IDEO.org/Acumen+ Design Challenge
Improving Employment Opportunities for People with Psychiatric Disabilities
Human-centered design project carried out as team with anthropologist Dr. Senem Guler-Biyiki. We started out by doing background research to gauge the scope of the problem. We conducted participant observation at a clubhouse (a community center for people with serious mental illnesses), as well as a vocational rehabilitation center and state employment services office. We consulted with several local experts on mental health as well as staff from the clubhouse. We interviewed people with psychiatric disabilities, including a few who worked as peer-support specialists. We analyzed our data, using post-it notes and affinity diagrams to identify insights and frame "How Might We" questions. We ended up creating personas and a storyboard to prototype a shadowing program for clients of the clubhouse to gain support and experience.
Sandia National Labs Usability Testing
Sandia National Labs (through SAIC)
During my time at Sandia Labs, I served as the UX Research Lead to improve the internal timesheet application. I created a research plan and script for task-based 1on1 usability testing, both in the usability lab and remotely over skype. After recruiting my participants, I did three rounds of testing, using RITE (Rapid Iterative Testing and Evaluation) method. After each round, I would transcribe my interviews and discuss the results with the UX designer so that he could modify the design and give me a new version to test. Based on the participants' performance on the task and followup questions, we made recommendations on the proposed changes in a final report.
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(note-images and documentation were subject to government NDA)
Time Machine Project
Consulting Project with ezGov
Internship project to bridge communication gap due to distance, time zone and cultural differences between ezGov's European and American headquarters. I used contextual inquiry to interview cross section of employees in both Amsterdam and Atlanta offices to discover work practices, communication methods and cultural differences. I used affinity diagrams to compile themes, goals and ideas from the qualitative data to develop a prototype for a "smart" employee intranet directory.
Portfolio
Selected UX Research projects
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Healthy Aging in Place in Rural Communities
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Part of HIMSS/Accenture Social Determinants of Health Tech Challenge
I conducted preliminary background research and did ethnographic-style fieldwork in senior centers, assisted living facilities, caregiver support groups, fall prevention classes and churches in rural North Carolina. I worked with the Hoke County Department of Health to set up health-promotion classes at two Spanish-speaking parishes which will hopefully start once the COVID-19 crisis is over.
Comparison of 2 Retail Pharmacies
Team project benchmarking CVS.com and Walgreens.com. We used remote unmoderated testing with a between subject study consisting of three tasks. Our metrics were time on task and success of completion. We also used the SUPR-Q and NPS scale.