Biography
With a background in behavioral psychology, human-computer interaction, and user experience, I enjoy complex challenges that require systems design solutions. I am most passionate about bringing human-centered design to some of the toughest challenges we face today—those in our cities and schools.
I am the Founding Academic Director of the Master of Science in Design + Innovation program, a partnership of five UW—Madison schools and colleges—the College of Engineering, the School of Human Ecology, the School of Business, the Information School, and the Art Department in the School of Education. This new interdisciplinary masters program seeks to offer a truly student-centric, hands-on program in human-centered design.
Prior to UW—Madison, I spent eight years at IDEO, a global design and innovation company, leading design research and strategy on a service design portfolio focused on the public sector and education. I designed the new brand and website for the City of Boston, designed financial literacy curriculum for young people, and crafted a career readiness strategy for a Boston arts college. Other notable projects include reimagining the first beer can for one of America’s premiere craft brewers, reinventing digital electronic medical records, rethinking trash behaviors in Boston’s densest neighborhoods, and creating an innovation toolkit for high school teachers.
I am on a quest to find the signal through the noise—getting to pure insight from raw ethnography and turning observation into something useful and usable for design. I hold a Master’s degree in Human-Computer Interaction from Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.