Masters of HCI at Georgia Tech
In 1998 I went to pursue a Masters of HCI at Georgia Tech. The program was fairly new and was an interdisciplinary program split between CS, design and psychology. I enjoyed my time there, but ended up feeling that I could learn more in the working world than in graduate school. In 1999, I left Atlanta for San Francisco.
Selected work from Georgia Tech
Canvas and Code - Prototype
Canvas and code was a project I designed for an educational technologies class. The goal was to propose a technical solution to an problem in an educational setting.
I proposed an environment in which designers can utilize a simple programming language to create visual artifacts. The design considered the interface as well as the educational environment. The class environment is meant to reflect a studio art class. Enrollment should be limited to a small population to engender a sense of collaboration and critical thought. Educators should be knowledgeable in both the design and programming fields.
» View the design rationale with screenshots
Contextual Inquiry Project
Contextual inquiry is a set of techniques to gather information about users before building an interface. We decided to use this project to complete an ethnographic study of Georgia Tech's Stinger system. Our initial intent was to observe and record impressions of the context in which riders and drivers use the bus system. We utilized Contextual Design and its methods of analysis. Specifically, we focused on creating consolidated flow, sequence, cultural and physical models. By understanding these models of behavior, we gained insight into how we would redefine (or redesign) the work practice.
» See a design gallery for this feature
BuzzBus - Usability Report
Using heuristic evaluation, think alouds and interviews with potential users, our team evaluated a proposed transportation kiosk. Our overall impression of the BuzzBus is that its display screen has so much information that it is confusing, and that it may be trying to too much for too many different users in one screen. It would be better with a simpler interface and additional screens targeted at the three different user groups the designers defined.
» View the report
Indeaspace
Ideaspace was a project I worked on for a design class. It was a web-based service in which users can quickly create, modify and share ideas. An individual can create a flexible web-based space to hold textual and visual ideas. These spaces can be shared with other users who can leave suggestions and comments on the ideas. The space also contains creativity tools that help the user elaborate on the ideas they’ve created.
» View a larger screenshot
EduTech - Website
Developed the interface for a site targeted at Georgia Tech educators. Educational Technologies provides a myriad of services and my chief consideration here was to provide professors with a way of quickly navigating to any of them. I used a bright palette and clear navigation.
» View a larger screenshot
Skills
- Information architecture, UI design
- Contextual inquiry
- Discount usability practices and site analysis
