Portfolio
As a graduate student at the School of Information, I participated in many group projects involving clients. I have gained a wide range of skills that help connect people with information using technology, such as network visualization and using the Adobe CS3 package for print and web design.
See my graphic design portfolio:
or
See my projects in one of the five categories below:
Interface Design
TabViz
January 2009 - Present
TabViz is a team information visualization design project, begun during SI 689: Information Visualization, in which we are exploring the design space for ways to visualize browser tabs that aid refinding for people who open many tabs. We have developed a prototype Firefox extension, which is open source and available on our . We also keep a blog to track our ideas and progress. We recently entered the project in the Mozilla Labs Summer 2009 Design Challenge and received the distinction of Best in Class: Innovation from Mozilla.
My contributions: interviewing and gathering feedback on mockups from tab users, comparative analysis, creating personas and scenarios, hi-fi mockup, development of a Firefox extension
WantKnot
September 2008 - April 2009
WantKnot is a team interface design project in which we aim to develop a solution that helps businesses close the waste loop. This project was a semifinalist in the CHI Student Design Competition.
My contributions: interviewing and usability testing of potential users, literature review, creating an affinity diagram, creating personas and scenarios, sketches for lo-fi prototype, prototyping in OmniGraffle
CourseNav
Fall 2007
For SI 682: Interface and Interaction Design, my team and I designed an interface to facilitate the course selection process for MBA students at the Ross School of Business.
My contributions: interviewing and usability testing of business students, literature review, creating an affinity diagram, creating a persona (Carlita) and scenario, composing the usability test script
Mozilla Browser Concept: Productivity Mode
December 2008
As part of a series of design jams I initiated at the University of Michigan, Noah Liebman and I developed a concept for a plugin that would help keep you on task.
My contributions: keyboard challenge screen mockup, recording of video
Wheelchair Accessibility Information Website
November 2008 - Present
As part of the MSA Disabilities Design Challenge, my team developed a prototype of a map-based website that will harness user-generated content to provide accessibility information about buildings on campus and the surrounding area. We are continuing development and expanding to include Ann Arbor, San Francisco, and Seattle.
My contributions: interviewing persons in wheelchairs and related professionals, background research, technical exploration of feasibility, configuring a Drupal prototype with Google Maps
Usability Evaluation
Usability Analysis of DrProject
Summer 2008
DrProject is an open source project management utility. As the HCI student chosen for this Season of Usability project, I worked with the DrProject development community to make suggestions for improving the usability. My main goal was to improve the usability of the web-based administration tools.
My contributions: cognitive walkthroughs, usability testing, card sorting, mockups in OmniGraffle, testing interfaces, giving feedback on current designs
Usability Analysis - Engage
Winter 2008
For SI 622: Evaluation of Systems and Services, my teammates and I worked to evaluate and improve the usability of Engage, a website used by the U of M to recruit participants for clinical research studies.
My contributions: heuristic evaluation, comparative analysis, survey design and analysis, creating a persona and scenario, usability testing, generalized transition network
Instructional Design
VaNTH Tutor
Summer 2008
Clearsighted is a learning technologies startup in Ames, IA. My work for them was largely creating cognitive models for Intelligent Tutoring Systems. During the summer of 2008, we created a tutor for an online authoring tool used by instructors at Vanderbilt University.
My contributions: cognitive modeling (instructional design), defining requirements for the tutor GUI, thoroughly testing the tutor, conducting user tests, project management
User Research
Analysis of Learning and Collaboration in Rock Band
Fall 2008
For SI 689: Computer Supported Collaborative Work, my team evaluated Rock Band. Our work was also presented in April 2009 at the Emerging Technologies Conference at Iowa State University.
My contributions: gathering heuristics and leading heuristic evaluation, interviewing and observing study participants, managing recruitment and scheduling, creating a persona, graphic design of teammate's personas, project management
Study of Information Seeking Behavior in Vegetarians
Winter 2008
For SI 551: Information Seking Behavior, my co-investigator Raya Samet and I conducted an ethnographic study of vegetarians' information seeking behavior.
My contributions: literature review, interviewing vegetarians, coding the qualitative data in NVivo, organizing findings into a paper
Web Development
Share the Loess Hills
May 2009-present
With frequent feedback from the organizer of the seminar, I designed and developed this Drupal site, Share the Loess Hills, for the sharing of photos, links and writings from the Loess Hills Prairie Seminar.
My contributions: requirements analysis, all installation and configuration of Drupal, custom theme based on the CSS Zen Drupal theme, integration with Gallery 2 for the photo album
SI Showcase
Winter 2009
For SI 631: Content Management Systems, my group worked with a client to define requirements and develop a Drupal site that will be an external face for research-based and other groups at the School of Information. The site incorporates projects, publications, calendaring functionality, and private and public pages and file sharing for each group. The work we did on this site is being considered for integration into the overall SI website and at least one group will be adopting the site as their main web presence in the summer of 2009.
My contributions: requirements analysis (creating personas and scenarios and defining the information architecture), installation and configuration of Drupal modules
Iowa Native Plant Society
October 2007-present
As volunteer webmaster, I have created and maintaned the Iowa Native Plant Society website. I work closely with the organization to understand their changing needs as a growing community of plant enthusiasts.
My contributions: modified CSS template to suit INPS needs, including integrating a php photo album, search, and calendar; updating and formatting content as appropriate for web
Inter-Cooperative Council Website
2007-2008
As a key member of the ICC Web Team, I was responsible for the ICC website running smoothly. When I left the team, we were working on migrating the site to a Content Management System to empower the organization by facilitating easy updates and moderation of content.
My contributions: setting up a wiki and ticket tracking system to better organize the team, regularly updating the ICC website, scheduling team meetings, migrating content to Drupal