Experience

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  Magnit

  • San Diego, California, United States

  • UX Research & Strategy at Google

    • Dec 2023 - Present
    • San Diego, California, United States

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  Google

  • Mountain View, California

  • User Experience Research Lead

    • Oct 2015 - Aug 2017
    • Mountain View, California

    Lead researcher for the People + Sharing API team, responsible for Google Contacts and contact-related machine learning & assistive features across Google products, impacting over 1 billion users. Conducted foundational & usability research for 5 product teams with X-Google impact: -Managed external research vendors, internal recruiters, contractors, and interns-Cross-functional collaboration with PM, ENG, UX: The team relied on research to guide new features & product strategy, as well as fine-tune existing product design for enhanced usability-Presented research findings at People Team All-Hands meetings (150+ people) to engage the broader team & inspire empathy in product design; pushed UXR forward as an integral part of the design and development process-Employed a variety of research methods, including: iterative usability testing, qualitative boards, remote and in-person interviews, focus groups, early concept testing, co-design, personas / user segmentation, GCS surveysUXR for Google’s kids & family initiative across Google products, including Home, Apps/Games, Education, & Toys/Hardware

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  Building Blocks Media

  • Cardiff by the Sea, CA

  • Co-Founder

    • Aug 2012 - Oct 2015
    • Cardiff by the Sea, CA

    We're a creative learning company. Our first product, Musical Paint for Kids, is an iOS app for kids ages 3-6. Musical Paint was featured by Apple as one of the Best Apps for Kids 5 & Under and has reached the top 10 kids' apps in 64 countries.In addition to building our own apps and apps for clients, we visit schools to teach kids about the app design process. We love inspiring students to shift from consuming media to creating it.

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  Smarty Pants

  • San Francisco Bay Area

  • Creative Director

    • Feb 2014 - Sep 2015
    • San Francisco Bay Area

    Smarty Pants is a youth and family market research company. I wore a few hats for them:-Provided product & market research and strategic consulting to world-class clients including LEGO, Hasbro, Nickelodeon, Netflix, Target, and Warner Brothers-Managed production of creative client deliverables and in-house creative needs (infographics, insights documentaries, reports, presentations)

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  Self-employed

  • Kids & Education Research Consultant

    • Aug 2010 - Feb 2014

    To find out what works best for kids, I defer to the real experts-- the kids themselves. Services include:-Content & curriculum development-User experience research & design-Review & feedback at all stages of development (software, video, games, toys, & books)Projects Include:Oceanhouse MediaEvaluated suite of 200 digital book apps by testing with students and interviewing educators and administrators. Worked with the development team to improve usability in the omBooks 2.0 engine, which includes titles from the Dr. Seuss, Little Critter, Berenstain Bears, and Smithsonian brands. Created digital literacy lesson plans for educator outreach and managed in-school professional development programs to train teachers on using digital book apps in the classroom.San Francisco Film SocietyDeveloped lesson plans about films, coordinated film director visits to bay area high schools and elementary schools, and provided support at the Schools at the Festival program, which serves over 4,000 K12 students annually.Mind in the MakingCreated lesson plans incorporating ideas from the book Mind in the Making and clips from preschool TV shows Super Why!, Charlie and Lola, and Yo Gabba Gabba. Tested lesson plans at San Diego public schools.

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  The Walt Disney Company

  • Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

  • Research Manager (contract)

    • Aug 2009 - May 2011
    • Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

    -Managed research and development for award-winning preschool TV series Jake and the Never Land Pirates -Organized notes from a team of educational consultants, developed an episodic research process, recruited preschool participants, moderated focus groups, analyzed findings, and delivered insights to the production team to enhance age-appropriate humor, appeal, and engagement for our target audience-Conducted field testing for character design of Doc McStuffins-Consulted with the emerging in-house Disney Jr. Educational Research team to develop research protocol for preschool TV hits Sofia the First, Doc McStuffins, Sheriff Callie's Wild West & more

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  PBS

  • New York City Metropolitan Area

  • Research & Education Consultant @ Out of the Blue

    • Feb 2008 - Oct 2009
    • New York City Metropolitan Area

    -Conducted formative research to improve learning comprehension of preschool literacy TV show Super Why! -Developed curriculum materials for Super Why! outreach program-Tested pilot episode of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood as well as PBS Kids Interstitials

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  KIDOS COMPUTER

  • New York City Metropolitan Area

  • UX Research Manager / Biz Dev / Content Manager

    • Aug 2008 - Aug 2009
    • New York City Metropolitan Area

    - Managed UX research- Business Development: recruited musicians, authors, and video producers to sell their content in the online store- Managed Content and Metadata in the online store-Recruited parenting experts to produce videos for an online advice forum to drive traffic to the website-Hired and managed interns to assist with content management-Performed various duties as-needed, including competitive research, audio and video editing, basic html programming, and sometimes getting coffee :)

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  Nickelodeon

  • Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

  • Research Manager (contract)

    • Feb 2009 - May 2009
    • Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

    -Managed research and development for live-action preschool musical TV show The Fresh Beat Band-Recruited preschool participants, organized and led research sessions and served as the in-house “face of research” -Translated kids’ feedback to writers, producers, directors, consultants, and executives to ensure entertaining, educational, and developmentally appropriate content

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  National Center for Children and Families

  • New York City Metropolitan Area

  • Researcher

    • Sep 2007 - Feb 2008
    • New York City Metropolitan Area

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  Montessori School

  • San Diego Metropolitan Area

  • Preschool Teacher

    • Mar 2005 - Jun 2006
    • San Diego Metropolitan Area

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  Sony Pictures Entertainment

  • Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

  • Production and Marketing Intern

    • Jan 2003 - Dec 2003
    • Los Angeles Metropolitan Area