BlueCottage of CannonDesign Design Researcher

February 2021 - Present / Remote

Part of the Strategy team; clients include the California Department of General Services, Los Angeles County CEO’s Office, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and The University of Chicago Medicine.

• Conducted primary and secondary research (interviews, focus groups, surveys) with patients and physicians at the University of Chicago while working across an integrated team of architects, analysts, and consultants to develop a patient experience strategy playbook for a brand new cancer facility.

• Facilitated 12 in-depth interviews with Los Angeles County agencies and local developers to understand pain points in the County’s permitting and entitlement process; developed operational, technological, spatial, and communication-based solutions to improve customer experience.

• Conducted 20+ focus groups and surveys of 2,000+ employees to gather data about their work styles, remote work experience, and environmental, cultural, and operational workplace needs. Synthesized and presented findings to design teams and client leaders to inform decisions about employee experience, real estate, and workspace design.

• Led an internal project to refine data gathering processes, standardize survey questions and templates, and integrate Qualtrics and other data visualization tools into existing project work.

California Bicycle Coalition Volunteer User Researcher

July 2020 - February 2021 / Remote

California’s only statewide bicycle advocacy organization. I scoped this volunteer project to redesign and improve user experience of the organization’s website.

• Facilitated 2 visioning sessions with CalBike executive staff members and 5 interviews of CalBike supporters to understand organizational goals, user journeys and key priorities for the site.

• Conducted a heuristics evaluation, created site maps, and used Google Analytics to understand the site’s current hierarchy, identify key issues to solve, and restructure site navigation.

• Created wireframes, prototypes, and layouts in Figma to test design ideas and finalize a single concept.

  Worked with a software engineer to implement the new website layout.

Gensler Design Strategist & User Researcher

August 2018 - April 2020  /  San Francisco, CA

Part of the Consulting and Strategy team; clients included LinkedIn, Uber, UC Davis Health, and the Federal Home Loan Bank of SF. Accepted into Gensler’s award-winning Design Strategist Development program.

Research & Strategy

• Facilitated 50+ workshops engaging staff, department leads, and C-Suite leaders to identify clients’ workplace needs, evaluate employee experiences, & incorporate findings into future design projects.

• Used Qualtrics and PowerBI to survey 2,500+ employees; synthesized feedback to identify top concerns, inform design decisions, measure against industry benchmarks; and presented findings to client leadership.

• Collaborated with interior designers to develop an interactive 80-page design standards playbook and document the employee experience of a high-growth tech startup.

• Planned and implemented 10 week-long utilization studies of 2,000+ employees, coordinating hourly data collection across 10 buildings; analyzed data to uncover behavioral user insights & spatial needs. 

• Created data visualizations to communicate research insights to client leadership.

• Recruited, trained, and managed 20 temporary employees in data collection practices. 

• Developed instructional materials and workflow templates to streamline future data collection processes.

Change Management

• Authored an 80-page playbook to support 6,000 employees of a tech company through organizational & location changes. Met with critical business stakeholders to create a year-long project timeline. 

• Developed internal campaigns (email newsletters, slideshows, digital displays, & printed materials) to keep employees informed throughout the consolidation of their 6 offices into a brand new headquarters.

Design for America (DFA) Fellow & Program Coordinator

June 2016 - January 2018  /  Evanston, IL

A nonprofit startup founded at Northwestern, DFA is a nationwide network of 40 student-led social innovation studios, and winner of the Smithsonian Design Museum’s Smithsonian Design Museum’s 2018 National Design Award.

Design & Marketing

• Managed and implemented DFA website redesign, working with a web developer to simplify navigation, improve access to educational resources, engage alumni, and boost donor traffic.

• Led marketing initiatives and developed content (email campaigns, social media, blogs, print collateral) to scale the organization’s reach to 10,000 students, alumni, donors, and partners.

People & Project Management

• Recruited, interviewed, and managed 7 interns and 2 Fellows.

• Launched 7 new campus studios and redesigned the new studio launch process to automate organizational processes and improve student experience.

  Planned two annual 5-day conferences bringing together 250+ students, professionals, and Chicago nonprofits to practice human-centered design, build leadership skills, and strengthen the DFA community. Increased community partner participation by 25% from 2016 to 2017.

Program Development

• Facilitated 20+ human-centered design workshops and 40+ group mentorship sessions to support students, provide instructional design resources, and ensure project progress.

• Developed and delivered virtual education to 1300+ students. Analyzed student progress through bi-weekly surveys, student interviews & semesterly feedback sessions and iterated our support model to increase student engagement.

Solomon Cordwell Buenz Architecture Design Intern

Summer 2015  /  San Francisco, CA

GBBN Architects Design Intern

Fall 2014  /  Cincinnati, OH

Michael Kors Inc. Design Intern

Spring 2014  /  New York City, NY

University of Cincinnati Class of 2016

College of Design, Architecture, Art, & Planning
Bachelor of Science in Architecture
University Honors Program

Qualitative Research: Interviews and Focus Group Facilitation, Journey Mapping, Ethnographic Observation, Workshop Facilitation

Quantitative Research: Surveys, Data Gathering, Data Analysis & Synthesis

Marketing: Social Media, Copywriting, Photography, Mailchimp

Making: Wireframing, Web Design, Rapid Prototyping, Sketching & Drawing, Collaging, 3D Printing, Laser Cutting

Design: Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, XD, Premiere Pro, Lightroom), PowerPoint, Google Slides

Data: Excel, PowerBI, Qualtrics, Alchemer, Google Analytics

Web: Basic HTML, CSS, & Javascript, Webflow, Figma, Wordpress

Architectural: AutoCAD, Rhinoceros, Revit, GIS

SF Elections Poll Worker

March & November 2020, November 2021

Minerva Schools Project Mentor

Fall 2018 - Spring 2020

An accredited higher-education program focused on applied learning and global experience. Scoped topics and mentored first-year student teams to help them develop design research & prototyping skills.

Bike & Build Volunteer & Cyclist

Summer 2018

Cycled over 4,000 miles across the United States to raise money and awareness for affordable housing. Fundraised $6,300 individually; our team of 28 collectively raised more than $155,000. Volunteered at 10 affordable housing sites.

Design for America - U Cincinnati Founder + Alumni Ambassador

2014 - 2016, 2018 - 2021

As a college student, I founded and led a multi-disciplinary, campus-based design studio of 50+ students focused on using human-centered design to address local community needs.

As a former DFA National Fellow and Alumni of the student program, I mentored students and planned quarterly events for alumni to come together in the Bay Area.