Hello!
I am a learning designer, a scholar by profession and training. I earned my Ph.D. in Instructional Systems Technology from the School of Education, Indiana University Bloomington with a minor in Human-Computer Interaction from the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering. I'm passionate about designing authentic and inclusive learning experiences, conducting design research, and improving human learning and performance in diverse contexts.
I have 15 years of professional work experience in education, learning design and technology, and training.
More About Me
For the last twelve years, I have been professionally practicing learning design, studying/researching design and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and educating future designers/teachers through different modalities. I have collaborated with diverse academic stakeholders (faculty, scholars, teachers, designers, and administrators) to create user/learner-centered solutions that bring users/learners, technology and business together in very meaningful ways. Although learning and user experience design are not thought of as neighboring design fields until recently, I have strategically elected to minor in Human Computer-Interaction & Design (HCI/d) at Indiana University Bloomington, as an integral component of my Ph.D. program in Instructional Systems Technology, since 2017. Through this minor, I completed rigorous training in UX design and research, through authentic projects with real organizations, such as Salesforce.
My Skills and Experience
Over the years of my professional experience I have developed the skills and expertise, as follows:
Excellent project management skills: Throughout my professional instructional/learning design experience, I have had an opportunity to work with a diverse group of professionals and administrators. I managed the projects through each stage of design development, starting from creating a project timeline, designing a design matrix to the final product. I was responsible for communicating with key stakeholders and identifying their needs. I have experience leading instructional design projects where I had a chance to mentor and provide feedback to other designers and coordinate all designers’ efforts to successfully complete the assigned projects.
Strong learning design expertise and experience working with Subject-Matter Experts (SME): I have designed and implemented a rich array of learning design projects. A core element of my learning design work is engaging students in authentic learning experiences and bringing diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) dimensions to the foreground.
In doing so, I have consulted and collaborated with faculty and staff across universities and schools in leading online learning initiatives funded by federal agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). As a designer at the School of Public Health, Indiana University Bloomington, a faculty member and I designed a project in which students increased awareness of the disease and built advocacy for those living with dementia. This project was one of the Faculty Academy on Excellence in Teaching (FACET) award finalists in the community engagement category. Further, for the design of this online course and the “Aging, Health, and Diverse Populations” online course I was honored to have received the Award for the Outstanding Practice by a Graduate Student in Instructional Design from the the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT).
Experience with user research and design methods: personas, qualitative data collection and analysis, user testing, rapid prototyping, heuristic analysis, usability and accessibility concerns, in learning and UX design contexts. Experience using design tools such as Sketch and Figma and Miro to translate designs ideas into sketches/wireframes/UX journey. Familiarity with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), for online learning and UX design contexts. I am also Quality Matters certified (Peer Reviewer, please click on the QM Certificate link to see my certificate).
Creativity: Throughout my design projects, I have always found opportunities to make learning more engaging through the use of interactive tools and realistic learning scenarios. This experience would allow me not solely to have discussions regarding innovative technologies, like XR, but also bring to the forefront how such technologies could be meaningfully integrated into learning activities.
Passion for design and innovation: My design and scholarly work—as indicated in my CV— has always been driven in finding new creative approaches to teaching and learning. Based on the findings of my recent studies, learning designers rely on extended reality and virtual reality tools to bring in authentic and immersive learning experiences. Such tools provide affordances for enhancing learning experiences.
Strong teaching experience: I have had an opportunity to teach in three different modalities: Face to face, blended, and fully online. This experience allows me to have a sincere empathy with subject-matter experts while collaborating with them. The question of equity and inclusion has always been central to my design and teaching work. Earlier in my career, when designing courses that were part of an online cross-border program between a Chinese university and a U.S. university, I encountered certain challenges in designing educational experiences with equity and inclusion. My design and teaching challenges and solutions to them to ensure equitable access to and participation in learning were documented in my white paper published in the blog of the Online Learning Consortium (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3).
Strong Research Skills: Experience with social science or academic research fields—HCI, Instructional Systems Technology, Education, and Public Health—with an advanced degree in Education (Ph.D.)