Current Projects
WantKnot: Interface Design
WantKnot is a team interface design project in which we aim to develop a solution that helps businesses close the waste loop. We aim to submit the results of our project to the CHI Student Design Competition.
Analysis of Learning and Collaboration in Rock Band
For SI 689: Computer Supported Collaborative Work, my team is evaluating Rock Band. We are creating personas, performing heuristic analysis, interviewing players, and examining interaction amongst players during observation sessions.
Graphic Design
In SI 520: Graphic Design, I am learning a lot about the principles of visual design, through the use of Photoshop and Illustrator.
Data Manipulation
In SI 601: Data Manipulation, I am learning how to use Perl to manipulate data into formats that are easily visualizable. The class uses ManyEyes to create and share many of our visualizations.
Iowa Native Plant Society Website
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.
Past Projects
Usability Analysis of DrProject
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. A summary of my work is available on my DrProject blog.
VaNTH Tutor
Clearsighted is a learning technologies startup in Ames, IA. My work for them was largely creating cognitive models for Intelligent Tutoring Systems. This includes instructional design, defining requirements for the tutor GUI, and thoroughly testing the tutor, including coordinating user testing. During the summer of 2008, we created a tutor for an online authoring tool used by instructors at Vanderbilt University.
Usability Analysis of Engage
For SI 622: Evaluation of Systems and Services, my teammates and I worked to improve the usability of Engage, a website used by the U of M to recruit participants for clinical research studies.
Inter-Cooperative Council Website
As a key member of the ICC Web Team, I updated the ICC website regularly. I also set up a Wiki and ticket tracking system to better organize the Web Team and organize weekly working meetings. 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.
PaperBackSwap
For SI 684: eCommunities, I studied the online community PaperBackSwap. This community of booklovers is centered around the activity of swapping books.
CourseNav
For SI 682: Evaluation of Systems and Services, my team and I designed an interface to facilitate the course selection process for MBA students at the Ross School of Business. This project was during the Fall 2007 semester.
See my resume for additional information on my work experience.