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LIZA PESENSON

ABOUT

I am a tireless user advocate with an entrepreneurial spirit who thrives on collaboration. While pursuing my Master’s Degree in Cognitive Science at the University of Trento, Italy, I built unique interpersonal and cultural-navigation skills which allow me insights into customers’ behaviors and needs. My genuine empathy for users, inherent curiosity about different types of interactions, and solid foundation in User Experience Research enable me to effectively design services and products that people love to use.

EXPERIENCE
SKILLS

NVIVO

Photoshop

Balsamiq

Axure

OmniGraffle

Illustrator

MS Office Suite

iWork Suite

User Experience Research Assistant

SmartCampusLab, Università degli Studi di Trento, Italy

Oct 2012 - Sep 2013

  • Facilitated focus groups, concepting, and brainstorming

  • Conducted an ethnographic observation study with children

  • Adapted a model of the tourist mobile experience to kids

  • Conducted participatory design with children

  • Derived design requirements and gamification suggestions

User Research Intern

SmartCampusLab, Università degli Studi di Trento, Italy

Sep 2012 - Mar 2013

  • Conducted semi-structured interviews on mobile privacy

  • Qualitatively analyzed data on privacy and risk awareness

  • Mocked-up three app schemes to present to users

  • Ran focus groups to decide which scheme to develop

Country Research Specialist II

Rimini Street Inc., Pleasanton, CA

2009 - 2012

  • Researched tax legislation in eleven European countries

  • Communicated findings to system developers

Coach, Captain, and Player - Ultimate Frisbee

UC Berkeley and Trent, Italy

2004 - Present

  • Coached a 37-person, co-ed team in Trento, Italy

  • Competed in USA Women’s College Nationals

EDUCATION
METHODS

Ethnography

Design with Children

Participatory Design

User Research

Personas

Concept Validation

Qualitative Analysis

Usability Testing

Interviewing

Focus Groups

Storyboards

Surveys

Mock-ups

Prototyping

Competitor Analysis

Scenarios

Mental Models

Heuristic Evaluation

LANGUAGES

English (Fluent)

Italian (Fluent)

Russian (Good)

 

PDF Version

2010 - present

2010 - present

M.Sc. Cognitive Science (Language and Multi-Modal Interaction)

Università degli Studi di Trento, Trent, Italy

2011 - 2013

Specialized in Language and Multi-Modal Interaction. My thesis research focused on participatory design of a tourism mobile application with children. Final Score: 110/110

B.A. Cognitive Science

University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A.

2004 - 2009

Relevant Coursework

InnovAction Lab Startup Seminar Series

InnovAction Camp - Startup Bootcamp

Research Design

Designing Graphical User Interfaces

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