Resume


Education

Master of Science in Information - May 2009

University of Michigan School of Information, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Specializations in Human Computer Interaction and Social Computing
G.P.A. 3.92/4.0

Bachelor of Science - May 2007

Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
Majors in Computer Science, Math; Minors in Psychology, Philosophy
G.P.A. 3.81/4.0

Skills and Strengths

User-centered design: personas, scenarios, interviews and usability testing, creating interactive prototypes using OmniGraffle Professional
Programming: Java, C++, Perl
Web design: Photoshop, Illustrator, HTML, CSS, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, Drupal

Experience

Usability Specialist, DrProject

Summer 2008
Season of Usability
  • Worked with developers to identify and solve usability issues
  • Designed mockups and prototypes in OmniGraffle Professional
  • Conducted exploratory usability testing with existing and prototype interfaces
  • Suggested improvements in information architecture, accessibility

Cognitive Modeler, Clearsighted

Fall 2006 – Summer 2008
Ames, Iowa
  • Created cognitive models of Intelligent Tutoring Systems
  • Researched existing tutoring systems and related software
  • Analyzed usability of development tools and ITS
  • Practiced user-centered design with a team to create innovative tutoring technology

Index Automation Speed Team, IBM, Inc.

Summer 2006
Rochester, Minnesota
  • Worked with a team to design and build an intelligent agent to automate creation of database indexes on System i
  • Met with stakeholders to work out requirements
  • Prepared and presented status reports

WebSphere Migration FVT Coop, IBM, Inc.

January - August 2005
Rochester, Minnesota
  • Configured and ran test cases and analyzed results
  • Automated and updated functional verification test buckets
  • Prepared and presented education on various topics to team

Introduction to Computer Science Teaching Assistant

Fall 2004
Iowa State University, Computer Science Department
  • Taught lab and held office hours for Intro to Computers class
  • Proctored and graded tests and assignments

Research Experience for Undergraduates

Summer 2003 and 2004
Iowa State University, Mathematics Department
  • Researched evolutionary algorithms and software robots
  • Executed numerous trial runs of various conditions for the robots

 

Publications

Bauer, J., Blankenship, L., Gingras, L. and Goetz, M. WantKnot: Connecting Organizations to Improve Their Waste Management Practices, Proceedings of CHI 2009.

Gilbert, S. B., Blessing, S. B., Blankenship, L. The Accidental Tutor: Overlaying an Intelligent Tutor on an Existing User Interface. CHI 2009 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Bhaskaran, P., Blankenship, L., Cohen, J., Koparkar, S., and Rashid, N. Collaboration and Learning in the Video Game Rock Band, Proceedings of Iowa State University’s Emerging Technologies Conference 2009

Ashlock, D., Blankenship, E., Gandrud, J., A Note on General Adaptation in Populations of Painting Robots, in Proceedings of the 2003 Congress on Evolutionary Computation: 46-53, 2003.

For information about class projects, please see my portfolio.