Legible Research is a specialist UX research practice for consumer health and beauty companies — focused on the gap between what your product knows and what your users actually understand.
The problem
That's a useful question. But there's a category of product where doing the thing isn't enough — the product only works if the user understands the thing.
A skincare formula they don't trust won't get used. A health recommendation they can't parse won't change behavior. A quiz result that feels arbitrary won't convert to a subscription.
The product isn't broken. The gap between what you know and what your users understand is.
That gap is what Legible Research is built to find and fix.
Users receiving lab results, diagnoses, or treatment recommendations need to understand what they mean before they'll act on them. Confusion here doesn't just hurt retention — it undermines the clinical goal.
Personalization is the promise. But when users don't understand why a formula was recommended for them — the quiz felt arbitrary, the result lacked explanation — the promise collapses. Trust is the conversion.
When users receive a care plan, supplement recommendation, or lifestyle protocol they don't understand, they don't follow it. Comprehension isn't a nice-to-have — it's the clinical and commercial outcome.
Services
Every project is scoped to answer a specific question your team is already asking. No sprawling research programs — just rigorous, fast work that changes how you build.
A focused review of a specific product flow — onboarding, quiz, results page, or key moment — that maps exactly where the comprehension gap is breaking down. Delivered as a concise findings report with prioritized recommendations.
8–10 user interviews designed to answer one strategic question before you build. Who are your users, what do they already understand, where does their mental model break from yours? Synthesis delivered in a format your team can act on.
Moderated sessions with real users to evaluate a design direction, prototype, or copy approach before development begins. Less expensive than building the wrong thing.
A line-by-line review of onboarding copy, in-app instructional text, quiz language, or results page messaging — identifying exactly where your words are losing people before your product gets a chance to work.
A structured review of 2–4 competitor products through a comprehension and trust lens — mapping where they lose users, what signals they use to build confidence, and where the gap your product could own actually sits.
For teams building their own research capability. Ongoing partnership to help you ask better questions, run more rigorous studies, and build a research practice that actually influences decisions.
Your team is shipping AI-generated content faster than any human can evaluate it. This service provides a structured review of AI output — chatbot responses, onboarding flows, help docs, care plan summaries — to assess whether it actually works for real users. Not a detection tool. A human-experience audit.
Sample work
Two examples of the deliverable formats I use. Client names and details have been anonymized in accordance with NDA obligations.
A review of the consultation flow, results experience, and post-prescription onboarding — mapping the exact moments where comprehension breaks down and users disengage before converting.
10 discovery interviews with women navigating a new PCOS or hormonal imbalance diagnosis — uncovering the mental models, trust signals, and information gaps that shape their relationship with digital health products.
Who I work with
I work with Series A and B consumer health, beauty, and wellness companies — teams that are past the "does this work?" stage and into the harder question of "why aren't users getting it?"
Usually, there's no dedicated researcher on staff yet. The team is smart and product-driven, but research keeps getting deprioritized in favor of building. That's exactly when a focused outside perspective is most useful.
About
I've spent seven years studying how people learn, make decisions, and build habits in digital products. That work taught me something that turns out to apply almost everywhere: the hardest UX problems aren't about what users can't do — they're about what users don't understand.
I started Legible Research to apply that specific lens to health and beauty — industries where the comprehension gap has real consequences. When a user doesn't understand their treatment plan, they don't follow it. When a quiz result feels arbitrary, they cancel. Getting this right isn't just good UX. It's the product working.
"When you work with Legible Research, you work directly with me. I scope every project, run every session, and write every finding. No account managers, no handoffs to junior staff. You get senior research on every engagement — because that's the only kind I do."
I keep my client roster intentionally small so each engagement gets my full attention. That also means I'm selective about fit — the best projects are ones where a specific question is keeping your team up at night, and you're ready to act on the answer.
How it works
Tell me the question your team is most uncertain about. We don't need a research brief. One good question is enough to scope something useful.
I'll send a short proposal — the research question, the method, the timeline, and the fee. Simple, no surprises. Most first projects close within a week.
I handle recruitment, sessions, synthesis, and reporting. You're kept in the loop without being burdened by logistics. I'll flag anything surprising as it emerges.
Delivered in whatever format your team actually reads — a short deck, a written report, a readout session. The goal is action, not documentation.
Get in touch
If there's something about your users you don't understand — a drop-off you can't explain, a conversion you can't crack, a piece of your product that never quite lands — that's enough to start.
Thanks for reaching out. I'll read what you've shared and be back in touch within one business day.