Hello! I’m a researcher interested in the role of design & strategy in socio-technical systems.

Then

I used to study how technology, learning experiences, and organizations can be designed to help people work collaboratively to solve problems. This was during my PhD at Northwestern University.

In one of my main projects, I led user research to develop a tool that helps groups solve shared problems. IMO, the trick is to support proposal development & stakeholder management—instead of the convoluted argument visualization techniques developed by HCI researchers and adopted by platforms like Kialo.org.

I also developed a new approach for training civic innovators. IMO, the trick is to align the incentives so that students must build partnerships and work on problems outside the classroom—instead of rewarding students for dreaming up policy proposals in isolation from real-world stakeholders & constraints. "No battle plan survives first contact" and all that—basically this was lean startup for civics.

Now

Now, I work with tech companies. I'm most interested in leveraging user insights to make better design & strategic decisions that position companies for success in the broader ecosystem.