Partner with multidisciplinary teams to plan and perform research, and then disseminate and implement the resulting insights in an aim to create or improve a variety of Microsoft’s mixed reality (AR/VR/XR/MR) products. These research studies are done through the lens of human centered design via an array of mixed methods approaches to gather data ranging from generative to evaluative throughout the product development cycle and across a range of consumer, enterprise, and public sector users.Much of this work focuses on leading programs of user research for determining and implementing the future of human input and device form factors and making our MR products accessible by design. This work has resulted in an increase in Microsoft’s knowledge base on these topics as seen through nearly 100 internally published research reports and multiple patents, and through several successfully shipped products that meet user needs.

As a Ph.D. student at Georgia Tech my responsibility was to lead interdisciplinary research teams, with collaborators from diverse backgrounds such as human-computer interaction, computer science, psychology, music, and industrial design. I helped assemble these teams, then guided them toward research goals, from research ideas and design, through data analysis and dissemination. These teams performed a majority of their research within the area of applying audio-centric multi-modal cues and novel interaction techniques to resource intensive multitasking situations.Some of my research projects included: -The exploration of cognitive workload theory and detection-The development and testing of a multi-modal eco-drive display to improve drivers fuel efficiency, without decreasing their situation awareness of the driving task-The creation and testing of futuristic head up display interfaces for the vehicle and their interfacing with other modalities of information-The creation and testing of methods of human input for future smart in-vehicle agents such as affect and cognitive workload-The application of advanced auditory cues to decrease driving distraction while performing in-vehicle secondary tasks-The design and testing of novel in-vehicle interaction techniques with multi-modal feedback such as gestures, touch-pads, and other interfaces-Applying multi-modal cues to improve driving performance for special populations of drivers (e.g., individuals who have cognitive limitations, inexperienced drivers, aging drivers)The research that my teams and I performed in these areas led to nearly 50 journal publications, conference articles, and presentations at conferences such as Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications, and International Conference on Auditory Displays.

As a research associate my job was to support Ph.D. and Masters students in completing research projects. I did this through helping with gathering and understanding relevant literature, designing research studies, creating stimuli and questionnaires, participant recruitment and data collection, analyzing research data, and assisting with dissemination or research results.Through these responsibilities I was able to help complete a number of major projects that resulted in numerous journal and conference publications.

Worked independently and with teams of user experience researchers, designers, and product teams across multiple early-stage projects to conduct user research and determine project definition, positioning, and development for X’s most ambitious projects. Led 3 research projects from research planning through delivery and recommendations. Managed stakeholders including project managers and engineers. Recommendations were implemented across all 3 projects with high stakeholder satisfaction.

As a student volunteer my responsibilities included data entry/corrections, preparing and coding experimental materials, and participant recruitment.