Wero
Stood up the UX research function for a pan-European payments network — across the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and France — turning research from late-stage validation into a continuous-discovery operating rhythm.
A new pan-European payments product. Four markets. Zero research operating model.
Wero is the European Payments Initiative's consumer-facing product — a unified payments network covering the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and France. The product team had design, engineering, and ambition. What it didn't have was a way to make research a strategic input rather than a checkbox before launch.
My remit: stand up the research practice from scratch — operating model, intake process, prioritization framework, repository — and run large-scale qualitative and quantitative programs across four markets in parallel. While simultaneously positioning research as continuous discovery, not late-stage validation, inside a multi-stakeholder ecosystem of designers, engineers, banks, merchants, and partners.
"We're not launching one product in four markets. We're launching four products that have to feel like one."
Research as strategic infrastructure — not last-mile validation.
Six months. Four markets. The job wasn't to run more studies — it was to build the operating model, repository, and stakeholder rhythms that let research compound across markets and stay strategic, not reactive.
Built the calendar, intake process, and prioritization framework from scratch. Output: every product decision routes through a defined research lens, with realistic timelines and clear ownership across markets.
Set up the central insights repository plus a knowledge-sharing structure (Confluence + Slack). Output: research reuse instead of repeated work — and stakeholder education on how to query findings without going through me.
Led large-scale qualitative + quantitative research across NL, DE, BE, FR. Tooling spanned Matomo, Databricks, Tableau, and UserTesting — chosen to support behavior + attitude triangulation across language and regulatory contexts.
Translated complex insights into product strategy, roadmap input, and concrete epics/user stories. Specific impact areas: consumer segments, onboarding, checkout, QR, and consent flows — the touchpoints where pan-European products live or die.
Six months. Continuous discovery, live.
Building the operating model
First month was infrastructure — research calendar, intake process, prioritization framework. Made it work for four markets at once, with clear ownership and realistic timelines, so the model held under load.
Central insights repository goes live
Set up Confluence + Slack as the central knowledge layer. Migrated existing research, defined tagging conventions, and ran stakeholder education sessions so the team could query findings independently.
Large-scale multi-market programs
Ran qualitative + quantitative research across NL, DE, BE, FR. Used Matomo, Databricks, Tableau, and UserTesting to triangulate behavior and attitude — and surfaced market-specific signals the product team couldn't have seen any other way.
Insights into product strategy
Translated findings into roadmap input and epics across consumer segments, onboarding, checkout, QR, and consent flows. Made sure the strategic narrative — not just the tactical fixes — landed with product leadership.
Aligning the multi-stakeholder ecosystem
Active stakeholder management across designers, engineers, banks, merchants, and partners — keeping a complex ecosystem aligned on what user evidence actually meant for the next phase of the product.
The same payment flow doesn't mean the same trust signal in four different markets. Research wasn't validation — it was the only thing keeping the product defensibly European.
A research function built to scale across borders.
Operating model, repository, and stakeholder rhythms — all designed to outlive the engagement and keep producing strategic value across four markets.