Career Timeline

Sept 2025

Joined Triangle UXPA Executive Council

Elected to serve as 2025-2026 Co-Director of Social Impact for Triangle UXPA, the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill chapter of the User Experience Professionals Association focused on supporting local UX practitioners and our community.

Dec 2023

Journal Article Published

Better Understanding Procedural Search Tasks: Perceptions, Behaviors, and Challenges, based on a remote think-aloud study completed while part of UNC’s Interactive Information Systems Lab, published by ACM Transactions on Information Systems.

Dec 2023

Completed Trauma Informed Research Training

Completed Trauma Informed Design Research Training offered through Social Design Sydney. I continue to learn and apply trauma-informed practices through a Trauma Informed Design Discussion Group.

Jun 2023 - Present

Current Role

I’m a UX & Human Factors Researcher with User-View. I use human-centered design methods to identify opportunities for product and service improvements.

Jan 2022 - jun 2023

Transition Period: Bereavement

I lost my dad to Covid-19 while finishing grad school. I spent 2022 supporting my family through estate matters and relocating. In 2023, I built my portfolio, attended workshops, and actively sought career opportunities.

Mar 2022

Conference Proceedings Article Published

Procedural Knowledge Search by Intelligence Analysts, based on a qualitative survey study completed while part of UNC’s Interactive Information Systems Lab (case study summary), published by the 2022 ACM SIGIR Conference on Human Information Interaction and Retrieval.

Dec 2021

Finished Grad School

Completed my MS in Information Science with a focus on human-computer interaction and Graduate Certificate in Innovation for the Public Good.

Spring 2021

Focused on Research for Good

I joined the inaugural cohort for UNC’s Graduate Certificate in Innovation for the Public Good. Courses offered hands-on experience applying design thinking principles to complex problems like alleviating loneliness for older adults in a naturally occurring retirement community.

Summer 2020

Completed Jumpstart Program

During my first summer in grad school, I completed a week-long Jumpstart program through NC State University with hands-on workshops in programming and machine learning.

Oct 2019 - Dec 2021

Graduate Research Assistant / UX Researcher at UNC SILS

I worked in the Interactive Information Systems Lab on a Department of Defense-funded project focused on helping intelligence analysts search for information about work-related tasks. I worked with my lab team to design two remote user studies, conduct semi-structured interviews via Zoom, analyze think-aloud data, and synthesize insights into actionable system improvement recommendations.

Fall 2019

Started Grad School

After taking a class at UNC while working, I went back to school full-time to focus on my UX skillset formally. I decided to pursue a Master of Science in Information Science through UNC’s School of Information and Library Science (SILS).

2018

Attended Nielsen Norman Group Conference

Completed Nielsen Norman Group trainings in UX Basics, UX Workshops, and the Human Mind and Usability at their in-person Raleigh, NC conference.

2017

Attended Information Architecture Summit

Attended 2017 IA Summit on the topic of designing for humans. Elizabeth Churchill discussed the importance of user research in the design of connected devices. Looking back, I recognize that this talk inspired me to go to graduate school and focus formally on UX research.

2016 - 2019

Lead Product Specialist at PrecisionLender

I trained and supported commercial lending clients in the successful use of PrecisionLender’s SaaS platform. I worked alongside Development and Design teams to understand user needs and workflows through client feedback synthesis and research including remote user testing sessions and an in-person user workshop.

Board Relations Analyst at Deutsche Bank

In a corporate governance role in the finance industry, I reviewed complex technical and regulatory rules and created clear documents and communications to facilitate stakeholder decision-making and board reporting workflows.

Graduate Certificate in Professional Communication

I completed my graduate certificate in professional communication through East Carolina University, strengthening my foundation in user-centered design principles.

Marketing and Communications Manager at New Potato

My first “real job” was with New Potato Technologies, an end-to-end software and hardware creative design firm. I analyzed patterns in user feedback and support data and collaborated with engineering teams to translate usability issues into actionable design guidance and produce clear, user-centered documentation that bridged technical concepts and user needs. This was my introduction to UX before I knew it existed.

Completed BA in Psychology

Like most (all?) Psychology majors, I’m passionate about helping people. I completed my BA in Psychology at UNC Wilmington, where I was an undergraduate research assistant in a lab focused on decision-making.