I’m a designer passionate about applying the design process to discover new consumer insights for creating innovative solutions. I enjoy working across disciplinary boundaries, collaborating with diverse groups of thinkers and doers, diving deep into research, and challenging conventional wisdom.
I have worked as a developer, designer, strategist, and researcher at Fortune 1000 companies. I studied Business and Information Systems at the University of Washington for my bachelor’s degree and recently completed the master’s program in Industrial Design at the world renowned Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.
If you'd like to get in touch with me about a project, please email me.
WebFountain (WF) was IBM's Web-scale mining and discovery platform that extracted trends, patterns, and relationships from massive amounts of unstructured and semi-structured text. During the project, over 1 petabyte (1000 terabyte) of content was in storage with over 3 billion pages indexed, and WF was capable of mining 20 million pages a day.
Our client, FBIS, was interested in creating a data mining application for national intelligence. With content collected from all corners of the Web, how would you design a search interface that could construct complex queries while remaining easy to use? How would you design an effective information communication tool through a combination of technical search applications? Most importantly, how would you design a tool to help our National Security analysts?
As the User Interface Lead on the project, I worked closely with an HCI expert to analyze the work flow of FBIS analysts. We studied how they conducted research online, from tools used to techniques on how they scanned for information. We conducted surveys, interviews, and shadowing of users to better understand what would really enhance their output.
What we discovered was FBIS analysts constantly skimmed web pages and search results for clues. They also preferred to save results in batches first and review them later. They looked for ways to quickly move from "search" to "data extraction" to "data analysis" to "intelligence report". They constantly shared findings with each other and used multiple search applications at any given time.
In our solution, I first made sure the foundations of a good web UI was there. Besides having an overall consistent look and feel, I looked for ways to optimize screen real estate, decrease load times, and create "skimmable" content. Complex features could be toggled open and close, and we looked for ways to add effective visual tools, turning quantity and associations of data points into substantial visual clues.
Integrated Banking Platform (IBP) is a full-scale banking core system upgrade that will integrate 60 legacy information technology systems into one. Union Bank, with assets over $70 billion, is the largest US bank ever to undertake such a project. The future of Union Bank rests on the successful rollout of IBP, which will affect all levels of UB employees, especially the branch tellers.
Change management is extremely crucial for projects at this level and scope. Getting employees excited and educated about the coming changes will ensure a smoother transition. But how?
Change management starts with effective communication and that is often achieved through multiple channels using different mediums with a cohesive message. At the beginning of the project, a common problem was a lack of awareness of IBP, throughout all levels of the organization. The OCM (Organizational Change Management) team not only needed to educate everyone about the project, but they wanted to get people excited about it as well.
After assessing how IBP was being communicated internally, I learned much confusion arose from the project being referred to by different names. Within various communication materials, IBP had inconsistent visual treatments. The communication materials lacked visual appeal and content was often written in dry, technical terms. Positive benefits of the project were not being communicated in the best possible way.
There was a need to create a brand identity and strategy. I worked closely with the OCM and internal Marketing teams to craft the right look and tone for some key communications materials and designed the identity for IBP. To communicate benefits effectively, I created a one-minute commercial using “kinetic typography” to highlight important points, as well as other animations that either introduced the new user interface or features. Lastly, I designed and created an interactive IBP intranet site the OCM team can use to keep the entire organization updated on the latest developments of the project.
Dell made its early successes by selling affordable custom built personal computer systems directly to customers with its efficient manufacturing process. Today, it is continuing that tradition via its website with an expanded product line that includes televisions, handhelds, digital audio players, mobile phones, and printers.
From 2004 to 2007, Michael Dell stepped aside as CEO but returned when the company saw lackluster performance and an erosion of Dell’s brand value. When Michael Dell returned, he launched a change campaign called “Dell 2.0” and brought in new leadership to re-evaluate their strategy.
During my internship in the Spring of 2008, I was responsible for researching the luxury market landscape and helped provide insights on whether Dell should enter this space and how.
