I became a designer to solve problems.

In design, I saw the opportunity to help, but also, combine all of my skills and interests. At The University of Idaho, the Virtual Technology and Design program combined business, art, technology, calculus, physics and psychology. The bigger and more ambiguous the problem the better.

I needed to combine my design skills with business.

I found the Illinois Institute of Technology's Institute of Design when I looked for graduate programs that combined design and business. IIT's Institute of Design is known for its systemic, human-centered design methods. I also took classes from the Stuart School of Business while getting my Master of Design. The combination of adjunct professors, full-time faculty, design PhDs, international students with nontraditional backgrounds, and client-sponsored classes created an excellent environment to explore how design can impact business.

I worked with Motorola, Artemide, Capital One, Neiman Marcus, Choose Chicago, Doblin, Chicago Community Trust, Gary Comer Youth Center, United Way for Southeastern Michigan, Haworth, Northwestern University, and Rush University.

Then I refined and broadened my skills.

I started work with the Experience Design Studio as part of DIRECTV/AT&T in 2016 after moving to Los Angeles. My work began mainly focused on evaluative research and usability testing. During my time I delved deeper into evaluative while contributing on numerous formative and strategic projects for their entertainment products.

In 2019 I moved to Edmunds to work on their UX team. During my time at Edmunds, I led UX research and partnered with the Product, Design, and Marketing teams on new and redesigned products. I enjoyed the challenges of a web-based platform and working closely with SEO teams and data analytics to inform my qualitative studies and identify new opportunities.

Since then, I have specialized in AI

Since 2020, I have been working as a UX Researcher for AI products at Amazon Web Services. Working on AI has enabled me to focus on highly technical products in a rapidly evolving space. In addition to creating AI tools for developers to build and deploy machine learning models, I’ve also led research on Machine Learning Thought Leadership programs at AWS for ML aspirants, students, and non-technical decision-makers. As a part of the Thought Leadership team, I have focused on understanding risks, bias, and the need for responsible use of AI. With the boom of GenAI in 2023, I’ve focused on strategic initiatives to enable teams to understand the rapidly changing landscape and how to educate and apply AI.