Head of UX Research · AI Product Strategy · Accessibility & Inclusive Design
Miguel Quiñones
UX Research executive with 15+ years building and leading research organizations. Co-founder of WorkElate, an AI-native office suite; previously led UX research for 7 Google Search verticals and built Verizon/TracFone’s first UX Research & Accessibility organization.
01 — About
Research that moves business forward
I’m a UX Research executive with 15+ years building and leading research organizations — turning fragmented research into one clear story leadership acts on, and building accessibility into products from the start, not bolting it on after launch.
Today I’m co-founder of WorkElate, a pre-seed startup building an AI-native office suite, where I lead the AI product experience.
At Google, I was Senior Manager, UX Research for 7 Search verticals, where my team’s research shaped how Search presents Sports, TV & Movies, People, and Autos information and contributed to Search’s shift to AI-organized results.
At Verizon/TracFone, I built the company’s first enterprise UX Research & Accessibility organization — up to 50 people and a $3M budget — took all 9 brands to WCAG compliance, and raised TracFone’s Disability Equality Index score from 20 to a perfect 100 in one year.
02 — Expertise
What I bring to your organization
Leadership
Org Building & Talent
Building research organizations from zero, cross-functional team leadership, structured career development, C-suite engagement, and executive vision-selling
Core Discipline
UX Research Leadership
Mixed-methods research design, qual & quant studies, consumer panels, focus groups, research operations, and insights infrastructure at enterprise scale
Emerging Practice
AI & Generative AI Strategy
Applying LLMs and generative AI to build intelligent, guided product experiences — bridging UX research and AI/ML product strategy at the executive level
Strategy
Product & CX Strategy
Multi-year product roadmap influence, digital transformation, go-to-market execution, and enterprise change management
Voice of Customer
Consumer Insights & VOC
Enterprise VOC programs, behavioral analytics, landscape analyses, and executive-level insight delivery that reshapes product roadmaps
Specialization
Accessibility & Inclusive Design
ADA, WCAG 2.1, FCC regulatory compliance — turning legal requirements into product differentiation and competitive advantage for underserved segments
03 — Experience
Professional experience
WorkElate | Remote
Nov 2025 – PresentCo-Founder, AI Product Experience Lead
Pre-seed startup building an AI-native office suite that automates busywork across documents, email, and workplace tools — and checks with the user before it acts.
- Refocused the product on one core value proposition — proactive work management — grounded in 50+ discovery interviews, by documenting user pain points and leading the design changes that followed.
- Unified fragmented product workflows into one clear journey (awareness → activation → retention) by leading the design function across product, design, and go-to-market priorities.
- Keep investors aligned on progress through monthly briefings while preparing the company for incorporation as a founding executive.
Google | Mountain View, CA
Oct 2020 – May 2025Senior Manager, UX Research — Search Verticals
Led UX research and product strategy for 7 Google Search verticals — Sports, Finance, Autos, Search Answers, People, TV & Movies, and Video Games — leading a team of 7 researchers embedded in cross-functional product teams.
- Shaped how Google Search presents Sports, TV & Movies, People, and Autos information, with research adopted by 8 product teams (Autos, Finance, Sports, Doodles, and 4 TV & Movies teams), by leading a 12-month diary study with 60 participants, field research at 4 live games, focus groups, monthly usability sessions, and surveys.
- Informed results-page changes, including live scores and in-game information, reorganized TV & Movies pages, and the 2022 celebrity rich-card test, and contributed to Search’s broader shift to AI-organized results, by bringing findings into design sessions and leadership product reviews.
- Cut duplicated research effort an estimated 30–40% across 12+ product teams by building a centralized insights repository and shared research roadmap, which also shortened reporting time and widened the reach of every study.
- Delivered 15+ qualitative and quantitative studies a year that product teams adopted, by partnering with design and product leaders during discovery to prioritize research against the biggest product decisions.
- Promoted 3 researchers in 24 months by creating structured career plans, mentorship, and stretch assignments that put researchers in front of senior leadership.
Verizon Communications (formerly TracFone Wireless) | Doral, FL
America’s largest prepaid wireless provider — 21M+ customers across 9 brands.
Director, UX Research & Accessibility
2011 – 2020- Built TracFone’s first enterprise UX Research & Accessibility organization — up to 50 researchers, accessibility engineers, and QA analysts across Miami and offshore teams — managing a $3M annual budget.
- Brought all 9 brands to WCAG compliance — including 265 violations fixed across 11 audits in 2020 — by writing the company’s accessibility policy, pushing adoption across every value brand, and leading the AudioEye integration with IT.
- Raised TracFone’s Disability Equality Index score from 20 to a perfect 100 in one year (2019–2020), earning recognition as a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion,” by personally leading the DEI submission, launching the company’s first accessibility initiatives, and aligning 10 departments (HR, Legal, Finance, Product, IT, Marketing, Procurement and others) around policy, training, and inclusion programs.
- Wrote the business case “Accessibility as an Alternative Sales Channel” (54M Americans, $220B in discretionary spending) and led annual accessibility training and awareness events with disability organizations, bringing them in to speak with leadership and hold employee roundtables.
- Reduced litigation exposure in California, New York, and Florida by creating accessibility complaint-handling processes, call-center accommodation guidelines, and ongoing email and call audits.
- Ran 30+ studies a year with research leads embedded in 12 cross-functional Agile teams, turning findings into hundreds of change requests a year — roughly three-quarters implemented — and catching dozens of defects before production.
- Found why 82% of SafeLink Lifeline customers never made the first call that activates service by running a two-day rapid iterative (RITE) usability study with 15 participants; delivered 12 tested fixes across the web flow, mailer, and email, including a SIM ejector added to every kit, that reduced escalation calls after launch.
- Showed weak retail sales of Simple Mobile’s $75 two-line card were an awareness problem, not price (90%+ preferred the existing message), through simulated Best Buy shopping studies — driving a packaging redesign approved for production.
- Represented TracFone with the FCC (TTY-to-RTT migration) and USAC (Lifeline enrollment upgrade), and partnered with Walmart and national retailers to make the in-store purchase experience accessible.
- Promoted 6 team members into roles of greater responsibility over 5 years.
Prior Experience
Customer Quality Assurance & Research Operations Leadership | TracFone Wireless
- Led TracFone’s first corporate UX research proof of concept, the foundation for the UX Research & Accessibility organization.
- Ran QA and KPI performance (call resolution, complaints, CSAT, accessibility errors) for onshore and offshore call centers across the Americas.
- Led selection, integration, and rollout of call-recording, survey, and IVR platforms, and grew a 15-person QA team into a multi-level QA and research organization.
04 — Education
Education
- Master of Business Administration (MBA)
Western Governors University - Bachelor of Science, Business Management
Western Governors University
05 — Certifications
Certifications
- CPACC — Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies
International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) - CXPro — Customer Experience Professional
Forrester Research - Certified SAFe Product Owner / Product Manager
Scaled Agile, Inc. - Executive Education — Leadership & Peer Coaching
Google
06 — Board Service & Recognition
Board service & recognition
- Board Member
World Institute on Disability2020 – Present - “Ever Widening Circle Award”
World Institute on Disability — individual honor for accessibility leadership across TracFone’s 9-brand portfolio2018
07 — Contact
Open to the right conversation
Open to Head of UX Research, Research Operations, and Strategy & Operations leadership roles, as well as board advisory and consulting conversations.