Featured Projects
Here, you can find a brief sampling of a few projects I am especially proud to have worked on over the years. Feel free to contact me to discuss them further.
Reminding my composition and game design students of their diverse skill set.
Early sketches of “Sylvie” then called “Maestro”.
Instructional Design — Introducing writers to 3D printing
One of my more innovative projects is the chatbot/web app “Sylvie”. The 3D printing educational technology project “Sylvie” targets Rhetoric and Composition instructors at UNC who are interested in using 3D printing in their lesson plans as a way to meet new, digital literary-oriented learning objectives.
Project Rundown:
Despite strong interest in using the 3D printers among Composition Instructors at UNC, there were few (really no) centralized platforms to help inspire them to use this technology in their courses. Consultation spots with the Makerspace could be difficult to arrange and often instructors felt uninspired and out of place as “humanists” in a “tech” space. I decided to spend a semester investigating ways to help my peers gain inspiration online to “get them thinking” before attempting to setup consultations.
Our team used several UX practices to gather data to guide the iterative creation of our chatbot and website prototypes, which lead to the development of instructional taxonomies, content audits of competitor sites, user journeys and building affinity diagrams over the course of the semester. We conducted 2 rounds of observational user testing with several prototypes, and surprisingly had a large amount of instructors who volunteered to be participants!
Content Strategy and ux — UX for healthcare and civic management
One of my favorite content strategy projects combined our team’s skills in both contextual design and systems analysis to aid Care Coordinators at UNC Chapel Hill’s Center for Maternal and Infant Health improve their electronic workflow and data collection methods.
Project Rundown:
After the creation of a research plan to guide our discovery period, our team used the next 10 weeks to collect and code impressions about the technical tools and workflow within the center from a wide range of stakeholders. This information was later displayed in an affinity diagram to capture common trends and patterns.
Through the use of a range of interviews , the documentation of work spaces, and plenty of engaging interpretation sessions, our team developed an extensive list of recommendations to improve and capture the crucial work Care Coordinators do. We presented our findings via physical, cultural, and flow models to help Center Leadership petition for extra funding and tools to facilitate the technological updates Care Coordinators needed.
This engaging experience motivated me to volunteer more skills as a content strategist for the City of Durham and other local business owners.
Building models with feedback from amazing team members for Care Coordinators.
First prototype of “Desolation” screenshot.
web and game development — interactive stories and adaptations
After working with a wonderful group of mentors in the Computer Science Department, and becoming more involved in the Digital Humanities community, I decided to dive headfirst into programming. To this end, I completed both a Digital Humanities certificate with a focus on Information Science, worked on numerous DH and web development projects, and even helped design course materials to draw others into programming and game design!
Recently, I worked with a team of undergrads to create a demo of a game which was an original adaptation of the famous kabuki play, 47 Ronin. Having space to work in a game studio made a large impression on the way in which I explored UX practices, creative writing and project management.
This interest in gaming and gamificaition in the classroom also provided the basis for innovative simulation and experiential games which targeted students interested in conducting research abroad. I am pleased to now have time to continue to revise and adapt my award-winning strategies and to find ways to invite more fun into my work.