My Portfolio
Research Strategy
I focus on surfacing questions and facilitating discussions which strengthen the connection between businesses and their customers/users. In order to do so, I devote fully to developing practices and maintaining processes that help ensure research activities are deliberate, effective, and aligned with the organization’s objectives. This is the foundation of my research philosophy.
To the right, you can watch my team’s winning presentation from Verizon’s global hackathon in November 2020, throughout which I think that philosophy really sings through.
Making Research Accessible
“Finding what an organization knows about its users should be as easy as finding a product on Amazon.” This is a core principle I strive to apply across all research processes, even to the analysis of raw data. One of my favorite tools is Dovetail, which I use as a searchable, living repository of research insights and the data from which those insights have emerged.
Research Communication
10 years of combined leadership experience in research, education, and music have taught me that establishing and maintaining effective channels of communication is the single most important – and most challenging – effort that we face in our personal and professional lives. I know that the impact of my work is determined by the quality of the relationships I have with my colleagues, all of whom bring their own unique skills, experiences, perspectives, and personalities to bear on our shared goals.
My research toolkit.
Lessons from my journey so far…
I practice inclusivity.
Research is a binding agent in the development ecosystem. Solving complex problems requires collaboration between individuals who have their own unique sets of skills, experiences, goals, and motivations. Inclusive research processes help align a product’s or organization’s values to the operating models that enable them to be realized. Thus, an essential part of my job is to identify what matters to the people who put research into action. I get to know my stakeholders as colleagues and as people. We are a team.
I plan for the information thrift market.
It’s on me to ensure the right information reaches the right ears. The thrift market for research is vast, so it’s important to remember I’m communicating not only with my immediate stakeholders, but also with the people they’re connected to within the organization. No matter how strategic my use of data visualizations and storytelling, I have to refine my message so that it maintains accuracy and impact as it travels far and wide. This enhances the transfer of knowledge through the organization and promotes sustained impact that grows over time.
I layer the message.
I can’t just squeeze the message into the medium; “the medium is the message.” Many people who come to this website won’t read this. Do they still get what they were looking for? Presenting information clearly, succinctly, and strategically can ensure that the lead isn’t buried in the details with which my colleagues are less likely to engage. Like any good story or headline, it should pull them in, present new information, establish boundaries and limitations, prompt questions, foster conversation, and offer opportunities for going even deeper. These are the hallmark traits of persuasive – that is, more impactful – research artifacts. To learn more about the science of persuasion in design contexts, read here!