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How I leverage Research & Empathy to launch Products
My Story
My training for human-centered interaction didn’t start in a university; it began with my first words. As a CODA, my first “spoken” language was American Sign Language, which required me to watch hands, feel emotions, and read the ever-changing energy in a room. While this skill set appears as but a line on my resume, it’s the most valuable tool I have. That foundation in observation is exactly what user experience is built on, and it’s what eventually led me to applied cultural anthropology, where theory meets the field.
I began using more formal ethnographic methods in school. I led a food- and health-centered review of access in immigrant communities, conducting interviews in both Spanish and ASL. I joined Dr. Marco Meniketti’s team on an archaeological dig on the island of Nevis. I even dove into the cultural context of coffee beverageware to learn how the industrial period shaped our daily rituals.
While I understand we need user personas to serve as a snapshot of an audience in aggregate, I believe the most critical insights come from direct observation. You have to stand where the work gets done. An axiom in anthropology is that all complexity leads to inequality.
These inequalities are observable, often accidental, and usually improvable. As an observer, I’ve watched the frantic tap of a bartender’s fingers on a broken POS screen and felt the collective silence in a newsroom when a system goes down. This isn’t abstract data; it’s the rhythm of a business. My job is to get out of the way, observe that rhythm, measure the friction, and then build a tool that gets us all in sync.
The entire field of User Experience Research means getting closer to this and building better products by breaking down silos and finding alignment with real human users.
Case Studies
It’s about building with
empathy that’s earned,
not just assumed.
That is the philosophy I bring
to all of my work.
The Embedded Solution: An AI Agent for a Stressed Kitchen
The Narrative: Software in the service industry often adds more stress than it removes. To solve this, I went to the source: I took shifts in high-volume bars and kitchens. I watched the frantic tap of a bartender’s fingers on a broken POS screen and felt the real-time pressure of inventory shortfalls. Based on this direct ethnographic research, I built a tool to fix what I saw: a market-aware, custom AI forecasting agent that predicts demand and prevents waste.
It happened to make the company money, employees less stressed, and customers happier! A key part of it all was we engineered a “human in the loop” system that gave staff agency, turning a point of friction into a source of relief.
Keywords: Ethnography, Product Prototyping, AI, Service Design, Human-in-the-Loop.
2. The Growth Formula: Launching a College for Hollywood
The Narrative: When Relativity Media decided to launch a film and performing arts college, they were entering a crowded market. A generic marketing plan wouldn’t work. I embedded into a team and owned all things design and digital (and oftentimes more!)
Working in a startup meant my team and I started with deep anthropological research into the “aspiring artist” persona—understanding their specific hopes, fears, and digital languages. This informed a then-radical social media and content strategy that spoke to them authentically. Our launch of this product from 0 to 1 had an insane result: Our GDUSA Top Website Award contributed to a stunning 700% YoY growth in student enrollment.
Keywords: User Research, Growth Marketing, EdTech, Persona Development.
3. The Newsroom Lens: How Journalism Informs Product
The Narrative: A newsroom is the ultimate product lab. As a Pacemaker Award-winning editor in college and a Dow Jones Fund intern at The Denver Post, I learned non-negotiable lessons that I apply to technology every day. Respecting the deadline is Agile development. Verifying your sources is QA. Respecting your reader is user-centric design.
This background, including my contribution to the APME Award-winning “Chasing the Beast,” informs how I approach every project: with a journalist’s skepticism, a storyteller’s empathy, and a managing editor’s obsession with shipping on time.
Keywords: Journalism, UX, Product Vision, Empathy, Deadline-Driven Development.
LET’S BEGIN THE WORK.
My approach is designed to apply the right lens to your specific challenge. Whether your world is measured in NPS, market share, visual impact, or cultural heritage, the process begins with a clear, strategic conversation.