Hi! I’m Carolyn Gearig.
I'm a product leader working at the intersection of journalism, civic data, and public impact. I'm currently Director of Product at OpenSecrets, the nation's premier research and government transparency group tracking money in politics.
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Work with me
With 6+ years of experience in user research and product management, I help teams understand their users and build better products. Here are some of the ways I can help you and your organization.
Conducting User Research
Better understand your audience, through systematic research.
Stop guessing what your users want. I run targeted studies that reveal actionable user needs, which we will translate into engagement, retention, and revenue. With 100+ studies delivered, I've helped teams boost pageviews, membership revenue, and newsletter engagement through actionable insights.
What you get:- Research roadmaps that prioritize high-impact questions
- User interviews, usability tests, diary studies and other research tools to understand your audience
- Clear recommendations that your team can act on immediately
Product Strategy Consulting
Transform your digital products through audience-driven strategy.
I help you cut through feature bloat and build what actually matters. From defining MVPs to creating roadmaps that align your entire team, I ensure every product decision serves both user needs and business goals.
What you get:
- Roadmaps that integrate user research with business objectives
- Feature prioritization frameworks that focus resources on what works
- Agile coaching & sprint planning
- A/B testing
- Go-to-market strategies backed by real user data
UX Research Training & Enablement
Scale your impact by making your entire team research-savvy.
Stop bottlenecking user insights through one person. I teach your teams to conduct quality research independently, so user voices inform every decision across your organization.
What you get:
- Training programs that turn anyone into a competent researcher
- Custom frameworks and documentation for consistent results
- Ongoing support to ensure quality and confidence
- Research goal setting and project planning workshops
- Hands-on guidance for survey and interview execution
Research Synthesis & Organization
Turn years of scattered insights into your competitive advantage.
Your organization has valuable research sitting in forgotten folders. I organize, synthesize, and systematize your existing insights so teams can quickly find and act on what you already know.
What you get:
- Centralized, searchable database of all your research insights
- Cross-study analysis that reveals powerful user patterns
- Systems that make future research immediately accessible and useful