Gina Bhawalkar is a principal analyst serving customer experience (CX) professionals. Her research focuses on user experience (UX) and accessibility, particularly how design and UX teams are organized (including the relationship between UX and CX teams) and the skills needed; how to scale design; inclusive design; the design technologies that UX pros use; financial services UX (banking and brokerage); UX and agile; and creating accessible digital experiences that adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

Gina has over 15 years of experience as both a UX/CX practitioner and leader, with eight years in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Forrester, Gina was director of customer experience research at Bank of the West, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas. There, she led the bank's digital voice of the customer program and conducted primary research to inform digital product development. Previously, Gina led the user experience and accessibility department at Scottrade, where she built the two disciplines as well as the firm's journey mapping practice from the ground up. Earlier in her career, Gina was a UX consultant at Perficient, leading design and research projects for clients in the financial services, agribusiness, utilities, insurance, and retail industries. She has also served as an accessibility consultant at both Criterion 508 and the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

Gina holds bachelor's degrees in psychology and computer science from Trinity University and an M.S. in human-computer interaction from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where her research focused on evaluating the accessibility of physical and digital products to people with disabilities.