I'm currently a researcher working in New York, but before that I was a PhD Student at the
Human-Computer
Interaction Institute (HCII) at Carnegie Mellon University. I was advised
by Dr. Jodi Forlizzi and
Dr. Aisling Kelliher, and together we studied how systems shape
the processes by which people derive meaning from digital records
and information.
Curatorial Agents
People generate vast quantities of digital information over the course of their lives. The scale of this information poses significant
challenges to those who are interested in deriving meaning from it. However, systems have an emerging capability to analyze and interpret
information. This project, which was published at CHI 2015 in Seoul, Korea, explores how such systems might influence how people look
back on their lifes experiences and how future generations might look back on our lives.
Legacy in the Age of the Internet
The process of crafting a legacy is inherently subjective, both as
a curated collection of the elements of one’s life, and as an evolving form of remembrance
that is subject to the interpretations of those to whom it is left. We explore users’
perceptions of how their use of digital systems and information will
impact how their lives are interpreted and reflected upon by their families and future
generations. Findings describe nuances regarding how shifting notions about
identity and technological systems impact the ways in which we share, and subsequently manage,
information online.
Digital Artifacts as Legacy
Legacy is the meaningful and complex way in which information, values, and
possessions are passed on to others. As digital systems and information become
meaningfully parts of people’s everyday and social relationships, it is essential
to develop new insights about how technology intersects with legacy and
inheritance practices. We designed three interactive systems to investigate
how digital materials might be passed down in the future. We conducted in-home
interviews with ten parents and used the systems to provoke discussion about how
technology might support or complicate their existing practices. Sessions
revealed parents desired to treat their digital information in ways not
fully supported by technology.
Design Probes and Memory
This work is a set of provocative artifacts that were created as a part of
Aisling Kelliher's Design Fiction and Experiential Media Design courses at the School of Design
at Carnegie Mellon. These projects explore how to build tools that can augment human memory and how
existing systems influence how and what we remember.
Future Love
This project explores how digital information is changing
the processes by which some people find love. For this project, I extended that idea
by drawing from personalization and adaptive systems. This work was inspired by the
popularity of online dating sites like Match.com and OKCupid and
was completed during the Spring semester of 2013 for Aisling Kelliher's class
on Speculative Design.
Curation, Provocation, and Digital Identity
Among the billions of photos that have been contributed to online photo-sharing sites,
there are many that are provocative, controversial, and deeply personal.
Previous research has examined motivations for sharing images online and has
identified several key motivations for doing so: expression, curation of identity,
maintaining social connections, and recording experiences. In this work, we used photo-elicitation interviews to
explore the motivations for posting provocative, controversial,
or deeply personal images and the perceived risks
of doing so.
Travelogue Mobile App
Travelogue is a iPhone app that designed as part of an interaction design studio course at
Carnegie Mellon. This app is aimed at addressing the needs of mobile workers who travel
to unfamiliar places as a part of their jobs. The goal of this app is to help those
mobile workers identify services when visiting new areas, in addition to providing
them with the opportunity to learn more about those areas.
FitPath Mobile App
FitPath is a mobile application designed for Android devices. FitPath connects
with 3rd party sensors - specifically BodyMedia's bluetooth armband and a wireless
scale made by Withings and integrates that data to help users manage their physical
activity and fitness goals. This app was created in collaboration with the Quality of
Life Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon.
Physical Computing
I built a few physical systems (all of which were built using Arduino and Lilypad components)
as a part of a class called Activating Objects, which
was taught by Dr. Eric Paulos. On this page, you can see some of the documentation for a group
project I completed as a part of that class. For this project, we built an interactive
musical mat for kids to play with.
Machine Learning
Work from two classes I've taken in machine learning and natural language processing - Applied Machine Learning and Computational Models of Discourse Analysis.
This work was part of a larger research arc that investigated how to build systems that help people assess and
determine the credibility of the medical and health information they find on the web.
Health Dashboard
The Health Dashboard was my senior year capstone project for my Engineering Psychology degree at Tufts University. This project was completed in collaboration
with Cambridge Consultants, an international product development firm. The goal of this project was to investigate
the needs of elderly people living in assisted living facilities, in addition to the needs of their caretakers. Using our findings,
we produced recommendations for the development of health tracking systems for these user groups.
Carnegie Mellon University, 2010 - 2012
M.S. in Human-Computer Interaction
Tufts University, 2006 - 2010
B.S. in Engineering Psychology
Minor in Computer Science
Magna cum Laude
Teaching and Mentoring Experience Carnegie Mellon University
Interaction Design Studio
Interaction Design Overview
Independent Study in Metadata Systems
Tufts University
Intro to Computer Science Exploring Computer Science Data Structures
Professional Experience Google Research, Summer 2014
User Research Intern with Alex Kauffmann and Team Airbender
Yahoo Labs, Summer 2013
Research Scientist Intern with Dr. Jofish Kaye
Tufts University HCI Lab, 2008 - 2010
Research Assistant with Dr. Robert Jacob
HCII FoodLab
Since spring 2014, I've been teaching about food preservation
through the HCII FoodLab. Together we've experimented with a number of
different types of food preservation including pickling and fermenting.
Art, Photography, Linocuts
I paint (mostly watercolor), make prints, and take photos. I took a few
classes in undergrad, but now I mostly just try to learn new things.
Outdoors
I'm an avid climber and bicyclist. I try to bike in every city I visit (this works
out better in some cities than in others) and I love being outside in scenic
Western Pennsylvania.