Paul Pagel, M.Sc.Principal UX Researcher
Making sense of the messy space between people, technology and decisions
I combine hands-on product research, mixed methods and Research Operations to connect scattered evidence, challenge easy answers and help teams make clearer decisions.
About
I am a Principal UX Researcher working within a large international organisation. My work spans hands-on product research and the wider systems around it: connecting customer feedback, keeping evidence accessible and useful, and helping teams apply research methods with confidence.
My background in communication design and interdisciplinary media studies shaped my interest in how people interpret, adapt to and occasionally struggle with technology. I am particularly interested in questions that look simple until human behaviour gets involved.
Alongside conducting research, I build the practical structures that help evidence travel beyond a single project. Inclusive design remains an important foundation of my work, particularly when conventional systems fail to account for the full range of people who use them.
Manifesto
Technology should adapt to the way humans are—not the other way around.
What guides my work
- Question the default
- Include the edges early
- Compare what people say with what they do
- Make trade-offs visible
- Build evidence others can reuse
My approach
Look behind the metric
A score can tell you that something changed. Research helps uncover whose experience shifted, what they expected, what they compared it with—and what the metric has quietly left out.
Include the edges early
Researching with people conventional systems often overlook exposes assumptions early—before accessibility is reduced to a final compliance step.
Build evidence that travels
Research should not disappear after a presentation. I structure and connect evidence in repositories and shared research systems so teams can find, challenge and reuse it across products.
Selected work and writing
Explore all writing
Satisfaction & expectations
Chasing High CSAT? Why Satisfaction Scores Will Dip
How normalisation and adjacent experiences reshape what satisfaction means—even when experiences improve.
Survey research · trend analysis · benchmarking
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Accessibility & inclusive design
Designing a Video-Call Interface with People with Cognitive Disabilities
Designing a communication experience with and for people conventional interfaces often overlook.
Co-creation · usability testing · iterative prototyping
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Prioritisation & decision science
When everything feels important: How MaxDiff and Conjoint sharpen product decisions
Why rating surveys flatten priorities—and how structured trade-offs reveal what should come first.
MaxDiff · Conjoint analysis · quantitative prioritisation
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