about me

At the Fluxible Conference in September 2012. Photo courtesy of Paul Goodwin.

What I Do

I'm a user experience (UX) designer and researcher in Philadelphia, PA. I'm currently a full time UX specialist at AWeber, and I previously worked at Happy Cog. I've built a diverse range of websites, apps, and web applications spanning many verticals, including higher education, large and small non-profits, and Fortune 100 companies.

Speaking & Writing

I speak publicly, teach, and write about various UX topics. View slides from my talk Designing Experiences for Women or listen to a podcast (mp3) of the talk at SXSW Interactive 2012, which I gave with Brad Nunnally.

Speaking at Your Event

If you'd like me to speak at your event or conference, please contact me.

Speaking Engagements: Past, Present & Future

Queen City Merge Conference / May 2013
Philly Tech Week / April 2013
Philly Women in Tech Summit / April 2013
IxDA Grand Rapids, MI / April 2013
IA Summit 2013 (Flex Track) April 2013
AIGA Pittsburgh Design Competition (Judge) / March 2013
Intro to UX (Girl Develop It Philadelphia) / March 2013
World IA Day / March 2013
BarCamp Philly 2012 / November 2012
Pittsburgh Web Design Day / October 2012
UX Camp Ottawa / October 2012
Fluxible: A User Experience Event / September 2012
Wharton Web Conference / July 2012
AWeber / June 2012
Midwest UX / June 2012
PANMA (Philadelphia Area New Media Association) / April 2012
SXSW Interactive / March 2012
Girl Geek Dinners Philadelphia / November 2011, January 2012 (Encore Presentation)
Wharton Web Conference / July 2011
DC Web Women / May 2011
IA Summit / April 2011
PhillyCHI / March 2011

Selected Articles

An Interview on Creativity / Practice Profile / February 2013
So Why Should I Speak Publicly? / Happy Cog Cognition Blog / July 2012
Designing Experiences for Women / .net magazine / June 2012
On Forgotten Alumni & Cold Pleas for Cash / Happy Cog Cognition Blog / March 2012
A Music Nerd Needs a Taxonomy / Happy Cog Cognition Blog / November 2011
Designers are From Mars / Happy Cog Cognition Blog / June 2011

UX Leadership

PhillyCHI

In 2009 and 2010, I held an officer position with PhillyCHI, a volunteer-run organization serving the Philadelphia user experience community. I worked with fellow officers to organize presentations and social events such as picnics and happy hours.

UX Book Club Philly

An affinity diagramming exercise at our December 2012 meeting. The Tactile Group was kind enough to host and sponsor.

I organize book club meetings for UX Book Club Philly. Meetings are casual, yet informative. The author usually Skypes in to join the discussion, and you are not required to read the book to attend.

As seen in the photo, we participated in a brainstorming exercise (affinity diagramming) at The Tactile Group's office in December of 2012. The December book selection was Gamestorming by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, and James Macanufo.

Find out more about the book club, or contact me if you'd like to host or sponsor a meeting.

Personal Interests

I enjoy drawing, as evidenced by this pepper, but I don't find much time to do it these days.
I've always loved music. The past few years I've developed a taste for jazz, funk, and afrobeat.
You can usually find me in my spare time with a book in my hands. Check out my reviews or add me as a friend on Goodreads.
I'm passionate about health and wellness and the impact of the industrial food system on our lives and our environment.
I'm also a big fan of red wine and craft beers.
Lastly, I can't get enough of the TV show Forensic Files.