“Good job, but can you design an interface that feels a little more serious?” Throughout my career, I’ve primarily worked in industries where flashy, trendy web design is considered inappropriate—healthcare, higher education, information technology, and environmental health research. These are disciplines that deal with critical, often life-changing information. A website designed for a cancer research…
For much of my career in UX, landing a role at a big-name social media company has been seen as the ultimate achievement—the mountaintop of success. Among peers, it’s often viewed as proof that you’ve “made it,” that you’re among the best in the field. Despite their prestige amongst my peers, I’ve never wanted to…
These reflections are meant to inspire discussion and continuous growth — not prescribe perfection. I’ve worked across teams with varying UX maturity and always aim to adapt strategy to context. Confession: I’ve probably spent more time thinking about stages of UX maturity in my career than any other concept. You may be familiar with the…
Reflections on My Time at Northeastern University IT: A Journey of Growth and Impact Since joining the Northeastern University IT department in 2018, I’ve had the privilege of contributing to meaningful digital experiences and supporting our community through design, communication, and user-centered strategies. My journey began on the Communications team, where I took on a…
More than nine months out from my latest post, I have a confession to make: The heaviness of last year’s events have kept me from being able to dedicate any mental energy to updating this blog. I realize that there isn’t a teacher or boss sternly tapping their foot at me for neglecting to post…
2020 has been… rough. I think it’s safe to say that it’s been a difficult year for everyone. Months of quarantining due to COVID-19 has left me with a lot of time I neither expected nor wanted. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss the simpler, carefree days of restaurant and concert-going of…
Hello there! Welcome to this “I’m so proud of myself” blog post. I have big news! Drum roll please. . . As of December 2019, I am officially done with my Digital Media Master’s program at Northeastern University! Over the course of 32 months, I completed 13 courses and one semester-long thesis project, all while…
Goodbye 2019… Hello 2020! With New Year’s resolution brainstorming sessions fresh in mind, 2020 brings plenty of opportunities for reflection on how to improve in the months ahead. This year, I want to shake it up a little though. I also want to spend some time looking back at how far I’ve come professionally, starting…
Digital Accessibility: This site was included in a response to a civil rights lawsuit filed against Northeastern (as well as 49 other higher education institutions) on the grounds that many of the web properties for the university were not meeting digital accessibility standards. One of the main hopes in building this site was that it…
Last month, I attended a higher education multimedia workshop in Philadelphia that I gained a ton of amazing insight from. At the workshop, I learned from leaders in university engagement, video production, podcasting, social media, and photography. I’ve dabbled in all of these subject areas, but it was so fascinating to learn from people that…
