Design that
starts with
why people
behave.
I hold a PhD in psychology and 4+ years of experience mapping customer journeys, measuring what matters, and helping cross-functional teams act on what they find — across healthcare, government, and tech.
I study people.
Then I design
for them.
Most design problems are really problems of understanding — we don't know enough about who we're designing for, or what they actually need. I close that gap.
My background is in cognitive and clinical psychology, which shapes how I think about behavior, systems, and stress. My practice is grounded in the real constraints of product and service teams. I believe in research that's right-sized to the question.
I bring trauma-informed design principles to every project I work on — particularly in healthcare, crisis response, and public services. That foundation comes from direct clinical work: 270+ hours of neuropsychological assessments and therapy with people navigating some of the hardest moments of their lives.
Currently at the American Red Cross, designing tools and services for volunteers responding to home fires and other disasters.
PhD, Experimental Psychology
University of Texas at Austin · Cognitive neuroscience, wearables, circadian health · 11 peer-reviewed publications
Certified Design Thinking Facilitator
ExperiencePoint · LEGO Serious Play · Google UX Design
Trauma-Informed Design
Grounded in 270+ hours of clinical neuropsychology and therapy practice, applied across disaster relief, emergency healthcare, and public services
Selected projects
Get in touch →RC Prepare: Digitizing the Home Fire Campaign
A mobile data-entry tool for 110,000 volunteer home visits a year — from first design question to a shipped product with 90% user satisfaction.
Reducing Patient Walk-Outs in Rural Emergency Departments
Field research and co-design across two rural hospitals. 50% reduction in patients leaving without care, $622k in estimated annual savings.
Building Mercari's First UX Benchmarking Program
Turned scattered, one-off measurement into a quarterly VOC baseline. Findings drove +22% search success and +13% order growth in key verticals.
Teaching 24 Leaders to Fall in Love with the Problem
A 90-minute problem framing workshop for a cross-functional leadership cohort. Rated one of the most valuable invited sessions for the program.
Understanding What Keeps Users Coming Back Every Day
Research that reframed Mercari's engagement strategy — shifting focus from power sellers to casual users and influencing the FY24 roadmap.
Product Development Curriculum for Clinician Innovators
Designed and facilitated an innovation curriculum for the Richmond VHA IDEAS Network, covering discovery, service blueprinting, and prototyping.
Where I've worked.
Present
Associate Service Designer
American Red Cross, Humanitarian Services
Designing digital tools and services for volunteers and disaster survivors, with trauma-informed design principles throughout. Led design of RC Prepare — a mobile app for the Home Fire Campaign — from research through launch. Ran the organization's first service design workshop for a senior leadership cohort, which was invited into annual programming.
Apr 2025
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Innovation & Strategic Design
Virginia Commonwealth University, da Vinci Center for Innovation
Led service design research at VCU Health that reduced patient walk-outs by 50% across two rural emergency departments, saving an estimated $622k annually. Facilitated innovation workshops for 100+ participants across healthcare, government, and community organizations including VCU Health Systems, Veterans Hospital Administration, Allianz, and AmeriCorps.
Jun 2024
Senior UX Researcher
Mercari US
Led mixed-methods research that shaped strategic priorities across product, CRM, and growth. Built Mercari's first UX benchmarking program — a quarterly measurement baseline connecting research to outcomes. Ran a research lunch-and-learn series attended by 70+ employees quarterly. Research on daily active users contributed to daily active user growth and influenced the FY24 roadmap.
Aug 2022
Graduate Research Assistant, Doctoral Program
The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Psychology
Conducted longitudinal research on wearables, mobile apps, and cognitive aging, contributing to 11 peer-reviewed academic research publications and 9 conference presentations. Supervised 11 undergraduate research assistants. Completed PhD in Experimental Psychology, 2022. Attended Neurohackademy at the UW eScience Institute (competitive summer school in neuroimaging and data science).