I started in theater. Not the obvious path to user research, but it turns out that knowing how to read a room, build trust fast, and tell a story that actually sticks is what separates research that changes products from research that gets filed away.
After theater, I trained under Karen Holtzblatt at InContext Design—contextual inquiry from the person who created it. That grounding in rigorous field methodology is what I build everything on.
I’ve spent the last eight years at Meta, Apple, and a startup called Ensu, mostly working on problems where nobody was sure what to build yet. The ambiguous 0-to-1 stuff—the projects where the brief is basically “figure out what this should be.” That’s where I do my best work.
What keeps setting me apart: I don’t just study AI products, I build with AI tools every day. I can sit down with engineers and data scientists and have the conversation directly, not wait for someone to translate.
- Ran mixed-methods research—surveys, usability studies, prototype testing—collaborating directly with design teams on a SaaS product
- Found a completely new product use case that opened up a customer segment nobody had been targeting
- Built a cross-functional program between design and UXR that cut 3 hours of meetings per week without losing output
- First researcher embedded with internal generative AI teams—built research programs for tools that had never been studied before
- Created new methods from scratch because the standard playbook didn’t cover what these AI tools needed
- Won over teams whose leadership was openly skeptical of research, and got UXR practices into their daily workflow
- Ran the foundational research that defined how AI should be built into Facebook’s creation tools across multiple apps
- Built research frameworks adopted by 12+ teams; cut heuristic UX review turnaround by 60%
- Designed the sampling methodology and trained 40+ labelers for Meta’s largest Reels media study; identified 7 key narratives that shaped long-term product strategy
- Created a companywide user empathy program recognized by the head of product
- Led formative research for Facebook’s US Reels launch—0-to-1 from concept through international rollout
- Led the research behind an ML algorithm for music listening behavior—qualitative work that directly shaped how the model was built
- Built and ran a community of 2,000+ active research participants for rapid usability testing and cognitive load studies
- Used my theater and marketing background to help close over $4M in venture capital
- Built internal tools using contextual design and game techniques for Microsoft, General Motors, and Facebook
- Ran 3-4 person project teams; delivered 20+ research contracts on time or early, some on 2-week timelines
Research Methods
Quantitative
Tools & Software
Data & Analysis
AI & Emerging
Leadership
Montgomery County Parks: Pocket Map App
Designed a technology tool to increase park attendance and engagement among Millennials. Addressed a wide and diverse user group, creating tech for a typically tech-free experience using a full contextual design process.
Career Power Intervention Tool
Collaborated with Karen Holtzblatt at University of Maryland to create a research-based intervention game helping women in tech fields using a modified contextual design process.
DUST Alternate Reality Game
Created an alternate reality game with NASA and Brigham-Young University targeting inner-city youth, incorporating STEM lesson plans across platforms with user-research-driven character design.
UMD Library: Rental System Redesign
Conducted user testing on Library Media Services website. Used interviews, usability tests, and iterative A/B testing to identify and solve problematic UX issues.
Block Bot Social Network Analysis
In-depth analysis of the social network blocked on Twitter by BlockBot programs. Reorganized and colored nodes by modularity class to discern specific community groups.
- Video Production Manager — Helpful Media Productions · 3 years
- Alternate Reality Designer — Smithsonian Museum · 1 year