Product interfaces, Web sites, and even documents become easier to use after Amy applies traditional and adaptive research and usability testing to discover needs and to uncover problem areas.
Thanks to Amy, people who interact with products of just about any kind fret less.
Amy earned a master’s degree in communication planning and information design from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). While waiting for buses to CMU, she observed the frustrations of new riders who were confused about schedules and stops. Her hypothesis that a limited query (“Where are you going?” “Where are you starting from?” and “When do you need to arrive?”) could quickly provide users with useful information led to further research, analysis, prototyping, testing and, ultimately, UGo — an application that uses an assisted audio/visual conversation to guide users to the right route and schedule.
Amy also worked as an interaction designer on a multi-disciplinary team that transformed the Domestic Mail Manual of the U.S. Postal Service. The result of their work was a new system of user-centered documents that made mailing standards more accessible and comprehensible for the more than 700,000 employees of the Postal Service and all segments of customers. The first two documents in the collection are now available in more than 30,000 post offices, and have received Distinguished and Excellence awards from The Society for Technical Communication.