UX Researcher · Available for Work
Billy Leet
I study how people communicate – with products, with each other, and with themselves.
LinkedIn Profile →I study how people communicate – with products, with each other, and with themselves.
LinkedIn Profile →01 About
The best research I've done didn't answer the question on the brief. It changed the question entirely. Teams came in asking whether users understood a feature and left reconsidering whether the feature was solving the right problem. That reframe is what I think good research is actually for: not confirming what a team already believes, but changing what they think is possible.
Before UX, I was a Speech-Language Pathologist, which meant sitting with people who knew exactly what they meant but couldn't find the words to match. In 7th grade I taught myself the Elvish writing system from Tolkien's appendices to pass coded notes in class. Both habits carry over: noticing the gap between what people intend and what actually comes out.
10 years of experience at Google, Meta, and Duolingo taught me that the research question is almost never the real question. I've led generative studies that shifted roadmap priorities, usability research that caught critical failures before they shipped, and longitudinal work that traced how people's relationships with a product evolve over time.
I'm available for senior contract and full-time UX Research roles. I'm most interested in teams where the research can change what they think is possible.
02 What I Do
01
The best research projects start with a precise question, not a vague one. I get involved before the brief is written to help teams figure out exactly what they need to learn.
02
Interviews, ethnographic observation, diary studies, usability testing. I'm skilled at creating conditions where people tell you what they actually think, not what they think you want to hear.
03
Qualitative findings gain force when triangulated with behavioral data. I'm comfortable partnering with data scientists and designing surveys that complement exploratory work.
04
After fieldwork, I put real time into synthesis: what the patterns mean, how to sequence the story, and what format will reach the people who need to act on it.
05
I trained as a Speech-Language Pathologist before moving into UX research. That background gives me a specific vocabulary for diagnosing where communication breaks down, which changes the questions I know to ask.
06
Getting research into decisions is a separate skill from doing the research. I pay close attention to who makes decisions, what they need to hear, and when in the process they're actually open to changing course.
03 Career
Prior to 2016
Clinical Practice
Speech-Language Pathologist
Worked clinically with individuals across the lifespan with communication, language, and cognitive disorders. Observing where communication breaks down and why turned out to be the through-line for me.
2016 – 2018
UX Research Coordinator
Coordinated UX research operations for Google Cloud, managing study logistics, participant recruitment, and cross-product research consultation to keep research running smoothly across multiple teams.
2018 – 2022
Meta
UX Researcher — Instagram
Conducted research across Instagram's core social and messaging surfaces. Helped teams understand how people use visual communication to maintain relationships, express identity, and navigate the social dynamics of a platform at global scale.
2022 – 2025
Duolingo
Senior UX Researcher
Led research for core learning and engagement features on one of the world's most-used language learning apps. Partnered closely with product, design, and learning science teams to understand how people build and break long-term learning habits.
2025
Contractor
UX Researcher — Change.org
Most recently contracted to lead foundational qualitative research at Change.org, studying a small segment of users who drive outsized platform impact.
