Research Projects:
UX Research Projects:
Understanding User Needs in Cardiovascular Healthcare
I worked with a team within the Medical Devices Group at Microsoft who were working on technologies surrounding cardiovascular healthcare. The goal of my research was to help the team understand the contexts surrounding the treatment of cardiovascular conditions in the American healthcare system. This research involved learning from healthcare guidelines to understand best practices and conducting qualitative research to understand the contexts in which cardiovascular healthcare is provided, and the needs and pain points of patients, caregivers, and medical providers.
Method: Contextual inquiry
Output: Thematic content analysis, customer and device journey maps
Impact: The team is exploring more uses for their device based on the results of this research
Academic Research Projects:
Strategy Use and Mental Set in Problem Solving
Mental set is the tendency to keep using a problem solving strategy when it works. However, when we get too used to using a particular problem solving strategy, we sometimes have difficulty finding a new strategy when the situation changes and your practiced strategy no longer works. My research is exploring the types of strategies people develop when solving problems, and whether the type of strategy a person develops influences their ability to find a new solution when the problem situation changes.
Individual Differences in Insight Problem Solving
Working memory capacity, or your individual ability to maintain and manipulate information in conscious awareness is usually a positive predictor of your problem solving ability, or even your general fluid intelligence. However, for a type of problem solving task called insight problems, higher working memory capacity is not always better. Insight problems are a class of problems designed to leave the solver with an incorrect initial representation of the problem that they then have to overcome in order to solve the problem. Some research has found that individuals with higher working memory capacity are more likely to get stuck on the initial incorrect representation, making them less likely to solve these problems. The aim of this research is to better understand when and why these individuals have difficulty solving insight problems.
Modeling Individual Differences in Problem Solving
This line of research involves creating computer models to solve problem solving tasks. Modeling allows for control over cognitive limitations, such as working memory capacity, to illustrate how these limitations give rise to individual differences in problem solving performance.