Grace Wolff, Ph.D. Email & Phone Number

Chicago, Il, Us

Los Gatos, California, Us

San Jose, Ca, Us

Chicago, Il, Us

» Designed and led generative research and usability testing studies for various digital products to inform current product offerings and identify new features for future product builds.» Examined user needs and pain points through 30+ in-depth-interviews, synthesized findings, and socialized final research assets and recommendations to product teams.» Implemented behavioral and attitudinal measures to validate mixed-methods research.» Designed and led a human-centered design (HCD) workshop for 30 attendees to jumpstart an internal Hack-A-Thon along with team-specific HCD research coaching.» Cross-examined qual/quant research vendors after assessing the teams' research needs and pain points to advocate for flexible insight repository tools and reduce redundant and underutilized software purchases.

Davis, California, Us

» Designed and led a 2-part study using behavioral digital footprint data and attitudinal survey data that a) examined predictors of user engagement on the live-streaming social media platform, Twitch.tv (now published in New Media & Society) and b) examined how passive or active engagement relates to users’ social capital and psychological well-being (under review for publication). » Led teams through the design, implementation, and analysis of research published in Computers in Human Behavior, New Media & Society, and Social Media + Society.» Managed the Virtual Interaction Communication Technology Research (VICTR) Lab’s operations, in-person experiments, and training of 30+ undergraduate research assistants.» Statistically analyzed large datasets in R using linear mixed models, moderated-mediation models, and structural equation modeling.» Won “Top Paper” award for 2019 International Communication Association Conference for research on the predictors of toxicity and emotional contagion in online games.» Peer-reviewed 30+ research proposals and manuscripts for journal publication, assessing quality of research scoping, methods, and execution.» Designed instructional material and taught 1000+ students across courses including, Introduction to Public Speaking, Interpersonal Communication, Communication Theories, Communication Networks, Gendered Communication, Organizational Communication, Contemporary Media Trends, Social Media, and Video Games. 550 students across 32 classes rated my teaching proficiency that averaged to 4.7/5.

» Won 1st prize in the 2018 Amazon Alexa Prize Challenge, a global University competition dedicated to accelerating artificial intelligence. » Designed natural language dialogue conversational templates for the UC Davis social chatbot “Gunrock."» Conducted A/B user testing weekly to improve user chat flows and increase average user interaction time and satisfaction.» Synthesized insights from user interviews, observations, and user report logs to recommend conversational design flow iterations.

Willowbrook, Il, Us

» Collaborated with Sales Team in identifying and recommending business strategies for potential clients based on market forecasts.» Researched and introduced new drafting software techniques for CAD designers that decreased costs and optimize time efficiency.» Redesigned, launched, and managed company website and social media accounts.

New York, Ny, Us

» Following the human-centered design double diamond process, I worked with an interdisciplinary team of engineers in partnership with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) to conduct secondary, market, and user research and prototype testing of a cost-effective direct-to-market gait-training body-weight assistive device for recovering stroke survivors over the course of a 10-week design sprint.» Partnered with the Village of Winnetka to conduct secondary research identifying the risk of 100-year floods, hot-spots around the city likely most affected, and proposed bioswale design blueprints that introduced native plants around Metra tracks to mitigate flooding.» Partnered with the Evanston Public Library to conduct generative and evaluative user research and prototype test a product that would help busy parents engage in Pre-K literacy and nutrition education with their 2-5 year old kids.

New York, Ny, Us

» Created partnerships & projects with non-profit organizations to design for social impact (including PAWS Chicago, Heartland Alliance, and The Kitchen Community).» Organized workshops based on the human-centered design approach.» Advertised throughout campus and budgeted funds for the 6-week Design Thinking Summer Bootcamp.» Interviewed and selected Summer fellows for the program and paired interdisciplinary research teams with partnered organizations around Chicago.

Evanston, Il, Us

» Assisted in the development of a Northwestern MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on the Human Reproductive System.» Built several 3D environment models and primary interface using Autodesk Maya.» Edited 2D graphics using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, and motion graphics using After Effects.» Attached is a link to one of the lectures: https://mediasite.nuit.northwestern.edu/Mediasite/Play/dcd7498a27474f7e8311f7609dcf72dc1d

Lehi, Ut, Us

» Pre-processed and statistically analyzed big data to track trends and identify areas of improvement.» Transcribed and analyzed client interviews to identify pain points and behavioral trends. » Generated quarterly reports and presentations for Fortune 500 clients.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Phd), Communication; Designated Emphasis In Computational Social Science

Bachelor Of Science (B.S.) Communication; Integrated Marketing Certificate; Segal Design Certificate