QUIÑONES

CX & UX Research Executive · AI Product Strategy · Voice of Customer

Miguel Quiñones

25 years turning user insight into C-suite decisions — at Google, Verizon, and now WorkElate. I build the research organizations, frameworks, and AI-integrated strategies that move products from reactive to intelligent.

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🏆 2018 World Institute on Disability “Ever Widening Circle Award” — Recognized for outstanding contributions to accessibility and inclusive design at Verizon/TracFone

01 — About

Research that moves business forward

I’m an award-winning CX and UX Research executive who has spent 25 years building the organizations and systems that translate user behavior into competitive advantage. My work sits at the intersection of deep qualitative insight, enterprise AI strategy, and executive influence. At Google, I led research across five of the most-visited Search verticals — evolving the function from a reactive model into an AI and LLM-powered strategy that directly shaped the long-term product roadmap at the C-suite level. At Verizon/TracFone, I built the company’s first enterprise UX Research and Accessibility organization from scratch — transforming accessibility from a compliance risk into a competitive differentiator across a 9-brand portfolio serving millions of underserved consumers. Today I’m co-founding WorkElate, an AI-driven workforce platform, where I lead UX strategy, product discovery, and U.S. go-to-market execution.

25+Years leading CX & UX Research at enterprise scale

9Brands brought to full ADA/WCAG accessibility compliance

12+Cross-functional Google teams served by a centralized insights system

3×Org functions built from zero — research, accessibility, quality assurance

02 — Experience

Where I’ve created impact

2025 — Present

WorkElate

Current · Founder

Co-Founder & Chief Experience Officer

Co-founding an AI-driven workforce platform focused on redefining how distributed teams collaborate and perform. Responsible for UX strategy, product discovery, and U.S. go-to-market execution — building the customer experience foundation from the ground up.

StrategyDefining UX strategy and research operations to drive product-market fit for an AI-native productivity platform (Hub, Calendar, Tasks)

GTMBridging engineering with U.S. market requirements — translating user needs into a prioritized product roadmap and adoption strategy

Org BuildEstablishing research frameworks, feedback loops, and design principles that will scale with the organization as it grows toward Series A

2020 — 2025

Google

Manager · UX Research

Manager, User Experience Research

Recruited to direct UX research strategy across five high-traffic Search verticals — Sports, TV & Movies, Finance, Video Games, and Suggest. Led a team of researchers partnering with product, engineering, and C-suite leadership to transform how over a billion users experience Google Search.

AI StrategyArchitected a multi-year UX strategy transforming Search verticals from a reactive input-output model to an AI/LLM-guided experience — partnering directly with C-suite to define user journeys for complex queries and align the product roadmap with generative AI capabilities

Research OpsConsolidated redundant research streams across 12+ cross-functional Search Vertical teams by building a centralized insights repository and shared strategic roadmap — accelerating research-to-decision cycles

Team GrowthBuilt a high-performing UXR team with a 100% success rate in senior leadership visibility for team insights — and promoted 3 researchers into elevated roles within 24 months through structured career development

2013 — 2020

Verizon

Director · UXR & Accessibility

Director, UX Research & Accessibility

Promoted to architect and scale the first enterprise UX Research and Accessibility organization at the world’s largest prepaid wireless provider — a 20-person multi-disciplinary team embedded within a 9-brand portfolio. Transformed accessibility from a legal liability into a strategic differentiator.

UXR FrameworkInstituted a company-wide UXR framework across all 9 brands — shifting focus from transactional metrics to behavioral understanding of the consumer journey and unlocking new customer lifetime value drivers

Risk ReductionSignificantly reduced multi-state regulatory and litigation exposure across California, New York, and Florida markets — achieving full ADA/WCAG compliance across websites, handsets, apps, and all 9 brand marketing materials

C-Suite VOCElevated Voice of Customer to C-suite using mixed-methods research to de-risk major strategic pivots including product standardization across 9 brands — recognized with the 2018 WID “Ever Widening Circle Award”

2000 — 2013

TracFone Wireless

Director · Customer QA

Director, Customer Quality Assurance → Sr. Manager, Agent Quality

Joined as the founding leader of TracFone’s quality assurance function and grew with the company for 13 years — evolving from frontline call center QA into a strategic multi-level organization responsible for shaping the end-to-end customer experience.

First-of-KindDefined and implemented TracFone’s corporate UX research framework — the first structured research function in the company’s history, laying the foundation for all future VOC and insights capability

Tech & PlatformsLed end-to-end technical integration of call recording, survey infrastructure, and IVR systems — including training, change management, and ongoing KPI governance

ScaleOnboarded and managed multiple offshore call centers across the Americas, delivering standardized QA training, best practices, and performance management frameworks

03 — Expertise

What I bring to your organization

Core Discipline

UX Research Leadership

Mixed-methods research design, qual & quant studies, consumer panels, focus groups, research operations, and insights infrastructure at enterprise scale

Specialization

Accessibility & Inclusive Design

ADA, WCAG 2.1, FCC regulatory compliance — turning legal requirements into product differentiation and competitive advantage for underserved segments

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

Voice of Customer

Consumer Insights & VOC

Enterprise VOC programs, behavioral analytics, landscape analyses, Big Data synthesis, and executive-level insight delivery that reshapes product roadmaps

Leadership

Org Building & Talent

Building research organizations from zero, cross-functional team leadership, structured career development, C-suite engagement, and executive vision-selling

Strategy

Product & CX Strategy

Multi-year product roadmap influence, digital transformation, freemium conversion, go-to-market execution, and enterprise change management

Strategic PlanningAgile / SAFeChange ManagementRisk ManagementResearch OperationsRegulatory ComplianceFocus GroupsConsumer PanelsFreemium ConversionTalent DevelopmentVoice of CustomerGo-to-MarketIVR & Digital PlatformsEnterprise Research

04 — Education

Credentials & Certifications

Western Governors University

Bachelor of Science, Business Management

Salt Lake City, UT

MBA · In Progress

Master of Business Administration

Graduate Business School — Currently enrolled

Google Inc.

Executive Education — Leadership & Peer Coaching

Mountain View, CA

IAAP

CPACC — Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies

International Association of Accessibility Professionals

Forrester Research

CXPro Certification

Customer Experience Professional · Cambridge, MA

Scaled Agile, Inc.

Certified SAFe Product Owner / Product Manager

Boulder, CO

05 — Contact

Open to the right conversation

Available for executive CX, UX Research leadership, board advisory, and strategic consulting conversations.

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