Foundational Learnings

Attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, I pursued an Industrial Design degree with an interest in global studies. This began my journey in strategic understanding across organizations. Upon graduation as a young designer and researcher, I forged my own path into understanding people through a combination of professional experiences and personal travels. After graduating in May 2017, I came to believe that design education should not simply be formal education but an experience. I solo-traveled the lower 48 United States going to 22 National Parks, many National monuments, and countless beautiful sights. This reflective journey allowed me to meet people from many backgrounds, thus expanding my perception of design far beyond a classroom or internship. These insights gave me a broad inspiration from which to draw from in generating designs. 

Professional Journey

I entered the professional world with an open mind and an enthusiasm to learn. Beginning at Doblin in 2018, I started as an Insights and Innovation Analyst helping to design new products, businesses, and services. I worked in multi-disciplinary groups to design and implement research plans for generating ideas. Bringing my story-telling abilities to learn skills like persona and journey map building, I was able to quickly become a highly capable team member. Throughout these projects, I thrived in a fast-paced consultancy environment while stretching into new roles and continuously learning. Working with Doblin, I was able to serve as a thought leader writing articles and creating eminence to help establish the brand. I have worked across a multitude of industries within the Fortune 500 in an advisory role to executives.  I created high-level concepts in a competitive environment that gave me a deeper understanding of the work I wanted to do while continuing to cultivate a well-rounded skill set. Having done a wide range of work at Doblin, I realized I was interested in experiencing detailed research and product management. In late 2019, I moved to a mid-level role as a User Experience Researcher in an exciting, growing team at Key Lime Interactive, a customer experience research agency concentrating on strategic excellence in quantitative and qualitative testing. I continued to work both independently and in multi-disciplinary teams, I expanded my skills as a researcher and was able to design and run my own research plans leading teams using a variety of methodologies from remote interviewing and surveys to eye motion detection and biometrics.

MHCI+D @ UW

While in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, I began my graduate studies at the University of Washington in the Masters of Human-Computer Interaction + Design program. With my personal and professional experiences, I chose to return to graduate studies to refine the skills needed to become a strategic design leader. In attendance at UW, I engaged in classes across the university including Foster School of Business and extracurriculars such as the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club and consulting with nonprofits. During the MHCI+D program, I have been able to strengthen my skill sets and knowledge base to be a strategic thinker and leader through team projects and university engagements. While engaged in these academic pursuits, I have demonstrated my goals of engaging innovative start-ups, validating early-stage ideas, and providing strategies for multi-disciplinary teams.

Industries worked with:

Financial Services
Healthcare
Non-Profits
Government Sector
Consumer Goods
Education
Transportation
+ more 

Skills:

User Journey Mapping
Ethnographic Research
Persona creation
Market Trend and Precedent Analysis
Research Synthesis
Prototyping
Exploratory Problem Research
Biometric and eye-tracking
+ more