I researched the history of luxury brands and products, and conducted ethnographic observation and interviews with shoppers at various high-end retail shops. I studied consumer purchasing trends and the social economic reasons affecting those trends. I also looked at Dell’s direct competitors on how they approach high-end product development. Lastly, I reviewed Dell’s strategic roadmap and interviewed key decision makers internally, including the VP of Consumer Products.
My exploration of the luxury market revealed the concept of luxury has been evolving rapidly, from a product definition standpoint and from consumer perspectives. Products today don’t need to be hand-crafted and sold at limited quantities to be considered premium, and premium products that only exude material excess are no longer as interesting as premium products that speak for a social cause. Special experiences are also valued more now than something entirely physical.
I identified four major consumer segmentations that are highly influential in the luxury market and informed Dell’s executives on new consumer purchasing patterns. In a 45 minute overview on my research, I also proposed three potential markets Dell can consider for the future. As an addendum to my project, I created a visual style guide for product designers on materials, patterns, colors, and ideas to consider when creating a premium product. Some of those inspirations made their way into the premium Dell Adamo line.
Tea has always been a popular beverage around the world but here in the United States, consumers have long, loving relationships with coffees, espressos, lattes, and soft drinks. While tea touts many positive health benefits, American consumers perceive tea with stereotypes and biases that make entering the US market difficult for premium tea companies such as Lupicia (from Japan).
The mission for this project is to help Lupicia identify a market opportunity here in the US and design a product for that market.
The first few weeks of the project was devoted to learning everything about tea. I visited Western and Eastern-style tea shops and “steeped” myself in tea culture. I created surveys and interviewed tea drinkers and non-tea drinkers on their habits and perceptions of tea.
For Lupicia, I created a SWOT analysis of their business to identify their current and potential future business landscape. I also studied current beverage consumption trends in the US. I discovered US consumers really enjoy tea when it is packaged in branded Ready-To-Drink formats, such as Snapple or Arizona Tea. This product segment has exploded in growth and Lupicia would benefit from tea products that are re-packaged to be simpler and easier to consume. I also learned most American men do not like the idea of consuming “traditional” tea but if Lupicia can introduce a “new” form of easy-to-drink tea, that may open up a previously untapped market segment.
Since Lupicia is a premium brand, I explored designing an automatic tea maker that evokes Japan’s tea ceremony heritage and samurai culture to excite the male market. I also explored re-designing how one would consume tea, from sipping on cups of tea to downing highly concentrated shots of tea-based elixirs. The end product aimed to add a sense of mystique and legend to Lupicia’s brand to differentiate it in the marketplace.
A beautiful smile leads to more than a healthy lifestyle and clean mouth; a beautiful smile can be the backdrop of a child’s self-esteem. However, helping children develop proper oral hygiene can be a challenging endeavor. With short attention spans and other fun activities to do, kids can often put up a fight with their parents when it comes to brushing their teeth.
What kind of product could help improve consumer oral care experiences, specifically for kids?
With so many oral care products in a saturated market, designing something in this space was challenging. Could there still be unmet needs in a sea of merchandise? To find out, I interviewed several parents and dentists, and sent out surveys to family and friends.
I discovered that many parents teach their kids to brush their teeth through creative analogies, use of imagination, and some type of song or rhythm and rhyme. Parents try their best to make this time fun and engaging. For older kids who are familiar with cartoon characters, Spiderman and Dora the Explorer toothbrushes are popular solutions. Unfortunately, kids grow out of these options very quickly, or grow weary of brushing for two full minutes, putting the strain on parents to look for other methods.
My solution was to invent a new family of creatures, known as Toomos (tooth monsters), that survive off of disgusting odors and plaque. Toomos have a love hate relationship with human kids, and their adventures in looking for their next meal are expressed through a Nintendo DS game, which provides little lessons in oral hygiene at the end of each level. Outside the game, kids purchase individual Toomo characters (toothbrushes) that require feeding twice a day for two minutes at a time. Emotive display on the creature will showcase its happiness level depending on how well the child “feeds” it. How successful kids are in taking care of their Toomo will directly impact the outcome of the video game. With a system like this in place, kids will receive both the education and motivation they need to develop good habits for life.
