I bring 13+ years of experience in user research, product strategy, and collaboration with diverse clients to create meaningful customer experiences. My role involves project leadership, strategic recommendations, and mentoring in UX design and research.

I specialize in crafting human-centered experiences across any number of industries such as retail banking, luxury aviation, data centers, and call centers. My career has consistently revolved around producing effective human-centered experiences.

My passion for mentoring shines through in all my roles, including leading the IBM Cognitive Systems research team and teaching Web/interaction design at various Austin-based universities. I’m also a mentor at Springboard, guiding students in UX design and research fundamentals.

Growing up overseas, I value insights from diverse cultural backgrounds. My graduate research explored linguistic communication patterns in multilingual Facebook users, connecting interaction design, human-computer interaction, globalization, and information architecture. Critical thinking and considering experiences in broader contexts are my constant emphasis.

Fun stuff

  • I named one of my dogs after Vannevar Bush, the innovative scientist who imagined the Web as we know it in the 1940s. I just call him Nev for short.
  • I’ve lived in Austin since 2002, and cannot imagine a better place to live.
  • I’ve had a passport since I was four.
  • I saw Mumford & Sons play their first show in Austin at the downtown Hilton lobby in 2008.
  • I graduated from grad school the same year that Vince Young finished his bachelor’s [I sat a few yards behind him at the university-wide commencement ceremony!].
  • My bucket list includes attending an Olympics and a World Cup.
  • I’ve been to 28 states, and 14 countries.