interface and interaction design
I've been involved in a number of projects that directly relate to the interaction between humans and computers. Below are some examples of my work.
Twine
The goal of this project was to investigate and create a Human Resource tool to assess and address employee morale by analyzing trends from employee micro-blogs, more commonly known as "tweets." The result was an information dashboard that visually represented general company morale, existing issue relatedness, issue volume, and issue longevity.
Wolverine Access Academic Planning Tool
The goal of this project was to systematically evaluate a module of Wolverine Access, the course and financial management system in use at the University of Michigan, that aided a student's long term course planning process.
Deliverables:
Personas:
Scenarios:
Accessible Interface Project (AIF)
The goal of the Accessible Interface (AIF) project is to develop a computing environment that is useful for those with cerebral palsy and focuses on ease of input, minimal user fatigue, and streamlined task accomplishment. The keyboard and mouse were replaced with a two-button interface designed to work within the AIF software environment. In its current state the software includes two modules: notes and trivia. Both modules use a contextual rotating menu designed to utilize the two-button interface. Users make selections by scrolling through the options using one button and selecting an option using the other. Future improvements include further contextual recommendation algorithms for word recommendation and an intuitive interface redesign. Although user testing is critical to produce an effective product, this project is still in pre-beta and has not yet been tested with potential users.
CourseNav
For this project we used slightly modified rapid contextual design techniques to develop a prototype course recommendation and planning tool for Ross Business School students at the University of Michigan.
"Students come into the business school with vastly differing backgrounds and career goals. The plethora of options offer students a chance to develop a wide range of skills but can leave some students lacking a sense of direction. Our goal is to develop and evaluate a prototype intelligent and interactive course recommendation tool for use by students, faculty, and staff that shows common course selection trends, course combinations, and enrollment sequences. This tool will help students tailor an academic program to their specific interests and goals."
Prospect Porter
There are many complex variables that must be considered when a pertroleum geologist is surveying potential drilling locations. The goal of this project is to design a visualization that takes into account those many variables that must be considered before and after a seismic data purchase in order to determine if a potential oil/gas exploration site is promising prospect.