Sal Criscione

About me
My path to UX Research wasn't linear—it was a deliberate evolution. I began my career in digital illustration and web design, which gave me a sharp eye for visual communication. However, as I dove deeper into Design Thinking, I became obsessed with the "why" behind the "what." This led me to transition fully into UX Research, where I now combine my design intuition with rigorous methodology.

I’m proud of my unorthodox background; it allows me to bridge the gap between creative execution and analytical insights, bringing a unique perspective to every cross-functional team I join.

My Mission
I move teams past assumptions to the real problems customers face, then translate complex data into design solutions that actually work.

Insights Leadership Case Studies

The Deepening Framework

Our goal was to increase "share of wallet" from 35% to 70% by improving how financial advisors manage client relationships. Through stakeholder interviews and competitive analysis, I identified a missing "Contact Strategy" tool. Advisors were currently using manual workarounds to maintain the consistent meeting cadences required to build trust and grow assets.

I guided the development of a new, centralized Contact Strategy tool through iterative generative and evaluative testing. This research transformed a fragmented, manual process into a streamlined digital workflow that supports advisor coaching and data reporting. After launch, I utilized analytics to monitor adoption, ensuring the tool effectively supported the firm’s long-term growth and advisor success.

Householding Clients

Our financial advisors manage households but their software tools did not allow them to combine clients together into a household. Because of this, there was a large gap in their software tools and it caused challenges for them to do their job.

We conducted discovery research to understand how the financial advisors think about households and to understand the various household scenarios. We developed the MVP and released the household tool in phases. After 3 months of the household tool being released to all financial advisors, we measured a 92% adoption.

The Financial Advisor Ecosystem Playbook

I identified a significant knowledge gap where product teams lacked a unified understanding of our financial advisor segments. To solve this, I proactively led a cross-functional initiative, conducting stakeholder interviews across three lines of business to codify the history, goals, and specific roles within the advisor ecosystem.

I synthesized this research into a foundational framework on the J.P. Morgan financial advisor ecosystem case study that became the organization’s "source of truth." By centralizing these insights, I eliminated redundant discovery work, allowing design and product teams to bypass basic questions and focus on high-maturity innovation and targeted user problems.