Hi! I am a Technology and Social Behavior PhD student in the Inclusive Technology Lab at Northwestern University. My research in human-computer interaction and accessibility focuses on multimodal interfaces to support professionals with disabilities. I am advised by Dr. Anne Marie Piper.
My current projects are about mixed-ability team collaboration and cognitive accessibility. In my first project at Northwestern, I explored how Deaf and hearing professionals use a variety of communication strategies in different contexts (e.g. spoken language, sign language, lipreading, gesturing, writing, typing, and so on) and how technology may help or hinder these interactions. In upcoming projects, I will be conducting interviews and prototyping new interfaces to support professionals with learning disabilities (e.g., word processors with features to support users with dyslexia).
My process includes a mixture of qualitative methods, human-centered design practices, and rapid prototyping. In every assistive/adaptive technology project, I make sure to frequently collaborate with individuals with disabilities via interviews, codesign, and prototype feedback sessions. These encounters inform the interfaces that we create, whether they be high-tech or low-tech, for practical or expressive purposes, personal or social, or any combination of the above. :-)
I plan to include more details and blog posts about my research at Northwestern soon. In the meantime, included below are snapshots of some projects from my time as an undergraduate student at Olin College of Engineering (class of 2016), where I pursued a self-designed engineering major with coursework in computer science, human-centered design, and psychology.
(Summer 2014 Open Style Lab Engineering Fellow) I collaborated with a fashion designer and occupational therapist to create assistive wearables for a client with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. Our final prototype, ‘Heads Up!’, is a head scarf and suspender combination that provides a stylish alternative to a neck brace.
(Spring 2014 User-Oriented Collaborative Design Semester Project) We designed a product that would have a high positive impact on the lives of volunteer physicians. This process involved nontrivial fieldwork (observations, interviews, codesign session artifacts) and design thinking techniques.
(Fall 2012 Design Nature Final Project) In approximately eight weeks, we created a bioinspired gameplay experience and fully functional prototypes of a flamingo based on the nonverbal communication behaviors of flamingos in the wild. The target audience was fourth graders from the local elementary school.
(Fall 2015 Data Dashboard Design Seminar Project) We prototyped a dashboard to help Olin's computing professors see GitHub Pull Request feedback between course assistants and students. We visualized GitHub data from current Olin courses and aimed to make this dashboard a tool for future teaching teams!
(Spring 2016 Data Science Final Project) We collaborated with Dr. Scott Hersey to investigate seasonal discrepancies between satellite-based and ground-based aerosol optical depth (AOD) measurements in South Africa with a series of data visualizations and analysis. The ramifications of this discrepancy could lead to misinformed scientific inquiry to the environmental state and societal health of South Africa.
(Spring 2016 Industrial Media Super Taster Seminar Final Project) This is a sculpture that I spot welded and finished with several shades of spray paint. The turtle is currently on display in a faculty office at Olin College.
(Summer 2014 Research Student and Clare Boothe Luce Scholar at Olin College) I spent this summer in Dr. Paul Ruvolo's research group interviewing many blind or visually impaired individuals in the Greater Boston Area and prototyping computer vision interfaces. I presented this project at the 2015 Grace Hopper Celebration poster session.
(Spring 2014 Berklee Music Therapy Hack) We made a computer-vision-based interface for users of all motion abilities to compose music through their movements.
(Fall 2015 Computer Graphics Final Project) I created a koi pond using the three.js wrapper for WebGL. I presented this projet at the Lovelace Colloqium 2015 at the University of Edinburgh and won the People's Choice Poster Award.
