AI Strategist + Researcher
AI needs product sense common sense.
The tech industry keeps forgetting the lessons it's already learned over the past two decades — before you design a product or service, you need a clear understanding of the people, processes, and business goals it will serve.
I study how people work with AI products and systems. I spent 11 of my 16 years of experience at Nielsen Norman Group, helping teams build products that fit the people who use them. The mistakes I helped product teams avoid are the same ones AI teams are making now.
The technology is new. The design problems are not. I can help you solve them.
Publications + Appearances
Features
Google Maps ‘Safety’ Feature
Fast Company
The Year AI Slop Went Mainstream
Euro News
AI in User Research
Future of UX
The AI Experience
Pondering AI
With UX and AI, Context Is Everything
Invisible Machines
Events
Future Product Days, 2025
Mainstage Speaker
Voted Best Speaker
WaysConf, 2025
Mainstage Speaker
Voted Best Speaker
UX India, Bangalore, 2024
Keynote Speaker
The Future of UX, 2021
Speaker
“The first step to delivering a successful AI feature in your product is to make sure it's valuable to your users and business.
Most AI features fail at step 1.”
Discoverability of AI Features: Learn from Amazon’s Mistakes
Résumé
Experience
Senior Vice President
Nielsen Norman Group
Jan 2026 – Jun 2026
Vice President of Research and Content
Nielsen Norman Group
Dec 2022 – Jan 2026
Director
Nielsen Norman Group
Apr 2022 – Dec 2022
Senior User Experience Specialist
Nielsen Norman Group
Nov 2019 – Apr 2022
UX Design
Viget Labs
Feb 2015 – Apr 2015
Frontend Developer + Content Manager
IBM
May 2011 – Feb 2015
Expertise
AI strategy
Identifying where AI actually delivers value, what to build, and what to stop paying for
AI research
Testing AI products and systems with the people meant to use them
Adoption diagnosis
Pinpointing where a deployed system isn't being adopted and why
Research practice
Planning, running, and interpreting research — and building teams that can do it well
Communication
Turning findings into decisions executives will act on
Education
Master of Science in Information Science
University of North Carolina | 2015
Specialization: Human-Computer Interaction
Bachelor of Science in Information Science
University of North Carolina | 2013
Second Major: English
Let’s Talk
A Quick Intro
Hear a bit about my background, work, and philosophy around the design of AI systems and products by listening to this 15-minute podcast interview with Fuego UX.
The AI Adoption Gap
In September, I traveled to Poland and Denmark to present my research findings to help designers understand why their AI features won’t get used — and how to bridge the AI adoption gap.
Check out the recording published by FutureProductDays for a sample of my speaking style.