed product strategy and market positioning. This internship experience combined strategic market analysis with hands-on user research to bridge the gap between business objectives and user needs.
The Challenge
holm needed to strengthen its market position in a competitive landscape while ensuring their product truly served user needs.The startup required data-driven insights to guide product decisions, refine their target audience, and optimize user experience across critical product flows.
Research Approach
Market & Competitive Intelligence
- Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) Analysis: Identified core user motivations and unmet market needs
- Competitive Benchmarking: Analyzed competitor offerings to identify market gaps and differentiation opportunities
- Market Positioning Strategy: Developed frameworks to position holm effectively within the competitive landscape
User-Centered Research
- Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs): Created detailed profiles based on behavioral and demographic data
- Persona Development: Crafted evidence-based personas to guide design decisions
- User Journey Mapping: Mapped end-to-end user experiences to identify pain points and opportunities
Experience Evaluation
- Trust-Building Analysis: Evaluated factors that build or erode user trust throughout the product experience
- Usability Studies: Conducted systematic testing of key product flows to identify friction points
- User Interviews: Led qualitative research sessions to uncover deeper user insights and motivations
Key Methodologies
- Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework
- Competitive analysis and benchmarking
- User interviews and qualitative synthesis
- Usability testing and heuristic evaluation
- Customer and User journey mapping
- Quantitative and qualitative data analysis
Impact & Outcomes
- Delivered actionable insights that informed product strategy and design decisions
- Created research artifacts that aligned cross-functional teams around user needs
- Identified market opportunities that contributed to the startup's growth trajectory
- Established research processes that could be replicated for ongoing user understanding
Skills Demonstrated
- Strategic thinking and market analysis
- Mixed-methods research design
- Stakeholder communication and collaboration
- Data synthesis and insight generation
- Framework application (JTBD)
- Early-stage startup adaptability
Final Deliverable
As the final project of this internship, I created a comprehensive holm.site template specifically designed for solopreneurs using holm's platform. This template synthesizes all research insights into a practical, user-centered solution that addresses the identified needs and pain points of the target market.
Live Template: hannahtemplate.holm.site
Soloprenuer Case Study:
