Fractional Research Leadership — Walid Hassanein
For Growth-Stage Startups

Fractional Research
Leadership.

Senior UX research strategy and execution, embedded in your team. The capability of a seasoned research director, without the full-time hire.

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1,000+
Hours in-field research
15+
Years experience
20%
NPS lift, research-led
Who This Is For

Built for startups past product-market fit

🚀
Series B+ companies scaling fast
You've found your market. Now you need research that keeps pace with product velocity — without the overhead of building a full in-house team yet.
🏥
Healthtech platforms in Egypt & MENA
You're building for users whose needs are complex and high-stakes. You need a researcher who speaks both clinical workflow and product design language.
📊
Fintech & SaaS with enterprise users
Your users operate in high-pressure, low-error-tolerance environments. Research that reflects that reality is the difference between adoption and abandonment.
🔧
Teams with a researcher but no leader
You have research happening but no one setting the agenda, upskilling the team, or connecting insights to product strategy. That’s the gap I fill.
The Problem

Research is happening. But is it landing?

Most growth-stage startups have some form of user research. The problem isn’t the research itself — it’s that insights don’t reliably translate into product decisions. Studies pile up. Findings get forgotten. Teams build on assumptions anyway. A fractional research leader fixes the system, not just the studies.

No research agenda. Studies happen reactively, driven by whatever fires are burning this sprint.
Insights don’t stick. Reports get shared, nobody reads them, and the next quarter repeats the same mistakes.
No senior voice in product decisions. Research is consulted after decisions are made, not before.
Junior researchers without direction. Great potential, but no framework or mentorship to turn that into high-quality output.
How I Work

Embedded. Strategic. Practical.

01
Diagnose
I start by understanding your product, your users, and your current research state. What’s working, what’s missing, and what the business most urgently needs to learn.
02
Build the agenda
I design a quarterly research roadmap aligned to your product priorities — the right methods, the right timing, the right questions to answer first.
03
Execute & embed
I run studies, mentor your team, and sit in the rooms where product decisions get made — so research shapes the conversation, not just the documentation.
What You Get

Research that moves
at your pace.

Not a consultant who parachutes in with a deck. A senior researcher who knows your product, your users, and your team — and shows up every week.

Quarterly research roadmap aligned to product priorities
Mixed-method studies — qualitative, quantitative, and in-field
Stakeholder-ready synthesis that drives decisions, not just reports
Mentorship for your junior researchers and product team
Research ops foundations — templates, processes, and a participant panel
A seat at the table in sprint planning and product strategy sessions
Engagement Models

Flexible structures for real teams

Starter
Research Sprint
A focused 4–6 week engagement targeting one high-priority research question. Ideal for validating a product direction before a major build or launch decision.
Most popular
Fractional Retainer
Ongoing monthly engagement (2–3 days per week) covering research strategy, execution, and team mentorship. Structured like an embedded hire, priced like a consultant.
Foundation
Research Practice Build
A 3-month programme to establish your research function from scratch: processes, templates, a participant panel, and a trained team that can operate independently.
About Walid Hassanein

15+ years of UX research and service design across healthcare, fintech, enterprise SaaS, and e-commerce. I built Altera Digital Health’s first UX research practice from the ground up — zero to a team of three, embedded in Agile sprints, with standardized processes and a direct line to executive decision-making. I’ve led research for Siemens Healthcare, Roche Pharmaceuticals, LivaNova, and Walmart. Based in Cairo, working with startups across Egypt, the Gulf, and globally.

1,000+
Hours field research
15+
Years experience
20%
NPS improvement