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Sara Fortier

CEO/founder | Outwitly Inc.

Sara Fortier is a seasoned UX and service design leader with over 14 years of experience in design strategy, research, and digital transformation. As the CEO and Founder of Outwitly Inc., she has built a company known for its innovative staffing model and high client impact. A former Design Director in Silicon Valley, she has led projects for Fortune 100 companies, improving efficiency and user experience. Sara is also a dedicated educator, having taught UX and service design at Carleton University. Her design leadership experience spans diverse sectors, including government, healthcare, finance, education, and SaaS, giving her a sought-after perspective on the UX industry.

Explore how design researchers can earn the trust and buy-in that give studies impact, even as AI shifts how teams work.

Article by Sara Fortier
Earning the Right to Research: Stakeholder Buy-In and Influence in the AI x UX Era
  • The article emphasizes that synthetic data and AI tools promise speed, but not the alignment or shared purpose that makes design research effective in solving design problems.
  • It asserts that meaningful human-centred design begins with trust and the permission to conduct research properly (i.e., strategically).
  • The piece outlines how to build stakeholder buy-in for design research through practical strategies that build influence piece by piece within an organization.
  • Adapted from the book Design Research Mastery, it offers grounded ways to enable impactful user studies in today’s AI-driven landscape.
Share:Earning the Right to Research: Stakeholder Buy-In and Influence in the AI x UX Era
12 min read
Article by Sara Fortier
7 Steps to Better Customer Experience (CX)
  • The article emphasizes the significance of exceptional customer experience and its impact on business success, outlining seven crucial steps to improve customer experience, from understanding the customer journey to refining and iterating the process.
Share:7 Steps to Better Customer Experience (CX)
7 min read

Tips on how to champion HCD and design research to stakeholders and get them on board with all of your UX processes.

Article by Sara Fortier
How to Champion HCD and Design Research to Stakeholders
  • The article covers:
    • The importance of stakeholder management
    • Challenges to overcome with research resisters
    • Common objections to doing user research and how to respond
Share:How to Champion HCD and Design Research to Stakeholders
8 min read
How to Champion HCD and Design Research to Stakeholders

If you’re a tech-led company, chances are you’re experiencing growth at an incredible rate these days. Are you hiring in a way that’s going to strategically improve your products and services? Is there a cohesive experience for your customers across touch points? Are you pausing long enough to ensure that all the late nights, pressure, and quick feature releases are actually working? Or is your organization operating as the proverbial chicken with its head cut-off?

Article by Sara Fortier
Growing Pains of the Booming Tech Industry
  • Although there are immense opportunities for tech companies to grow nowadays, many experience four types of challenges.
  • Typical growing pains concern the management of multiple digital products simultaneously, team composition, releases frequency, lack of UX research.
  • The solutions range from creating guiding experience principles to investing more in UX research.
Share:Growing Pains of the Booming Tech Industry
7 min read

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