Career Focus
My curiosity for understanding how people interact with information, computers, and each other, has fueled my long-term academic focus in the field of Cognitive Science. I am an enthusiastic and highly motivated team player with a strong desire to organize. I am currently searching for a research or industry position where I can best utilize my skills in User Research and User Experience Design.
Education
Skills
NVIVO
Photoshop
Balsamiq
Axure
OmniGraffle
Illustrator
MS Office Suite
iWork Suite
M.Sc. Cognitive Science (Language and Multi-Modal Interaction)
Università degli Studi di Trento, Trent, Italy
2011 - 2013
Thesis: Participatory Design of a Mobile Application with and for Children: A Case Study in the Tourism Sector. Graduated with Final Score: 110/110
B.A. Cognitive Science
University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A.
2004 - 2009
Education Abroad Program (Psychology and Linguistics)
Università degli Studi di Padova, Padua, Italy
2008 - 2009
Methods
Focus Groups
Design with Children
Participatory design
Ethnography
Personas
Concept Validation
Qualitative Analysis
Interviewing
Usability Testing
Surveys
Mock-ups
Storyboards
Narratives
Languages
2010 - present
2010 - present
Work experience
User Experience Research Assistant
SmartCampusLab, Università degli Studi di Trento, Italy
Oct 2012 - Sep 2013
Create a model of the child-tourist-user and discover their needs and goals through participatory design techniques for creating innovative Android apps and services for tourism in the Trentino region. Derive requirements against which the Android applications will later be measured.
English (Fluent)
Italian (Fluent)
Russian (Good)
PDF Version
Intern in Mobile Privacy Awareness
SmartCampusLab, Università degli Studi di Trento, Italy
Sep 2012 - Mar 2013
Conduct semi-structured contextual user interviews to learn about Android users' awareness of privacy settings and risks. Perform usability testing by running focus groups. Analyze qualitative data using thematic analysis.
Country Research Specialist II
Rimini Street Inc., Pleasanton, CA
2009 - 2012
Research tax legislation in eleven different European countries. Work with Enterprise Resource Management system developers and find new and creative ways of locating tax and regulatory updates.
Research Assistant
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
2004 - 2008 (summers)
Test and maintain three websites focused on distribution of astronomical images. Record test
results using XHTML with CSS. Test and modify C computer code, verifying the functionality of
various graphic user interfaces in UNIX, Linux, Mac OS and Windows environments. Work with
a twelve-person technical team.
Administrative Assistant
Enginious Structures Inc., Oakland, CA
2007 - 2008
Maintain account payables and receivables using QuickBooks software. Multitask in coordinating general office logistics including ordering supplies and keeping client files in order. Reorganize office furniture to make workspace more efficient.
Other experience
Coach, Captain, and Player - Ultimate Frisbee
UC Berkeley and Trent, Italy
2004 - Present
From 2012-2013, I coached the local co-ed team in Trento, Italy with 37 men, women, and teenagers; planned and executed practices, decided strategies, and directed the team at tournaments. From 2009-2011, I played Mixed Club Ultimate in the San Francisco Bay Area, and competed at Northwest Regionals in 2011. From 2004-2009, I played with the women's team at UC Berkeley, competing at College Nationals in 2007, and co-captain the team for the 2008-2009 season.
InnovAction Camp Participant
Rome, Italy
2013
InnovAction Camp is a prestigious, intense, weeklong version InnovAction Lab (see below for description). 20 select students win scholarships to study how to best research, create, run, and present a start-up in 120 hours (5 days of non-stop activity). I was one of four students selected to participate from the InnovAction Lab course. Along with my team, I created Jooralo, a smartphone application to support and challenge your friends to keep their promises and goals.
InnovAction Lab Participant
Trent, Italy
2013
InnovAction Lab teaches how to create a successful startup and how to pitch it to earn funding. My team and I created a FOODEXP, a mobile app and web site interfacing one's dietary needs with specific and reliable ingredient data. We were selected as one of the top five teams and presented in the final competition in front of Venture Capital investors.
Startup Weekend Events Participant
2013
A Start-up Weekend is an event where entrepreneurs get together to create and launch a startup in 54 hours. I participated in one in Verona, where I helped create SpeedUP, an instant statistics smartphone application for track&field coaches. At a Global Service Jam (a similar type of 54-hour event which is focused exclusively on service design) I helped create ACTAG, a web application for environmentally conscious consumers.
Theater Student
Centro Didattico MusicaTeatroDanza, Trent, Italy
2011 - 2012
Use voice, body and facial expressions as instruments of expression and communication. Improve interactions with others and creatively interpret and improvise.
Relevant coursework
Human Computer Interaction and Multimodal Systems
Designing Graphic User Interfaces
Computer-Supported Collaborative Working
Research Design and Statistics
Perception in Psychology
Cognitive Psychology