UX Research Trailblazer
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About Ross
I’m a bonafide nerd with a lifelong passion for design and exceptional user experiences. Throughout my career I have demonstrated a consistent track record of jumping into the deep end to solve hard, messy, technical problems in the domains of cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and healthcare. Improving lives through creative solutions to complex and impactful opportunities is immensely satisfying and brings me joy every day.
My work has helped organizations achieve successful strategic outcomes by leading comprehensive end-to-end generative and evaluative UX research workstreams. Whenever I take on a project, I apply my extensive multi-disciplinary business, technical, research, and design expertise to deliver impactful work for my partners that successfully walks the tightrope of rigor, scrappiness, and efficiency. I view research as both a process and a journey that brings teams together, fosters a shared understanding around a holistic vision, informs strategic leadership decisions, and motivates the creation of user experiences that delight customers and drive business value.
Microsoft Azure UX Research
I lead comprehensive generative and evaluative research workstreams to build the next generation of Microsoft’s cloud computing user experiences for Azure AI Agents, Kubernetes, Cloud Native, Compute, Storage, and Networking technologies. The products and services I work on power the world’s economies, governments across the globe, startups, enterprise organizations, and make modern life possible. Building a shared consensus between stakeholders through the power of objectively collected data and story telling that accounts for the needs and satisfaction of our customers is my secret sauce for delivering success and generating business value. Additionally, the challenge of designing effective user experiences that provide utility and are easy to use while accounting for our user’s diverse needs, opportunities, and pain points is no small feat. This is a challenge that I relish and enjoy tackling every day.
Health Informatics AI Agent UX Research
I graduated from the University of Washington School of Medicine in 2019 with a PhD in Health Informatics. My dissertation research focused on patient-centered user experiences to better understand how AI agents can help answer common hernia surgery patient questions.
Conducting my dissertation research involved a three-step approach guided by the principles of human design. Initially, I performed generative needs assessment research with patients and clinicians to identify how a conversational agent could support patients during their surgery journeys. Subsequently, I designed and built an AI agent prototype called Hernia Coach. Finally, I performed user research to evaluate Hernia Coach by recruiting healthcare design experts to perform heuristic evaluations and patients to engage in usability testing sessions.
My research demonstrated AI agents can accurately answer common patient questions quickly outside of the hospital. Furthermore, AI agents like Hernia Coach have the potential to save clinicians valuable time by allowing them to focus on direct patient care in the hospital. Finally, my dissertation informed a best paper award winning CHI conference proceeding I co-authored. The study extended Nielsen’s heuristics to conversational agents. In 2021 only five percent of all accepted CHI submissions received a best paper award, which demonstrates the significant impact of this research for the broader user experience community.
SQL Developer & Dashboard Designer
While I was pursuing my PhD in Health Informatics I worked as a SQL developer and dashboard designer for the University of Washington Graduate School. My primary job duties involved developing data models that powered Tableau dashboards I designed to inform strategic decisions by the University of Washington’s Graduate School administrative leadership. These dashboards were used to better understand the funnel of graduate program applicants, accepted students, and number of student who enrolled for coursework.
Microsoft AI & Research Internship
During the summer of 2017 I was an intern on the Healthcare NExT team within the Microsoft AI & Research division. My project involved conducting a pilot research study using a prototype mobile health application developed by my team, which was designed to mitigate the barriers of recording diet data. The main goal was to help people understand their food intake timing patterns, which has implications for people trying to lose weight or with pre-diabetes. During the study I collaborated with the department general manager, project managers, and design director to iterate and improve the mobile health application’s design and scale the research study with a partnering organization.
Ross’ Peer Reviews
Ross has demonstrated strong leadership skills that has cheered the team up in times of setbacks, coordinated strong collaborations, and helped us stay flexible when objectives and constraints shift. His ability to manage timelines also has allowed us to ship stellar projects that provide real value to Microsoft. He is a good empathetic listener that brings people together to do great things. – Principal Software Engineer
Ross’ ability to quickly ramp up on projects and collaborate with engineers is instrumental for driving effective UX research efforts. He effectively communicates the implications of research findings that fosters a collaborative team culture and helps us prioritize our efforts. – Senior Designer
Ross is incredibly organized with clear agendas and goals that balance the needs of the team. I appreciate the work he puts into understanding our product’s technical components, which enables him to build rapport with our customers while gaining UX research insights. Overall, I’m grateful for the work he does for our team. – Senior Software Engineer
Ross has a keen attention to detail and passion for listening that led us to build a better product that served more customers. He is easy to work alongside and is a strong partner. I seize every opportunity to work with him. – Principal PM
Ross is a great colleague. I enjoy working with him because I feel like we approach problems with different perspectives but we can help each other grow and be better researchers. The most impressive thing I find about Ross is his constant desire to advance the research discipline through innovative research methodologies and AI. His insights have improved our projects and inspired me to integrate AI into my own work. Thanks for being a great colleague who always brings fresh ideas with expertise and enthusiasm. – Senior UX Researcher
Ross is an exemplary researcher and is someone I regularly reach out to when I have research related questions. Ross has proven himself to be an indispensable member of our team and wider organization. I sincerely look forward to our next opportunity to partner together. – Senior UX Engineer
Ross is an excellent collaborator and always has valuable insights on customer interactions. He always knows best with how to design research studies and always goes above and beyond to ensure the quality of his own work and the work of others. Ross’ passion and dedication to his work as a researcher is self-evident. He is continually making our organization better by delivering valuable customer insights to our team. – Senior PM
Outdoor Pursuits
I love to play outside. My favorite activities are skiing, sea kayaking, and hiking.