Overview
I'm a usability professional with a Masters in HFE and several years of experience conducting usability studies, interviews, site visits and UI evaluations. I enjoy learning how people interact with products, discovering their likes, dislikes and needs, ultimately finding ways to improve the user experience with a product.
- I've helped refine concept and design directions for various website features ultimately increasing users' engagement with the site
- Have identified and addressed usability issues resulting in an increase in conversion rates
- Conducted empirical research focusing on end-users' perception of on-line security, identifying key drivers of security
- Have extensive experience in both qualitative and quantitive research
- Oversee and assist fellow researchers' efforts
Human Factors Skills
- Perform heuristic evaluations to assess usability of user interfaces
- Develop research plans, incorporating PM’s, designer’s and company’s requirements
- Conduct and analyze usability tests (local, remote, iterative, comparative, etc.)
- Work with and analyze longitudinal / diary studies
- Conduct on-site field studies / interviews
- Present results with recommendations to fellow team members and management
- Survey design, analysis and reporting
- Eye tracking
- Statistical analysis
- Card sorting
Computer Software Skills
- Morea, Camtasia, Ovo Studios
- On-line survey and unmoderated testing tools
- Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio; Photoshop
Employment
Principal User Experience Researcher
1/12 – Present
Symantec Corporation
Mountain View, CA
- Provide feedback and suggested direction on product design
- Improve usability of products through end-user testing
- Determining customers’ satisfaction and interest level in using products
- Identify customers’ desired features and functionality within a product
- Conduct empirical research to identify key drivers and perception of on-line security
- Coordinate and run customer site visits with cross-functional team members
- Oversee other research staff’s work, covering study plans, interviews and analysis
- Established myself as a key source of knowledge covering end-user needs and behaviors
User Experience Researcher
12/10 – 12/11
Level Studios
San Jose, CA
- Gather product requirements from stakeholders and end-users
- Conduct usability studies; create plans, recruit participants, analyze and present findings
- Conduct surveys determining end-user's satisfaction and needs in using products
- Perform UI evaluations
- Develop personas
- Projects / Focus Areas:
- Corporate search
- IT / Storage solutions
- Ecommerce
Usability Researcher
8/09 – 8/10
Microsoft (contract through Collabera)
Seattle, WA; Mountain View, CA
- Help drive the direction of product development:
- Assess the usability and desirability of various channels and features within msn.com through planning and conducting usability studies
- Collect data on user’s on-line activities, behavior and use of current products through site visits and diary studies
- Track user’s behavior and perception with product during a transition of major website updates through diary studies and remote on-line interviews
- Identify and provide recommendations addressing usability issues through heuristic evaluations
- Create and introduce new research methodologies to better access user’s perception of products
- Compile and present a summary of past research activities and findings, along with the progression of product updates
- Projects / Focus Areas:
- Entertainment: TV, Video, Music
- Homepage
- Social network accounts
- Maps
- Portal usage
- Search
- Internet access
User Experience Researcher
1/05 – 8/08
Shop.com, Monterey, CA
- Initiated the user research program and became key source for incorporating user feedback into the product development process
- Participate in concept/design reviews
- Conduct evaluations and provide usability feedback
- Conduct numerous usability studies, collecting user feedback and assessing ease-of-use of design concepts and current website
- Monitor and report product quality and user satisfaction based on customer feedback and survey results
- Designed and updated ecommerce web pages
- Assisted with A/B testing activities
- Analyzed and reported log files and web metrics
- Served as key point of contact for projects and UI issues
- Provided training and support to junior members
- Contributed to QA efforts by troubleshooting and reporting product issues
- Projects / Key Accomplishments
- Increased conversion rate with updated checkout system
- Increased user participation and satisfaction with coupon sign-up and usage
- Increased user engagement within search results
- Increased visibility and ease-of-use of on-site game
- Evaluated user’s awareness of and satisfaction with special affiliate programs
Custom Website Engineer
4/00 – 1/05
Shop.com, Monterey, CA
- Build and update database driven user interfaces for e-commerce website.
- Assist in quality assurance, through troubleshooting, reporting and fixing bugs.
Website Design Engineer
4/98 - 4/00
Orion Telescopes & Binoculars, Watsonville, CA
Retailer and catalog sales of telescopes, binoculars and accessories
- Design and maintain e-commerce and corporate website and database
- Create banner ads, monitor marketing and search results
- Provide design and production support for printed catalog.
- Extensive HTML, JavaScript, StyleSheets, web graphics.
Education
M.S. Human Factors and Ergonomics
2005, San Jose State University
GPA: 3.96
- Curriculum:
- Human Computer Interaction
- Human Factors Engineering
- Human Factors Experiments
- Usability Testing
- Statistics / Experimental Design
- Ergonomics
- Industrial Design
- Motor Learning
- Psychometrics (Survey Design and Analysis)
- Cognition (undergraduate)
- Thesis: “The effect of target color and contrast on movement times in aimed movement tasks.”
Project studied the interaction between perception and motor control within a GUI, using a Fitts’ law style experiment.
Thesis was presented and published in the Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 50th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, Oct 2006.
University of California, Santa Cruz Extension
- Curriculum:
- Interface Design & Development
- Java/OO Programming (various levels)
- Various Multimedia Courses
Memberships
- Bay Area Computer Human Interaction (BayCHI)
- Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
Personal Interests
- Musician (drums)
- Photography
- Bicycling
- Sailing