01
UX research
Find the right problem.I enter the work where it happens—interviews, contextual inquiry, working-session replays, usability studies, and mixed evidence—then build a grounded model of what people are trying to accomplish.
MATHIAS BURTON
aka / buttons
A senior UX researcher and product leader who turns complex technical work into evidence, product direction, and stronger teams.
EXPLORE MY RESEARCH/ mixed methods + technical platforms + product leadership = decisions teams can act on
01 / PRODUCT + DATA
PitchBook × Private Credit
THE PROBLEM
Market data and editorial insight lived in different mental models. The opportunity was to help customers connect what happened with why it mattered.
THE MOVE
Use research and product thinking to bring data and expert commentary into a more continuous decision-making experience.
MY ROLE
Product and UX leadership, spanning discovery, interaction design, cross-functional direction, and the integration of LCD.
The strongest interface is not always another screen. Sometimes it is the connective tissue that makes existing expertise more useful.
02 / DESIGN SYSTEM
Tyler Forge
THE PROBLEM
Multiple teams were solving similar interface problems in different ways, creating friction for customers and makers alike.
THE MOVE
Build a shared system of principles, patterns, and components that could carry a family of products without flattening their needs.
MY ROLE
Design system strategy and hands-on direction across the Socrata and Tyler product landscape, aligning people as well as pixels.
A design system succeeds when teams can make better decisions with it—not simply when the library is complete.
03 / EXPERIMENTATION
AI Experiments
HOW I USE IT
I use generative tools to turn rough ideas and source material into working products I can inspect, use, and improve.
I’m still building a consistent practice and working toward automating my research operations into a single-prompt workflow.
HOW I LEARN
Each experiment begins with a question, produces something tangible, and leaves a record of what worked and what should change.
EXPLORE THE PROJECT INDEX ↗WHAT STAYS HUMAN
I choose the goal, verify the facts, shape the experience, and decide what deserves to exist. The machine helps me move faster.
The public journal now holds 260 starts across 33 projects—from personal health and parenting tools to civic products, training games, and new ventures. Explore the experiment journal ↗
HOW I WORKRESEARCH + PRODUCT LEADERSHIP
Research finds the direction.
Leadership carries it forward.
I study complex work closely enough to reveal the model underneath it, then help multidisciplinary teams turn that evidence into product decisions, shared ownership, and sustained delivery.
02
Product leadership
Help teams decide and deliver.I help teams agree on the problem, choose what to build first, assign ownership, and keep learning as the work ships.
SKILLS + TOOLS
THE OPERATING METHOD
What kind of problem
are we solving?
FIND THE RIGHT PROBLEM
Study real work in context and gather the evidence before narrowing the frame.
- 01Work in context
- 02Interviews
- 03Observed behavior
A grounded problem
ABOUT / BUTTONS
Original portrait.
I’m Mathias Burton—codename: buttons—a research, design, and product leader who is happiest in the space between an unresolved question and a useful thing in the world. I bring research depth, systems thinking, visual judgment, and organizational leadership to ambiguous zero-to-one work: setting direction, making the artifact, and helping a team see how the pieces connect.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE
Get to know me. Two statements are true; one is invented. Can you spot the lie? You have two guesses.
Choose the statement you think is made up.