I built a mobile featherweight multimedia device using audio and a touchscreen for illiterate people that works like a museum audio guide. While doing user experience research in an eye hospital in India, I discovered that the elderly patients were not understanding a poster about post-operative care since they could not read. Besides building the device, I iteratively tested four social frameworks that introduced the device to the patients in different ways. Ultimately, I found a way for the patients to feel comfortable learning from my device.

NanoTouch is a very small mobile device that users interact with via a touchpad on the back of the device. This design lets users see what they are touching since their finger does not cover up what they are trying to point at. I discovered by running user studies that it was good for pointing at small targets and for dragging, things that conventional touchscreen devices are very bad at. This work resulted in a paper at the CHI 2009 conference. More information about nanoTouch is available at my co-author's website.

I am developing a communication device for an 8 year old girl who has cerebral palsy. This disease affects her motor control, preventing her from talking, walking, or moving her hands or arms accurately. The solution I created is a device with large buttons that she can hit in a certain order to type what she wants to say.

I created an innovative kit of cleaning tools with an multidisciplinary team for the International Eagle brand truck. The company tasked us with designing a lifestyle product that would expand the brand. We followed a rigorous design process that included talking with truck drivers, brainstorming opportunities, gathering feedback, and testing designs by cleaning trucks ourselves. In the end, we built both functional and styled prototypes and created a marketing plan.