Profile
I am a human–computer interaction researcher exploring how AI-mediated, multi-modal interfaces can support everyday health, communication, and aging. My work sits at the intersection of conversational systems, lightweight visualisations, and mobile experiences, with an emphasis on accessibility, privacy, and respectful, boundary-aware design for aging populations and their families, caregivers. I’m interested in problems that scale—turning real-world signals into simple, helpful interactions, evaluating user trust and understanding, and translating insights into deployable products. I previously served as a research assistant with the Relational Agents Group at Northeastern University. I am now a PhD student in Computer Science at the University of Waterloo, supervised by Dr. Jim Wallace and Dr. Keiko Katsuragawa.
Education
University of Waterloo, Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science (HCI)
[2024.9] to [2028.8] (Expected) at [Waterloo], [Ontario], [Canada]
Northeastern University, Master of Computer Science
[2022.9] to [2024.8] at [Boston], [Massachusetts], [United States] // GPA: 3.94/4.00
University of Southern California, Master of Laws with Graduate Certificate in Technology and Entrepreneurship Laws
[2021.8] to [2022.5] at [Los Angeles], [California], [United States] // Merit-based Scholarship $8000
Durham University, Bachelor of Laws
[2017.10] to [2020.8] at [College of St Hild and St Bede], [Durham], [United Kingdom]
Experience
Part-time Product Manager
Feb 2026 - Present at Early-Stage Soccer/Football Mobile Startup, Remote
- Synthesize stakeholder input, prior documentation, and Figma prototypes into requirements for 10+ features to scope a V2 mobile product.
- Use heuristic and competitive research, user-flow analysis, annotated Figma specifications, and prioritization to identify design, privacy, implementation, and future usability-testing needs.
UX Researcher & Engineer (Graduate Research Assistant)
Sep 2024 - Present at HCI and Health Lab, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
- Lead end-to-end mixed-methods research on how families evaluate AI-mediated updates: recruit and manage participants, design Qualtrics surveys, run a 10-day mobile diary/ESM study and conduct semi-structured interviews; translate findings into product recommendations.
- Designed and ran a 4-week in-home field study of a tablet communication app, combining onboarding, longitudinal support, surveys, interviews, and usage logs to identify usability, privacy, and communication needs.
- Independently built and deployed a family-engagement Android app in Java/Firebase, from product design and UI/UX through implementation and user testing; translated co-design and field evidence into interaction flows, prototypes, requirements, and iteration priorities.
- Collaborated on an Expert-By-Experience (EBE) study and co-design workshop to gather insights and refine concepts for technologies that facilitate aging in place.
- Developed usage scenarios and personas to propose and evaluate ideas, ensuring practical and user-centered design solutions.
Instructional Apprentice / Graduate Teaching Assistant
Sep 2024 - Present at University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
- CS 348 Introduction to Database Systems (from May 2025): Guide teams of 4-5 students through semester-long database-driven application projects covering SQL, schema design, user flows, implementation, testing, and milestone delivery. Advise on full-stack development with React frontends and Node.js or FastAPI backends.
- Coordinate assignment, project, and exam marking across the CS 348 TA team to support consistent, on-time assessment.
- CS 431/631 Data-Intensive Distributed Computing (Jan - Apr 2025): Provided individualized grading decisions for more than 20 variants of student answers involving TF-IDF, n-grams, and inverted index design, consistently evaluating technical correctness and conceptual clarity.
- Assessed understanding of search engine optimization techniques, including posting list sorting and binary search based on document ID ordering, and trade-offs in inverted index sorting for efficient retrieval, distributed processing, and MapReduce-style architectures.
- CS 115 Introduction to Computer Science 1 (Sep - Dec 2024): Graded assignments, midterms, and exams for over 100 students learning functional programming in Dr. Racket. Developed a detailed grading workflow aligned with course rubrics and provided constructive feedback to support student performance and consistent assessment.
HCI Researcher (Graduate Research Assistant)
Apr 2023 - Jun 2024 at Relational Agents Group, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Conducted comprehensive data analysis for the SCC smartphone app, identifying user behavior trends and insights from a dataset involving over 500 participants, contributing to public health initiatives promoting vaccination and healthy lifestyles.
- Designed and conducted a user study to assess embodied conversational agents for pain assessment, collected and analyzed responses, and translated results and iterative feedback into design recommendations, contributing to a peer-reviewed ICMI publication.
- Performed empirical studies with strict adherence to research protocols, enabling the collection of high-quality, user-centric data to inform the development of health-focused conversational agents.
- Collaborated with interdisciplinary teams to prototype and refine interactive technologies, enhancing user engagement and addressing usability challenges in healthcare and wellness applications.
- Tested and troubleshot user interfaces and applications, systematically identifying usability issues and implementing solutions to optimize user experience.
- Maintained meticulous records and documentation of research findings, contributing to data-driven decision-making for HCI-focused projects.
IP Intern
Mar 2021 - Jun 2021 at Bird & Bird, Beijing, China
- Reviewed trademark gazettes and trademark classes to identify potential trademark infringement for international clients.
- Collected evidence for potential intellectual property infringement litigation, particularly during license renewal and negotiation.
- Researched intellectual property issues using a range of methods and drafted representation materials for partners.
Paralegal
May 2020 - Feb 2021 at Denning Law Firm, Beijing, China
- Drafted and reviewed legal documents for entertainment companies and artists, including complaints and contracts.
- Conducted trademark and copyright investigations, researched legal issues, and analyzed a range of legal strategies.
- Participated in an ongoing legal services project for a state-owned company, providing legal advice on bidding documents and contracts.
- Supported the marketing team by writing articles on recent legal developments to attract prospective clients.
Patent Intern
Jul 2019 - Aug 2019 at King & Wood Mallesons, Beijing, China
- Conducted detailed background research and drafted legal documents.
- Worked with a team to assess contracts and discuss outcomes with clients, identifying and resolving problems using project management techniques.
- Participated in consultations on a range of cases and negotiated with colleagues, considering different perspectives and developing balanced legal arguments.
Certifications
- Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of Research
- Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans
Awards
Skills
UX research: Diary/ESM studies, field research, user interviews, survey design, usability testing, co-design, participant recruitment and management, mixed-methods research, thematic analysis, and research synthesis.
- Human-Computer Interaction
- User-Centered Design
- Interface Design
- Python
- Java
- C
- SQL
- Unity
- C#
- JavaScript
- TypeScript
- React
- Node.js
- Prototyping: Figma
- Web Development
- Mobile App Development
- Qualtrics
- Android
- Next.js
- Firebase
- REST APIs
- Git/GitHub