Whirlpool, the maker of home appliances, is facing stiff competition from European companies like Electrolux as well as Korean and Chinese companies such as LG, Samsung and Haier. In an effort to innovate and stay ahead of the curve, Whirlpool sponsored a project and asked us to envision what fabric care would look like in year 2022.
Designing for a future that is 10 or 15 years out is both fun and exasperating. In order to envision a future rooted in reality, we studied emerging technologies and trends, and created a host of future scenarios. We also created personas of consumers that will live in that landscape to imagine their needs and living restrictions.
From our research and future forecasting, I came to the conclusion that living spaces will become more and more of a premium, meaning people will look for smart solutions to save on space. Technology will improve for both fabrics and stain detection, leading towards fabric care systems that focus on spot cleaning and steaming, rather than soaking and rinsing. Finally, spaces and technology will converge into one, creating solutions that are unfamiliar to us today.
For 2022, I proposed Whirlpool create products that fuse fabric care with personal body care. One appliance will merge a wash basin, a shower stall, and a fabric cleaning system. Merging the laundry room with the bathroom will help people reclaim living spaces and with fabric technology that repel deep stains, fabric care machines will only need to de-sanitize and spot clean. In the time it takes to shower, the outfit you wore for the day will be cleaned.
I have always been a fan of Audi’s design language, from their subtle, clean, geometric lines to their consistent heritage of shapes and brand identity. Unfortunately, the automaker has not experienced great success in the US, having lost money in the US market for years.
In just the last few years, Audi has injected overall sportiness to the exterior and interior styling of their cars, and has evolved their brand towards a more emotional direction. As a result, it is gaining market share and has earned the “most improved brand loyalty” award in its industry.
With its brand on the upswing, what else can Audi do to continue the growth?
Audi’s brand has proven its pillars of innovation, performance, and technology over the years. I believe by instilling the same brand values into an extended product category, Audi has the opportunity to move itself from an automaker to a lifestyle brand which will help them explore other markets in the future.
Successful lifestyle brands often include fashion and apparel companies such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Nike, Burton, and Victoria’s Secret. This is not surprising as consumers that have bonded with the philosophies of a brand are often willing express those same values through fashion. Audi has an opportunity to bring innovation, performance, and technology into the field of fashion, driven by its pursuit to enhance the driving experience in their cars.
For the touch points that matter most to a driving enthusiast (the steering wheel, shift pedals or gear stick, and foot pedals), Audi can explore creating the perfect driving shoe that provides great maneuverability during intense car drives, yet can easily transition to a driving range or a yacht. With those thoughts in mind, I created the Audi F4, an ultra-lightweight driving shoe with great breathability and grip to provide the perfect feel and comfort during drives and throughout the day.
One of my favorite experiences at Art Center College of Design was a team project to design and race our own performance rubber band-powered vehicles. Our mission was to experiment with materials, body construction methods, weight distributions, and visual designs to create a vehicle that could complete three different race courses all based on the tension-energy of elastic bands.
At the start of this project, our class evaluated rubber band vehicles from previous classes to learn from past mistakes and successes. We benefited immensely from the work of previous students. We saw vehicles that used space frames composed of interlocking tetrahedral pyramids to vehicles that were constructed with tree branches. Some employed four tires, others three. Designs ran the gamut from being exercises in material experimentation to optimizing racing performance.
For our team, we challenged ourselves to reduce vehicle weight while improving overall handling. We wanted to build on the past successes through simplification and refinements. To reduce weight, we looked into materials that provided the highest strength-to-weight ratios and aimed to reduce the number of parts needed to construct a vehicle. We turned to carbon fiber rods, joined by SLS parts, ultimately yielding a design that weighed only 530 grams, second lightest in our class.
We also focused our energies on improving suspension and road traction. With only a limited number of winds in our elastic bands, our vehicle would benefit from keeping the rear wheel in contact with the road as much as possible. Therefore, we built a suspension system that applied a downward pressure on the rear wheel, forcing the rear portion of the vehicle to buckle down if the backside ever goes airborne. Lastly, to enhance road traction, we researched various types of rubber compound and decided to mold our own tires.
Our bonefish-inspired racer made a strong showing on race day, outperforming all other vehicles in the drag race. At its top speed, it traveled at 15.5 mph.