About Me

I am a User Experience (UX) Researcher who firmly identifies as mixed-methods. In 2023, I earned my Ph.D. in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), but I was trained in Psychology, Statistics, and Industrial Engineering along the way. If you ask me what I do, I would tell you that I am a translator of knowledge. I am adept at learning and merging information from multiple sources to form novel connections, and I enjoy packaging what I learn for others to consume.

My current research interests center around complex problems, such as the use of heterogeneous technologies to enhance groups' social interactions and the usability of legacy, enterprise products. I also have examined the user experience of games, the usability of commercial products, and the use of virtual and augmented reality by older adults.

My main interest is in social interaction. I want to help teammates interact effectively whether they are solving problems in the same room or in the same application. Whereas mobile phones and video games sometimes have a bad wrap as disruptors of social interaction, I see a real opportunity for improving same-place, or co-located, socialization via technology. I am actively exploring the ways otherwise-isolating technology can be used in collaboration and cooperative work.

I reject technological determinism. Technology is a natural human phenomenon, one which we have the power and responsibility to shape to complement our human strengths. I first fell in love with technology as a child: playing video games, digitally altering photos, and making my first HTML pages.

I have always had a passion for discovery and creativity. When I'm not daydreaming about my next research study, I am poetically recording the world around me. I find time for hiking, playing cooperative multi-player video games, traveling (internationally or locally) with my partner, and spending time with my two kitties and one rescue pup.