About me

My Story

I am an experienced public radio editor with a specialty in design thinking and user research. 

I just received my masters degree in Human Centered Design and Engineering at the University of Washington, and I recently completed a design research internship at Ford Motor Company, where among other projects, I led a diary study from inception to completion. I wrote a screener, recruited participants, gathered data in the field and synthesized hours of user-recorded videos along with other data.

I currently employ human-centered design in my role leading a daily news podcast for Seattle NPR station KUOW. Seattle Now is a podcast, but I approach it as a complex system. That system involves the behind-the-scenes organizational structure at KUOW and the many departments the show collaborates with, as well as the multiple touch points Seattle Now's audience experiences the podcast from. While users experience Seattle Now primarily through their podcast feeds, they also engage with our Instagram page, hear a shortened version of the podcast on the radio and can also experience the show through our live events. I think of each of these as separate parts that should form a cohesive experience for our audience.

I have also conducted user research on podcast listenership. For my qualitative research class, I conducted a diary study that examined daily podcast listenership of users over a week to get a sense of how listeners engage with podcasts on a daily basis and what needs they fulfill. This research gave me a deeper sense of the opportunities and barriers content-makers have in effectively designing content to meet listener needs.

As a storyteller, I am always looking for ways I can inform and entertain listeners. I also like to incorporate a balance of light and dark in my work. I am always drawn to telling stories that help create a sense of community, whether it's documenting a historic heat wave in the Pacific Northwest or explaining why Julio Rodriguez is such a big deal.

If you are interested in hearing more about how I think about user research and storytelling in tandem, please reach out!