THOUGHT PROCESS

I believe that through equitable, accessible, diverse, and inclusive research, more effective solutions, products and systems are created. As a UX Researcher, it is vital to me to understand the context of everything I’m researching to ensure that when I find the “root why” that it is the most relevant and actionable why within the constraints of the project, business goals/needs, and user goals/needs. My entire life I’ve been training to understand “it depends” situations. I value collaboration a lot, which in many cases relies on team mates to provide and receive feedback in helpful ways. Throughout my life, I have improved my ability to give useful feedback and ask specific questions to understand someone better before critiquing them. I also have honed my ability to receive feedback without taking it personally.

PERSONAL

I have always been a creative and curious person, often asking “why” until I understand. At the University of Iowa, my studies of marketing, environmental sustainability, and dance expanded my interdisciplinary approach to communication, research, and design. After graduating, I moved to Washington, DC, my current home base, to work as a marketer and designer with PYXERA Global, a global nonprofit that facilitates mutually beneficial partnerships between the public, private, and social sectors that leverage the unique attributes of each to tackle complex challenges. In this role, I learned invaluable skills on how to communicate the benefits of research & design to an organization. This required a deep understanding of the short and long-term business’s goals, each department’s goals, the public affair’s (my team’s) goals, and the goals of my team mates that I was working most closely with.

In 2020, I started my own mobility coaching business, Mindful Impact Coaching. This organization focuses on helping individuals feel better in their body through understanding how each of their individual joints function (or don’t) independently of one another, and providing 1:1 specific plans for each client to improve their flexibility and strength where it will best help them. This work helps me understand how to listen really well, discover the most relevant root of what clients need, all while continuously researching the more recent scientific findings related to how human bodies and minds function. It also helps me continue to improve my ability to communicate very complex scientific concepts in very simple ways that people like my parents in their 70’s as well as students in their 20’s and 30’s can understand.

In 2021 and 2022, I took a user experience research and design immersive to expand my understanding of communication, research, and design. During the course, completed one app redesign and three website redesigns. I mainly focused on UX Research, as I believe if one is solving the most relevant issue to all stakeholders, especially the users, the solution created is immensely more helpful. Identifying the most actionable and relevant problem to all stakeholders involved saves organizations a lot of time, money, and resources.

I am delighted and fascinated to continue to learn about communication, collaboration, and research as my journey continues.